Music Video AnalysisRadiohead - Just

Genre characteristics

The genre is alternative/experimental rock. One convention of alternative rock is that the performers often

wear smart-casual clothing. In this music video that is exactly what the performance part of the music video is wearing.

The people in the narrative part of the video are wearing suits and ties because they are on the way from or to work.

Another convention of this genre are frequent close ups of band members, and mainly the lead singer. This video follows closely to this convention with a lot of close ups of the lead singer Thom Yorke.

Visual/Lyrical Relationship

One visual/lyrical relationship within the video is when the lead singer sings the lyric “You do it to yourself, you do”. He sings this as the protagonist in the narrative section of the video is laying on the floor shouting “Don’t touch me” at people trying to help him to his feet. This is a relationship that has many interpretations but could possibly mean that the mans problems are caused by him and only him.

Another visual relationship is when Thom sings “and that’s what really hurts”. This is just after he sings the first lyric, but in a previous verse. The relationship is seen in the protagonists face and emotions. It looks like a realization that they are doing it themselves and this is what causes him to lay on the pavement.

Visual/musical relationship

The music is slow at the beginning when it is the start of the day in the video. The man gets into a bath as the main singer sings “Can’t get the stink off”. This is a visual/lyrical relationship.

The music starts picking up and getting a lot faster as the man lays on the floor and another man trips over him. The man slowly gets up and talks to the man laying on the floor and this is when the music slows down during the conversation.

Another visual/musical relationship is it gets very fast and the guitar makes a very high pitched noise as the crowd of people surround him.

The notion of looking

The notion of looking is pointed out by the Theorist Andrew Goodwin.

The notion of looking is represented in this video a lot of times such as when the performers are looking at the man and crowd from a window, or when the crowd is looking at the man.

Representation

Some of the shots in this video are significant and link to the wider theme of representation. An example is the high angle at 1:32 of the man that is asking to help the man on the floor. This represents the theme of caring but also superiority. It also has connotations of fear and intimidation.

Another example of representation is the close up shot at 2:50. This can represent the man being overwhelmed because the camera is so close to him and you can see a lot of things surround him.