The story of Naked Hercules
THE MV 'NO SURPRISES'
Some say that Radiohead sings the universe. That’s why we know Radiohead’s songs as ‘space rock’. An album Ok Computer is the most prominent figure in space rock scene. The songs in the album give us an impression that we are in space synthetically. Even in the lyrics, they talk about the cosmos openly.
Take me onboard their beautiful ship, show me the world as I’d love to see it
Actually, I don’t think Radiohead are interested in E.T. What they are talking about is not the universe, but the earthly ones. Among them, he says things: hidden from shadows, ignored, turned out to be neglected. They are modern Hikikomori, Young kangaroo and ‘the stranger’
The strangers are ‘Naked Hercules’. They are defenseless. We would have seen them on TV or SNS. Unfortunately, we shall soon have erased them from memory. Because they make us feel uncomfortable. We don’t want to accept the world where they live. But the world is indeed a real life.
The world isn’t new one. It is not surprising. The lead vocalist, Thom Yorke show us the real-life baldly. A naked man putting a cap on space suit - traces of the universe remain here - looks at me. When the first verse ends, the water gradually rises. The water fills his hat, but he just keeps his pleading eyes open. It seems that he shouts, “look at me!”. What a sad will.
We are all human beings. Thom Yorke shows off humanism in the MV. He emphasizes people who are knocked down by a job, fail to pay back home loans and wander without nationality are all our neighbors and ask us to be aware of the will of the strangers who live breathlessly. To highlight this point, he was drowned in the MV.
He gives a mic to the under-voiced. It captures our attention. The visual expression is sensational but OK. We are already used to being an irritant.
The MV drags the weak out of the shadows. Thom Yorke makes us consider the strangers who don't intend to live a creative life or can't live a life like that. And he speaks from their standpoint: “Are we stranger?No, are we alone?” And then he begs: “please understand us”. As The opinion of Meursault, the protagonist of the novel, changes from “I don’t know” to “I understand”, what the British singer desires is ordinary people’s understanding.
I want to present the MV to people: erecting a fence, sending back a refugee ship and demolishing their house.
And I’ll ask. “Did you see that MV?”
