Country music legend Randy Travis’ 1987 single “Forever and Ever, Amen” is an example of an early, traditional country music video. The song is about a man’s confession of his love, which the singer explains will last forever. The video takes place at a wedding reception where Travis sings in the middle of the dance floor, a simple but effective approach. In his book Sound and Vision: The Music Video Reader, Simon Frith explains that a “Key theme [of country music videos] is performance with intercut segments that somehow illustrate the message or plot of the lyrics” (100). In this way, Travis’ video goes back and forth between showcasing him singing and different parts of the reception, telling a story through the combination of lyrics and visuals.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgJXbIP83A8
Throughout the video, the genre of country music is evident through iconography of acoustic guitars, cowboy hats, a laid-back aura, and an entirely white cast, in line with the genre’s audience at the time. In addition, the cast members are all dressed conservatively and showcase calm, respectful behavior, in line with typical Southern lifestyles during the 1980s. Coinciding with this audience’s conservative values, this video depicts a traditional heterosexual wedding with a white dress, cake, reception, etc., posing it as a norm/expectation. These visual choices make it clear that the video is directed towards a certain audience and would likely not be appealing to other audiences that were used to seeing much more progressive and extravagant videos (Tannenbaum and Marks, 2012, 115).