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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cura
09-02-2008

Rated +1 
I think I'm in love with you eatenbytheworms. That was a great post. (jk about the love part, you know what I mean :))
I also believe that lyrics, in general, not only Radiohead's, can be interpreted in many different ways. Videotape for me means living a moment that transcends all the bad moments you've had in your life. A moment alone that makes an entire life worth living and sharing it with one person. Creating such a bond between you and that person that saying goodbye isn't possible.
Maybe he doesn't want that bond to be destroyed by other events which is why he wants to say goodbye and cut the ties when it's at its best.
Anyway, it's just my personal interpretation ofcourse.

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afarnen
09-04-2008

Rated 0 
http://radiohead.com/Archive/Site4/tt027.html

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Wolfhead
09-05-2008

Rated -1 
I thought of this and I hope it won't happen but this might be the band's way of saying goodbye to the fans and saying that it's their last album. Read the lyrics of the last paragraph (its sad...and scary!)

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Karmum
09-05-2008

Rated 0 
Even though I think many people have pretty much hit the nail into the ground, if you will, I'm still going to give my impression. And Wolfhead, that is certainly an interesting theory, but I certainly hope it isn't true, it would certainly apply, however.

First off, I think this is more of a hypothetical thing. It seems like more the "person" who is being refereed to, whether real or not, seems like they are suicidal, however, won't act upon it. It appears more like he wants to know if his life was all he wanted it to be, because it mentions how someone is "reaching up to grab me", which seems to apply to a Satan-like figure, and being in Hell.

It definitely can point towards a suicidal-like thing, but the "person" seems to be more depressed, and is probably contemplating the idea of suicide. It easily also appears he is afraid to tell the person he is talking to this information, and obviously, is talking how it will be in a videotape. I have a feeling this person he is talking to is a loved one.

Hypothetical or not, the last three statements are probably some of the greatest I have ever read, and probably in the song. The person seems so depressed that if he was going to commit suicide soon after the videotape, he is enjoying everything before-so. It seems to be the most perfect day for him because he thinks he will be able to live in peace now.

I forgot to add in the statement "So I'm talking to you before it's too late", that also applies to the fact he knows he cannot talk to the person he is referring to before he possibly "goes out", and can reminisce in the fact he will still be talking to the person after his death.

I think its hypothetical, but definitely pointing into the direction towards suicide. Just my thoughts, so give me a break, only a 15 year old. However, like I stated before, this is easily probably one of the greatest songs I have ever heard, and probably one of the greatest songs lyrically, as well. The message that comes off this song can be interpreted in many ways, especially the one WolfHead mentioned.

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Mjauwkis
09-15-2008

Rated 0 
oh man, what a great song... the piano is amazing, it makes my skin crawl when it starts. Then again... all the instruments are great in this song.
I haven't had time to reflect on the song but it's really good... that's for shure :)

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macca23
09-19-2008

Rated 0 
I wouldn't take the meaning solely based in the context of the lyrics. The chord progression goes around in a circle, with no one complete resolve, it keeps moving. The theme of infinity rings out in both the music and the lyrics. A circle has no end. The video tape is the protagonists way of living on forever, they will be eternally on this video tape, just like the memories of the good days. Note the repetition of the word video tape, again a theme of things continuing on and on. The memories kept in red blue green eternally. Our memories are stored in our brains until we die, then they are gone. However, his best moments were captured on video, in light (RGB) when mixed together form the images of his lifetime and will never be lost or destroyed by something as human as death. The person no longer needs to fear whatever happens after this because they know they have left something for people to remember them by forever and they can live on, whether or not there is a heaven. Calling heaven the 'pearly gates' may be using that image of entering heaven as a way to make it seem death easier to accept for his loved ones, he may go to heaven or hell or maybe neither exist.

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

Here he is explaining to us and to the person/people that the video is intended for that he is bearing his soul and may spin out of control emotionally as he speaks about the people he loves so much, it is such a huge occasion.

It is the most perfect day of his life because he now faces death without fear and can really appreciate everything he had, celebrating the love of close ones and the beautiful times they had together. I don't think this is a song about suicide, more about facing the inevitability of death and accepting it so he can finally lose that ever present fear of death and actually be happy. We all face death, all humans have that part of them that wants to live forever, to beat death. Videotape is his was of achieving this.

That would be my take on it anyway, what do ye think?

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andweirdfishes
09-19-2008

Rated +1 
I believe he is talking about his death, and when people make r.i.p. videos and the t.v. plays little segments of the artists songs and they talk about how the person died, and his life

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Big Happy Panda
09-25-2008

Rated 0 
Somehow, this song is very mesmerising and helps me to calm down.

I think this song is about celebrating the beautiful moments in life. Miserable things happen, but there are also happy moments that the narrator wants to keep alive. The videotape hereby be a reference to a way of keeping these moments alive. Even when he dies himself, the videotape still exists and the memories aren't fully destroyed. He is doing this, making this tape, because he knows he will die soon, perhaps he plans to commit suicide.

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fake.and.safe
10-04-2008

Rated 0 
i love radiohead so much, that sometimes like in this song when i listen to it, it just makes me too overwhelmed and emotionally drained from listening to it, where i kind of wish i didn't like them so much, because some songs hurt to listen to, but over all i love radiohhead and if they weren't around would be floating senselessly around in the world of so called "good music", with no talent.

Anyway, this is one of those song's, that drain me.

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westing202
10-07-2008

Rated 0 
This song makes me think of The Road by Cormac McCarthy -- especially the line "no matter what happens now, you shouldn't be afraid," which is like something the man would say to the boy. Also, the sparseness of the song reminds me of the emptiness of the hellscape the man and the boy travel through.

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liquoricefish
10-08-2008

Rated -1 
"Thom helps in interviews by suggesting that, for him, the album came from moments where he couldn't avoid dwelling on the fact that he will have to die one day, and in the face of the scarcity and the preciousness of live, and the undeniable need to live life well that follows... I stopped thinking of Videotape as song describing a family watching a dying person's postmortem proclamation of a life well lived, and I started thinking of it as portraying some unfulfilled guy who's run out on his family--the one in the backseat on the way back from the grocery store--to live out his fantasies, mid-life-crisis style, and is too cowardly to let his loved ones know face to face because, deep down, he knows it's the wrong decision and he's just rationalizing. At least that would explain why the song is so profoundly sad...

Again, it's possible, but I think I see it differently. For me, because neither Reckoner nor Videotape lays out the kind of gruesome, obsessive end that awaits in All I Need, because they're both left open-ended, I can't help but see the songs as a real and heartrending glimmer of hope. Hope for a genuine way out. If you follow Radiohead, you know just how rarely this sort of real hope is made so beautifully explicit on a record, just how rare and truly epiphanal a moment like Reckoner is, or could be. If I convinced you that you just can't take the way the song sounds as gospel for what it means, then just look at the lyrics. It's all there: a recognition of mortality that renders life inestimably valuable, an explicit understanding that we're not necessarily at fault for what tempts us--that we're only human, in other words--but even if we are imperfect, there is a beauty in that, a beauty as natural as the visual images of nature in Scotch Mist, a beauty that reminds us that we have responsibilities to each other...and that means we have to leave behind the empty lives we used to lead and learn to live in ways that uplift and fulfill each other, while we're here. Videotape, then, is a somber moment of departure made glorious in having fulfilled that responsibility, perhaps only once. But once is all that matters."

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vikvader
10-18-2008

Rated -1 
yes definitely suicide, a suicide note on videotape, maybe for rachel

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rachel__face
10-20-2008

Rated +1 
this song makes me happier than any other radiohead song. no matter what happens now, you shouldn't be afraid because i know today has been the most perfect day i've ever seen.

it has the most content feeling of any song i've ever heard. "I will die, and i am finally, finally okay with that" is what this song says to me. it makes me think that thom has finally found closure, finally found something nice to think about life.

but he is thom so he is still very sad because he will always be a sad man. i did not say it is a happy song, it is a very calm and relaxed song of acceptance and finally finding PEACE.

it is wonderful. just...an excellent song.

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topaz4
10-22-2008

Rated 0 
This has become the most meaningful song to me because it was playing on my stereo when I had a near fatal car accident. It was raining heavily on a busy highway and my car actually spun out of control and nearly flipped over. I had never understood the lyrics in the middle of the song, but I just realized today that "You are my centre when I spin away/Out of control on videotape" was playing right as I was screaming while spinning towards my death. When my car finally stopped and I became elated that I wasn't going to die, Thom was singing "I won't be afraid/Because I know/Today has been the most perfect day I have ever seen"

When I was spinning in my car I saw bits of my life play out before my eyes...like on a videotape. I was "out of control on videotape."

This is the creepiest coincidence that has ever occurred to me. Creepier still that I have an unusually high fear and rejection of death. I can still hardly believe it. I am sure many of you are skeptical, but it's not really possible for me to persuade you. You would have to know me to realize I don't lie about these things.

It's ironic how many of you interpret the song to be an acceptance of death since it was playing while I was screaming in utter fear and complete rejection of death. It was as though Thom York was trying to calm me as I spun towards the abyss.

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1 Reply
eatenbytheworms
10-31-2008

Rated +1 
For me the line 'no matter what happens now you shouldn't be afraid' (and the idea of being 'in rainbows') is about the idea that sometimes our experiences in life, even the people who are in our thoughts but not necessarily a part of our daily life, exist in our minds in a kind of videotape. It is impossible to live in eternal happiness, but these moments captured in this 'videotape' can indeed be perfect, and we hold on to them forever.

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Prieto :)
12-02-2008

Rated 0 
Hes talking about the last moments of life. have u heard the phrase "i saw my life pass before my eyes?" well it describes this song. its about reflexing about your live on your deathbed, and realising that (in this case) u lived well, thus u can accept death without fearing it. All his mempories from his life are put together in this "videotape" wich he will be showing at the "pearly gates" (heaven)

Its a pretty "original" theme for a song i think.... if u lived well and happy, why should u be afraid of death? (hence the phrase 'no matter what happens now you shouldn't be afraid') It really reminds me of my grandfather, and (even though he was unconcious by this time) what he must've felt.

Thats why i love radiohead... their lyrics are really powerfull and are complemented perfectly by the music.

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grasswidow103
01-07-2009

Rated 0 
"You are my center when I spin away" brought me back to the sonnets of John Donne.

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grasswidow103
01-07-2009

Rated 0 
"You are my center when I spin away" brought me back to the sonnets of John Donne.

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grasswidow103
01-08-2009

Rated 0 
A Valediction* Forbidding Mourning (1611) by John Donne


As virtuous men pass mildly' away,
And whisper to their souls to go,
Whilst some of their sad friends do say
The breath goes now, and some say, no;

5 So let us melt, and make no noise,
No tear-floods, nor sigh-tempests move,
'Twere profanation of our joys
To tell the laity our love.

Moving of th'earth brings harms and fears,
10 Men reckon what it did and meant;
But trepidation of the spheres,
Though greater far, is innocent.

Dull sublunary lovers' love
(Whose soul is sense) cannot admit
15 Absence, because it doth remove
Those things which elemented it.

But we by'a love so much refined
That our selves know not what it is,
Inter-assuréd of the mind,
20 Care less, eyes, lips, and hands to miss.

Our two souls therefore, which are one,
Though I must go, endure not yet
A breach, but an expansion,
Like gold to airy thinness beat.

25 If they be two, they are two so
As stiff twin compasses are two;
Thy soul, the fixed foot, makes no show
To move, but doth, if th' other do.

And though it in the center sit,
30 Yet when the other far doth roam,
It leans and hearkens after it,
And grows erect, as that comes home.

Such wilt thou be to me, who must
Like th' other foot, obliquely run;
35 Thy firmness makes my circle just,
And makes me end where I begun.



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sotrlmml
01-09-2009

Rated 0 
I think the videotape represents life and your life is just one huge tape and EVERYTHING on it are the sequence of events that have happened in your life.
He is looking back on his life or his "videotape" and realizes the love and pain that is going to keep being on his videotape and the love and pain that has already happened.

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Reublucian
01-18-2009

Rated 0 
Faust is a figure in Christian mythology who made a deal with Mephistopheles (the devil). The deal was that Faust would get whatever he desired but if he ever acknowledged that day was the greatest day of his life, Mephistopheles gets his soul. It is also said in Christian mythology that when you die, you go through your life to find that one moment when you were the happiest you ever were. That moment is then put onto a 'videotape' and you live in that moment for all eternity. Mephistopheles is directly mentioned in the song. Remember the deal Faust made with him? The album ends with the words, "Whatever happens now, I won't be afraid because I know today has been the most perfect day I've ever seen." I think you can figure out the rest.

Just my take~Reublucian

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lindentaber
02-08-2009

Rated 0 
this song is the end to faust.
a myth about a man who makes a deal with the devil
he can have anything he wants but at the moment he find true happiness his sole will be given to the devil. (Mephistopholis in this song)

its a love song about that. he has finally found true happiness in love.

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jrocktheparty
02-11-2009

Rated +1 
I wholeheartedly agree with Drewb18c1 in his saying that 'Thom has put his heart and soul into this song.'

This really impresses me as message that is particularly close to Thom's heart.

I was so pleased to find that it was in fact 'mephistopheles' that I was hearing in these lyrics. Thom's character shows through his singing so well. For me, using mythology invokes mystery and uncertainty surrounding death. I am a young twenty-something with misgivings surrounding my pentecostal upbringing. Nevertheless, I've always retained a sense of 'spirituality' that I can't help but accept.

I'm not sure how much this song has to do with Thom and a videotape 'goodbye' or 'i love you'. I interpret it as a manifestation of Thom's sincere feelings for someone through song- probably his most articulate medium. Maybe this is Thom's exploration of human spirituality.. a voicing of sincere conviction and connection with someone.

Its inspiring.

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Ximalim
03-01-2009

Rated +1 
I think the song is about holding on to a memory that's slipping away with time. The song itself is kind of documenting the beauty of the moment. He's capturing whatever he's feeling in the song, much like a videotape would capture a brief section of time. He knew it wouldn't last forever.. whatever that moment was, you can absolutely tell that it was deeply meaningful to him.

For me though... when I turned 19, my then girlfriend and I used to just lie in bed all day. There were moments were we would just be. I get all these fucked up visualizations of just getting like... transported into the past. Unfortunately that point in time has moved on, and listening to this song transports me to back then. I have a feeling that songs as good as this can only be made with those type of experiences in mind. I don't think I've ever heard a more beautiful song in that way in my entire life.

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Blackmofasa9
03-07-2009

Rated 0 
Its about Nicole from Dead Space. Think about it.

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