Radiohead Week - 15

“The last taboo in stand-up”, noted Stewart Lee at the conclusion of his routine last year, “is a man trying to do something sincerely and well”. A joke is always funnier when it brings with it an air of truth. In the case of Thom Yorke’s video for Lotus Flower, which I had already palmed aside as a masterpiece that required no further attention, Lee’s quaint remark encapsulates the way in which Radiohead hereby transcend the boundary between music and art.

Lotus Flower has become a viral sensation; garnering over 5 million hits, no less, over the course of six says, which is truly remarkable. That number, one considers, cannot simply come about through bespectacled Radiohead fans sitting awake in their bedroom hitting refresh every five minutes, which implies that outsiders, real people are actually watching it too. Imagine that! Perhaps the best way to gauge a Radiohead album is to assess the way it’s received by newcomers, virgins, the blessed, those who know-not-what-they-miss. Indeed, a good chum of mine, Luke sparked a conversation with me yesterday, unprompted, about the merits of Lotus Flower. “I like it”, he said, “and I don’t know why”. Ah, if ever there were a convert waiting to feel the limb of kings reach out and touch him, it’s here.

There’s been a flurry of online discussion about the video. Some have declared they don’t “get” it, as though there is anything to get. Similarly, the predictable array of unanswerable questions have all been asked; is it some sort of social commentary, a satire of the music industry or of pop culture, a parody of Beyonce’s Single Ladies? (There's even a convincing spoof interview with the "choreographer" on YouTube that analyses (or not) the dance moves.) Is it just a joke? Was it carefully and deliberately constructed, a marketing technique with a view to becoming a viral hit, evidenced perhaps by the dubbed mock-up videos and imitation videos? My answer to all if this is No. It’s a man, on a stage, attempting to do something sincerely and well.