Lyrics for Videotape as interpreted by black_cow_of_death

Videotape Lyrics
When I'm at the pearly gates
This'll be on my videotape
My videotape
My videotape

Mephistopheles is just beneath
And he's reaching up to grab me

This is one for the good days
And I have it all here in
Red, blue, green
Red, blue, green

You are my centre when I spin away
Out of control on videotape
On videotape
On videotape
On videotape

This is my way of saying goodbye
Because I can't do it fact to face
So I'm talking to you before
No matter what happens now
I won't be afraid
Because I know
Today has been the most perfect day I have ever seen

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thebigman
04-05-2007

Rated +1 
I agree with all the points above, but with one crucial difference. He is imagining that he is at the 'pearly gates'. but is inspired to do so not because he is feeling depressed or sad but because 'Because I know today has been the most perfect day I've ever seen'

I have enjoyed Radiohead since I saw the video for Creep while staying in L.A. in 1993 and I am continually confronted by people who think they are depressing. They may be morbid. They may dwell on the negative impact humans have, but I maintain that they ultimately find solace and joy in close personal relationships and unconditional love.

So, to re-iterate; this is a song prompting a person who is generally only articulate about negative feelings to take a moment that has seen them realise the joy someone else brings them and take that and express their happiness and appreciation the best way they know how.

Or something...

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thebigman
04-05-2007

Rated 0 
I agree with all the points above, but with one crucial difference. He is imagining that he is at the 'pearly gates'. but is inspired to do so not because he is feeling depressed or sad but because 'Because I know today has been the most perfect day I've ever seen'

I have enjoyed Radiohead since I saw the video for Creep while staying in L.A. in 1993 and I am continually confronted by people who think they are depressing. They may be morbid. They may dwell on the negative impact humans have, but I maintain that they ultimately find solace and joy in close personal relationships and unconditional love.

So, to re-iterate; this is a song prompting a person who is generally only articulate about negative feelings to take a moment that has seen them realise the joy someone else brings them and take that and express their happiness and appreciation the best way they know how.

Or something...

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thebigman
04-05-2007

Rated 0 
I agree with all the points above, but with one crucial difference. He is imagining that he is at the 'pearly gates'. but is inspired to do so not because he is feeling depressed or sad but because 'Because I know today has been the most perfect day I've ever seen'

I have enjoyed Radiohead since I saw the video for Creep while staying in L.A. in 1993 and I am continually confronted by people who think they are depressing. They may be morbid. They may dwell on the negative impact humans have, but I maintain that they ultimately find solace and joy in close personal relationships and unconditional love.

So, to re-iterate; this is a song prompting a person who is generally only articulate about negative feelings to take a moment that has seen them realise the joy someone else brings them and take that and express their happiness and appreciation the best way they know how.

Or something...

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thebigman
04-05-2007

Rated 0 
sorry - newbie.

Clicked add, nothing happened, clicked again - 3 posts.

Won't happen again...

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mattie_boy20
04-08-2007

Rated 0 
My favourite bit would have to be

'This is my way of saying goodbye/because I can't do it face to face/I'm talking to you after it's too late/From my videotape'

He just sounds so desperate in it. Stunning.

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el_chiso
04-30-2007

Rated 0 
The only version I've heard so far is "From The Basement."

It definitely ranks in the Top 10 Radiohead songs for me. The piano is beautifully miserable yet the lyrics are sometimes optimistic [rare for Radiohead] about his death:

"No matter what happens now/ I won't be afraid/ because I know today has been/ the most perfect day I've ever seen."

Personally, it's the way I've always imagined my death to be: sudden, full of apologies but happy.

Thank You, Radiohead.

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eatenbytheworms
05-24-2007

Rated 0 
I love your interpretation, thebigman. But I agree with almost everyone's interpretation. I think the line "I'm talking to you after it's too late" hints at suicidal feelings... having doubts that he will ever be able to experience anything like that perfect day. But it's also the thought of that memory that which keeps him alive and hoping he can re-live something comparable to that.

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steinbeckthepearl
05-27-2007

Rated 0 
Radiohead's Coldplay song. Thought it was supposed to go the other way round? Regardless, this will likely be their "back to rock" album, which Thom had mistakenly judged HTTT to be... Not that there's anything wrong with that. I am definitely willing to bet that a couple of these songs will actually get some good Radioplay and put/keep the album on the charts and bring some newbies in. I'm assuming (?) that it's due to the BAND'S consistently playing/feeling out these songs live before the Official Release - as opposed to Thom and Johnny's composing them in some secret FruityLoops bunker as seemed the case with the last few (not that there was anything wrong with that!). With the solos out of the way, this record sees the return of the BAND again.

Also, on this album, I feel that Radiohead is at last doing laps through previously traveled waters... All bands - even the greatest (like my favorite: Radiohead) - ultimately reach a point at which their output is predictable and, in a way, a form of self-parody. Not that it's a Letdown or anything, because it happens with age and experience on both the personal and collective level. Name me an empire that hasn't fallen? ("From flesh to wood to sapless stone," as I once observed.)

Anyway - can't wait for the release - Radiohead is (literally) one of the few bands whose plastic coasters I will willingly pay $12 - $15.00.

God bless Radiohead...



Should either of them care.

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Nin17
06-06-2007

Rated 0 
i think its one of the deepest Radiohead songs. It sounds almost existential to me , in the sense that the videotape could stand for a metaphor of deeds or past memories, my favourite line has got to be " you are my centre when i spin away.. out of control on videotape " it almost paints that picture in your mind of a video film of happy times , but somehow things have changed could be death approaching , and he has to say goodbye to his loved ones , but can bare to do it face to face , but i think it's a bit like that film my life where the man makes a video of himself before hes about to die for his unborn child , but yeah love the song .. can't wait for LP7

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jmckenzie
06-28-2007

Rated 0 
in thom yorke's solo version of this after he sings "because I can't do it face to face" he says "I'm talking to you after it's too late through my videotape" I think the story of this song, is about someone knowing their going to die, & capturing their emotions on film so that when he dies he can say goodbye through it instead of having to tell the person he's going to die.

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steinbeckthepearl
07-05-2007

Rated 0 
We all agree the song concerns a man reviewing his love in retrospect... I highly doubt it's due to suicide - that's more the listener's imposition... Rather, I think this song is concerned with the lover's hope that his love and positive efforts are an ultimate force for good and that the Universe may judge him fairly for it.

It's a prayer or meditation that his love will in some way be eternally recorded by and echoed throughout a sympathetic Universe. It is a karmic prayer for forgiveness and understanding.

Who is watching this videotape anyway, in an age of DVD's no less? In essence, we are all memories that fade as generations pass. Yet we all relate to the hope that the positive things we contribute, experience and offer unto Life will somehow reverberate and carry on beyond us.

It's purposefully phrased to make us reflect on our own morbidity and, more importantly, the positive emanations we should strive and hope to leave behind. Yet the song also understands that no matter how great one's hope the destiny of the Universe is determined by a force greater than individual hope... Indeed, it is a construct of collective aspirations and ambitions of which our contribution is only a part.

Love, give and pray. Let's learn.

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steinbeckthepearl
07-05-2007

Rated +1 
We all agree the song concerns a man reviewing his love in retrospect... I highly doubt it's due to suicide - that's more the listener's imposition... Rather, I think this song is concerned with the lover's hope that his love and positive efforts are an ultimate force for good and that the Universe may judge him fairly for it.

It's a prayer or meditation that his love will in some way be eternally recorded by and echoed throughout a sympathetic Universe. It is a karmic prayer for forgiveness and understanding.

Who is watching this videotape anyway, in an age of DVD's no less? In essence, we are all memories that fade as generations pass. Yet we all relate to the hope that the positive things we contribute, experience and offer unto Life will somehow reverberate and carry on beyond us.

It's purposefully phrased to make us reflect on our own morbidity and, more importantly, the positive emanations we should strive and hope to leave behind. Yet the song also understands that no matter how great one's hope the destiny of the Universe is determined by a force greater than individual hope... Indeed, it is a construct of collective aspirations and ambitions of which our contribution is only a part.

Love, give and pray. Let's learn.

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nicexdream
07-14-2007

Rated 0 
i really like the build in this one (even if i have a bad version, i noticed)

i think the person speaking is viewing their life as a videotape. they are satisfied with it (hence the last line). it's funny, cause you can always rewind a videotape very easily (even manually), so it's like the person has the ability and comfort to watch their life over and over. i don't know if you guys catch my drift.

i also like the red-blue-green reference. it reminds me of the time one of my old TVs got busted open and i could see the lighting inside and the filters were those colors. radiohead sure know what they're talking about always.

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eatenbytheworms
07-27-2007

Rated 0 
I get different a different meaning from this song depending on the mood I am in and depending on the version I am listening to. The From the Basement version is very sad.

I think it's a bittersweet song. I think it's about a particularly significant moment in a person's life. And he doesn't know if he will ever be able to see the person he shared this moment with, or whether they will ever be together, so instead of just being upset about it, he decides to be inspired by it and hold onto it, and keep it with him forever.

But everyone interprets songs differently, and a song's meaning sometimes changes for me. Sometimes I hear it as a hopeful song, sometimes I just feel that it's about life being uncertain, and how we should be grateful for those beautiful moments and not turn them into something negative just because things don't work out the way we would want them to.

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KingJelle
07-30-2007

Rated 0 
Read this on a site :

I was laying on my floor listening to Radiohead through headphones when the live version of Videotape came on. This is probably my favourite of the new Radiohead songs being premiered on their tour so I put it on repeat and tried to decipher the slurred lyrics. I noticed a few parallels between the song and the Hirokazu Kore-eda film After Life.




when I’m at the pearly gates, this will be on my videotape, my videotape.
If you haven’t seen After Life, the film is about a group of people who have died and find themselves in limbo (basically Heaven’s waiting room). A group of counselors interview each dead person and ask of them to remember their most important memory, the only one they can take with them to eternity. The dead people have a week to decide what their fondest memory is before the counselors recreate the memory onto film. Once it’s recreated, each person is shown the filmed version of their memory on videotape and they go on to eternity with that memory.




no matter what happens now, I won’t be afraid
because I know today has been the most perfect day I’ve ever seen.

The other lyrics in the song don’t have any immediate likeness to the film so this might just be me grasping at straws, but I like to think Thom is just emphasizing on a fascinating idea with his own personal twist which, in some ways, sums up The Radiohead Experience™. Just an observation.

http://www.pauseitmedia.com/?p=21

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tronistroy
10-05-2007

Rated 0 
amazing.

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lorak74
10-07-2007

Rated 0 
to steinbeckthepearl thanks so much for your comment, it's nearly as beautiful as the song itself. peace

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forthelove
10-09-2007

Rated +2 
As much as it worries me, I think this song is a rather straightforward goodbye.

The most important bit of the lyrics, I think, is the "when" at the beginning of the first two stanzas. He's not dead, and he's not being judged. But when it's all over, "this" will be on his videotape. "This", I think is "the most perfect day I've ever seen".

Now here's where my notion of it may lead me astray. It seems like "No matter what happens now," and "This is my way of saying goodbye because I can't do it face to face." mean that the person is leaving something(someone) they know and love. Not going into danger, just going away.

Other people in other places have speculated that this song is Radiohead's farewell to their fans.

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joemitchell3
10-10-2007

Rated 0 
Just finished listening to In Rainbows, the drumming and the build on this song are incredible...a phenomenal closer.

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MountWroclai
10-10-2007

Rated 0 
"you are my center when i spin away" oh my goodness... what a beautiful line.

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SymbolicMyth
10-10-2007

Rated 0 
Songs don't make me cry. This song makes me cry. I don't understand it. Even the most emotional songs in the world never make me cry, but this song makes me cry.
Seriously, Thom. You are God. Screw everyone who doesn't like Radiohead. The sentiments behind this song might be simple, but I seriously don't care. This song is unbelievable.

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srsh
10-10-2007

Rated 0 
I agree with MountWroclai, "you are my centre when i spin away"... wow, so much said in few words... this is so radiohead...

the piano and the drumming fit together so perfect!!

the first time I listened In Rainbows I thought Nude was going to be my fav but I think we have another winner...

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otoman14
10-10-2007

Rated 0 
the basement version of this is so epic and beautiful
yet the in rainbows version is so personal and perfect

this reminds me so much of elliott smith's "A Distorted Reality Is Now A Necessity To Be Free"s instrumental build up and extremely emotion vocal track

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sighlent
10-10-2007

Rated -1 
I think there is something to say about the line

"Because I can't do it face to face"

... I feel that its a reflection on our contemporary and once modern ways of communication. As we rapidly excel (and spin off center) in this age of tech substitution, we develop new approaches to communication and abandon the previous attempts and such just as quickly. Maybe there was something at the root of this that had to do with how we forget to make true and meaningful connections with each other, and instead supplement them with modern placeholders. Does the communication and engagement we had with our friends and family, as well as the the documentation of our time together fade away as the antiquity of the mediums set in.

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asknoquestions
10-10-2007

Rated 0 
In this song he mentions Mephistopheles, who is one of the main characters in Goethe's Faust. On the new album (in Rainbows) there's a track, "Faust Arp." Just figured I would point that out.

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