Textual analysis I’m Yours by Jason Mraz

Style and image:

Jason Mraz’s image is representing stereotypical country/soul singers.

Cowboy hat

Causal shirts

Guitar

Jeans and shorts

The primary target audience for Jason Mraz in general is young adults and teenagers, as the music is fairly upbeat and fun, yet relaxing which is favoured by young adults.

Young adults are able to relate to the lyrics - which typically is about love, crushes and first heartbreaks, and the lyrics tend to not be too 'deep' - not heavily focussing on heartbreaks and dramatic lyrics such as 'can't live without you' or 'I'll die without you' etc. which makes it more appealing and relatable to teenagers.

In contrast, the older audiences would prefer to listen to artists such as Adele as she speaks the mind of most women in their 30s who have experienced a painful breakup. I'm yours is no exception to targeting young adults and teenagers, as the tempo of the music is smooth and not too fast or too slow.

Target audience

Target audience

The style of the music is definitely most appealing to teenagers as it sounds very 'summery' which is often known to be the month to create fun memories by teenagers. Furthermore, the style of the music is happy, which is often liked by young adults and teenagers as it is stress-free and is generally how this certain group audience feel.

Jason Mraz's image also appeals to teenagers and young adults - females in particular. His talent for writing his own songs is often seen as admirable by many and is often adored by females as many wish to have an other half like him who would write songs dedicated to them. 

Begins with a bird eye view shot of an airplane indicating that the characters of this video are flying away somewhere else or beginning a journey to somewhere. 

The next scene is a mid-shot of the main character - Jason Mraz packing up his bags could possibly suggest he is leaving, and getting onto the plane that was first scene at the beginning in a birds eye view shot. 

Keys are shown - could symbolize his departure (getting on the plane and getting onto the plane), as they are thrown on the desk implying he is chucking away his past & memories - the house and everything inside. Alternatively, keys symbolize freedom and Jason chucking them away could suggest he is chucking away his freedom, and going off onto the plane to follow after something. This creates an enigma of questions, as the audience would wonder why is he chucking away his keys? Where is he going? Why is he going? What is he doing? etc. 

Other shots such as a shot of him hopping onto the back of a car could possibly suggest he is somewhere else, as in the previous shot he stuck his hand out to stop the 'taxi'/car before hopping onto it. This could connote that he is away from home, and has just begun his journey. "I wont hesitate, no more no more, I cannot wait, I'm sure" matches the lyrics with the visuals as the lyric implies he is not going to return back to his past indicating his is starting a new fresh start to his life hence the reason why he got onto the plane. The audience are still curious to why he wants to begin a new start, which gets the audience hooked onto the video.

"Open up your eyes and see like me, open up your plans and damn you're free..." matches with the visual displayed. This connotes to the audience that Jason is trying to convey to people that they should up and see more of this world to see a different side to life. This answers to the question why Jason was leaving in the first place (from the first bullet point) - he is trying to get away from his miserable past - as the lighting used there was dark and gloomy, illustrating his emotions and feelings at that moment before going away. 

"We're just one big family..." as a group of friends having fun are shown 

The lyrics could suggest his past - how he used to be self-conscious as he sings "I've been spending way too long checking my tongue in the mirror..." but as the song and video goes on, he's learned to not be so self-consious and paranoid about himself and explore the world - living life to the fullest. 

Alternativly his new approach to life could be because he had met a new girl - "well, you dawned on me and you bet I felt it..." approaching life with a different start - as the lighting here is much more brighter and natural suggesting the happy times, in contrast to the gloomy lighting right at the beginning where Jason was packing his bags. 

"I'm yours" was sang as a shot of a girl from behind jumps off the rocks - this could symbolize Jason was talking to this girl, and implying that he is utterly in love with her. 

Live performance shown in the music video - not a very typical codes and convention of Soul/Pop music genres, as it is the punk/rock that usually has live performance based music videos. Jason playing the guitar in this shot maintains his image as the boy with the hat and guitar, which will attract and appeal to his audience - young adults and teenagers. 

Video ends with dark lighting which could suggest he has returned back to his old life - as the happier moments were when he went on holiday. However, this could also connote to the audience that Jason was recalling back to his happier memories as he sits on the beach.