Thursday, July 3, 2008

Radiohead's "Just"



I'm a big fan of Fuse's TV show called Loaded where they play five back-to-back videos of a single artist. I've seen many of these, and they're pretty good.

So I was watching Radiohead's version the other day, and the last video they played was "Just." I'm a little behind the times; I've never seen it before. So, for those of you who have seen it, and seen it a while ago, the video builds up and builds up to the secret that this man laying on the street possesses. And right when you think he'll tell you at the end, he doesn't. He moves his lips in a way that no viewer could read or interpret, and the ending is overtly dramatic.

What does he say? What is the meaning of this video?

Watch the video here.

Now, I read some forums where people guess what he said. The best response I read basically said that it doesn't matter what he says. The point is that we don't know. We don't need to know. We can make up our own story and arguments.

"All the director of the video will say is 'To tell you would deaden the impact, and it would probably make you want to lie down in the road, too.'"

Others said things like, "If you lie this way, you can hear Radiohead." Or "I've seen the way." It's a rip off to Monty Python's deadly joke.



Look at the last stanza of the lyrics:

you do it to yourself you do
and that's what really hurts is
you do it to yourself just you,
you and no-one else
you do it to yourself.

That must have some connection, and if not, then we're doing this to ourselves. We're thinking too much over this, and maybe some things just shouldn't be analyzed and scrutinized to the degree they are. Just another idea.

What do you think he says? Or does it not matter? What do you think of the video anyway?