In this paper I want to talk about a song by one of my favourite bands.

Paramore is an American rock band from Franklin, Tennessee, formed in 2004. The band currently
consists of vocalist Hayley Williams, guitarist Taylor York, and drummer Zach Farro. Williams and
Farro are founding members of the band, and York, a high school friend of the original lineup, joined
the band in 2007. The band is signed to Fuelled by Ramen, a subsidiary of Atlantic Records owned by
Warner Music Group. They play pop punk, emo, pop rock, alternative rock. In 2023 they released a
new album called “This is why”. Running out of time is the third song in this album.

“Running out of time” is described as pop rock and dance rock and it deals with themes of time
management, anxiety, being late and making excuses.

“When we first started writing the album, I wanted to challenge myself to write about ordinary
things,” Williams shared in a statement. “I am horrific at time management and that feels about like
the most mundane thing anyone could talk about… seemed like a fun challenge.”

The song "Running Out of Time" was favourably reviewed by critics for its tone. Bobby Olivier in Spin
magazine praised the song's theme and lyrics, calling it "playful" and "an anthem for opponents of
punctuality". He described it as "a continuation of Afroman's 'Because I Got High.'" For NPR Music,
Clarissa Brooks wrote that the song is one of the album's "standout tracks" and that it explores the
post-Pandemic COVID-19 cultural milieu in a "refreshing tone with a touch of snobbery." Phoebe
Flees in Classic Rock magazine called the song "a siren call to the latecomers" that is "underpinned"
by "desperation". The Alternative called the song "a well-executed, well-produced piece of nothing".

At first glance it may seem that the song describes quite simple thing. We all don't have enough
time. Especially the younger generation, prone to procrastination, high expectations, perfectionism,
anxiety and therefore lack of time. But on the other hand, you can see that this song also touches on
the theme of fear of death, aging and loss of friends.

The lyrics begin with an intro where the lead singer talks about her intentions: to bring her
neighbour flowers, to show up with a gift at a party, to send someone a card, but she ran out of time.
She says that her intentions take her too far and she doesn't have enough time. And then she goes
on to wonder, " What if she has enough time, she's just being selfish." She kind of blames herself.

Continuing her story, she says that she postponed her alarm 20 times because she was tired. That
there was traffic and a lot of different reasons why she didn't show up on time.

Performing the lyrics, she uses a lot of pictorial elements. For example, shouting, exclamations or
back vocals.

Example:

There was a fire (Metaphorically) singing on Piano.

Be there in five (Hyperbolically) singing on Piano.

The song opens on an offbeat with a bluesy guitar riff that moves into F-sharp major in the verse.
The syncopated rhythm gives us an expression of a clock, shoving us that time doesn’t stops. Soloist
sings over the chromatic chords of the mediant and sustained tonic and uses sixth chords. The
chorus features the same chords as the verse, but the rhythm is less syncopated. In the bridge, the
guitar takes on a groovy tone and she sings some blue notes.

The music video has a kind of arch as it starts and ends in the same location.
 A soloist is rehearsing in a music studio, but she's not getting anywhere. She puts her guitar aside
and starts daydreaming. Suddenly the instruments in the studio increase in size and surround her. I
think this is the director's way of showing the pressure of the deadline and the things she must
complete.

She starts running away from the huge instruments and hides in a guitar case. After entering the
world through a guitar case, Williams, along with guitarist Taylor York and drummer Zac Farro,
navigate through a colourful world reflecting the anxieties of the song's lyrics.

In this location they show the distortion of time: the frame is reversed, the dancers have long arms
and legs, time in the hourglass has stopped. Every character in the frame is resting or doing
something meaningless. Also, long legs can be considered as an additional pictorial element to the
text where she says that intentions have taken her very far. But it is only intentions not a word is said
about actions. Her legs are very long, but she stands still without taking a step.

On the second chorus, she finds herself in a square red room. She is in a blue suit and red spikes
grow out of the wall creating pressure on her. The soloist in the blue suit does a contrasting dance.
The movements show that she is trying to shield herself from them, just as in the real world she tries
to shield herself from all the things she must do.

In the playback a guitar is played. We see two different shots. In the first, she's running across the
guitar fingerboard, being chased by two band members. She is running away from them; I assume as
she is running away from responsibility.

In the second shot she stands in the centre of a circle, the dancers walk around her. Here she is like a
time lord.

In the next frame, she is representing scales. Sand is falling from her hands. It's as if she's weighing
the pros and cons.

And then we see a constant change of all the above locations. This moment in the video is the most
dynamic. At the climax, the rest of the band enters the music studio and draws her attention. The
lead singer is distracted from her daydreams, concentrates and we realise that they will now
continue their rehearsal.

Colours play a very important role in this music video. They are contrasting and overall, the music
video is very colourful. They use orange and black, red and blue. In the shot when she enters her
dream world there is almost the whole colour palette. The hairstyles and costumes also play an
important role. They are very different and colourful. There is also quite a big emphasis on fashion.
For example, the lead singer wears vintage Vivienne Westwood, including a corset from her 1990
Portrait collection and a gold dress from the Spring/Summer 2016 collection. She also wears a red
Rodarte dress, an American famous brand.

I think that the musicians, director, designer, make-up artist and all the specialists have very
successfully portrayed the theme of time. The colour, lighting perfectly convey the atmosphere of the
song. Emphasising the right things and not overdoing it. The dance movements are also very
successful in conveying everything the performers wanted to say. The metaphor with the theme of
Alice in Wonderland is also very well chosen.

I like this song very much because I am also often short of time. I have a lot of tasks and I want to do
them as well as possible, so I often must rush somewhere and finish everything at night. I also think
it's fun and this music gives me energy. Anyway, I think that the song touches on an important topic
of our time. Younger generations everywhere suffer from perfectionism, which leads to
procrastination, the fear of not getting it perfect, which keeps us from doing something as simple as
just getting started. To start doing something instead of worrying about putting off important tasks
until later. We should think and reconsider our attitude towards things. Be more organised and
disciplined. Not to take on too much and to consider our own capabilities.

Reference list:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toKJP3luQbI

Paramore.net

Wkipedia.org

https://www.spin.com/2023/02/paramore-video-running-out-of-time/

https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/paramore-new-song-the-news-music-video-horror-
theme-1235183309/

https://www.noripcord.com/reviews/music/paramore/why

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/paramore-release-running-out-of-time-music-
video-1234681071/