"I'm not mad. Just leave me alone". Well, that's a nice image to open this post isn't it? This is actually Radiohead's "Just" music video - a video famous for its mysterious character laying down on the road who refuses to move, citing that if everyone knew what he knew, they would want to lay on the ground too - or so the director would have you believe...
This isn't my favourite music video, but it's the one I keep coming back to. It's simple yet effective, and leaves you feeling amused and perhaps slightly frustrated afterwards!
It begins simply with the mystery man in question just lying on the road, when a passer-by trips over him...
Asked why he's lying there, the man simply replies the usual "Leave me alone" and "go away" etc - a clear sign that he wants to be left alone. But as the gathering crowd circle and even a showing of curiosity from Radiohead themselves playing in a room above the scene, the man finally lets loose about what's troubling him, but as he confesses, the subtitles are gone, thus making it impossible for us to know what he's saying. Even to this day, the band refuse to give the answer away, saying it would deaden the impact!
And the following scene...
...everyone is lying!
This video brings out our curious side that has rarely been used in music videos. For once, the music video is just as good (if not better) than the song itself!
It's not exactly groundbreaking in any way, but it's an enjoyable video to watch, as long as you can endure Thom Yorke's dodgy carrot-mop. Radiohead have plenty of great videos; from the majestic Street Spirit, which uses slow motion techniques, to the recent House of Cards video, which only uses no cameras whatsoever - only lasers to pin point solid objects.
For me though, Just comes out on top not just because of its simplicity, but because it's so effective aswell. I don't think I want to know the answer to be honest!
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