Bon Jovi

Progression Analysis

By Nick Valiullin

About

the B

and

Bon Jovi is an American

rock band from Sayreville, New Jersey.

Formed in 1983, Bon Jovi

consists of lead singer

and namesake Jon Bon

Jovi (John Francis Bongiovi, Jr.), guitarist

Richie Sambora, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico

Torres, as well as current

bassist Hugh McDonald.

Runaw

ay

(1984)

The events on the screen

only partially match the

lyrics of the song. More to

the point, most of what

happens on the screen is

band’s performance as it

is the main thing we are

wanted to focus on. As this

is one of the first songs,

all members of the band

are shown almost equally and in most cases

together.

Vid

eo

You were born to be

my baby… (1986)

In this video, the band is in a

recording studio and the whole clip

consists of quick cuts of close ups

between the members of the band,

mainly focusing on John, as he is the

leader and the talent of the band.

However, we also get quite a lot of

John and Richie together as he also

is considered a talented guitarist.

Video

Ideolo

gy

The ideology put behind

the creation of an image of

a band is mainly organic,

as the band has got

potential by the point when

they are getting signed by

a record company and their

own sort of rock outfit

style which was (and is

now) easily recognizable at

the time.

These

Days

(1

998)

The lyrics of the song don’t

directly match the events

on the screen but are

closely related, as they

show live performance of

the band around the world.

John is being shown more

and more. The outfit of the artists has

also changed from that old

school hard rock type of

cloths to more casual, like

jeans and t-shits, as their

songs change a bit and

audience expects something else from them.

Vid

eo

Sta

r Image

By this point John Bon Jovi, is

presented as the main talent

and is put forward, because

may be considered the most

good looking and a

recognizable image of the

band. After all, the band is

called Bon Jovi. However, it is

worth noticing, that John’s

surname was altered to match

the name of the band. (from

Bongiovi to Bon Jovi)

It’s

my

life

(2003)

The events in the clip have

no direct relation to the lyrics

of the song, however they

tell a story making this clip

narrative. The focus of the

clip is still on band’s

performance even after

almost 30 years, as the band

is recognized for good,

quality performance and

popular songs, making the

actual song and how they

perform it the main point.

The clip also adheres to the

stereotype of rock

Vid

eo

Lost H

ighw

ay

(2007)

Band’s last album and

particularly this song is more

pop than all previous

content they produced,

showing that their music has

changed in order to fit the

audience’s demands.

However, we still focus on

John in the clip only showing

Richie when he plays the

solo and rarely showing

others at all. As in the most

of the clips the events on

the screen are only partially

related to the lyrics.

Video

Ove

rall

Overall, I think these guys have done a pretty good job of holding the same image over the years and putting John Bon Jovi

forward as a leader was a good decision as he has now become the image of the band

and is associated with it.