"Make a Move" is a song by American hard rock band Icon for Hire. It is the first single from their debut album Scripted and, following a few months of radio play,[1] was released to iTunes on July 5, 2011.[2] The song peaked at No. 13 on Billboard's Christian Rock chart.[3]
Composition
Like the rest of the album, "Make a Move" mixes a hard rock framework with pop-inspired synthesizers and hooks. Liz Somers of The Denver Post described it as "infectious rock with a hit of pop" and quoted frontwoman Ariel as saying in a press release, "There’s a tension really between heavy rock and pop, but never at the expense where it would overshadow the rock side...The pop part is like the sprinkles on top of a cake, but the actual cake is rich, dark and heavy."[4] Nathaniel Schexnayder of Jesus Freak Hideout said the song contained "impassioned vocals on top of [a] catchy beat and aggressive guitars", and felt it "provides a good reference point for potential buyers who want to get a feel for the group's style."[5]
Song meaning
David Jeffries of AllMusic interpreted the song as "[challenging] the punk-pop set to trade both angst and apathy for something positive".[6] In an interview, lead singer Ariel explained the song's lyrics: "There are amazing, wonderful, precious people in anguish because they don't have access to food. There are bright-eyed, adorable little girls forced to have sex with strangers for fourteen hours a day, and are drugged up if they fail to perform. And what do I do with information like that? I shrug, think about how sad it is, and hope that somebody will come along and do something about it. ["Make a Move"] brings up the fact that we do so freaking little with all this knowledge. We are selfish. I am selfish."[7]
Music video
The music video was filmed together with the video for the band's second single, "Get Well", during a four-day shoot in Houston with director Van Alan Blumreich.[8][9] A promotional behind-the-scenes video was released in June[10] before the full video was released via Guitar World magazine's website on August 15, 2011.[11]
The video depicts the band pulling up to an alley at night, where they paint socially critical graffiti on a wall (designs include a priest with dollar signs for eyes, a fast food meal marked with skulls and crossbones, a stick figure mother and child both holding cell phones, a crying woman carrying medical prescription bags, a baby pressing up against a television screen, and a woman wearing a blindfold with "ICON" written on it). This is intercut with footage of the band performing the song in a room decorated with similar graffiti designs, and later at a concert. The graffiti painting is interrupted when a police officer pulls up and starts chasing them down the alleyway. During the chase, guitarist Shawn Jump (playing in the graffiti-decorated room) is briefly seen finishing up a phone call before throwing down the receiver and resuming his playing. The officer finally catches up to Ariel, only to find her surrounded by a large group of teenagers staring defiantly at him. Intimidated, he turns around and runs off.
