Radiohead- Burn The Witch

Radiohead

The band was started in 1985 and was originally called 'On A Friday' until 1991 when it was picked up by EMI records and changed its name to Radiohead. It consists of 5 members Thom Yorke, Johnny Greenwood, Colin Greenwood, Ed O'Brien and Philip Selway. Then in 1992 they released their first single 'Creep' which was a hit. In 1995 they released the album 'Ok Computer' which encouraged their fans to discuss it online. In 2001 they left their label EMI to go independent which allowed them to make whatever they want. In 2016 they evaporated their social media presence. They gave away their album 'Rainbows' for free and people still paid for it. They are known for having a pretentious and constantly interacting fan base that constantly discuss the meanings of their songs. They are knowing for being an experimental band that put meanings in their songs that keep the fandom engaged. Most of the money made in the music industry is from concert ticket and merchandise sales so building up a strong brand is important.

Burn The Witch

Narrative

The video opens with a bird chirping and then cuts to the narrative as it follows an inspector as he comes to visit a seemingly peaceful village. The village seems happy and normal but more and more sinister details about the village such as a red cross being painted on someones door, kids playing on a witch trial device, people with masks and swords surrounding a woman tied to a post, a beef wellington with bones sticking out of it, a noose and gallows with flowers around it and villagers picking fruit with their supervisor drinking moonshine. These events reach their climax as the inspector is shown a giant wicker man statue that he is encouraged to step inside where he is locked in and the wicker man is set on fire with the video ending with the same bird and the inspector escaping the villagers. This follows Todorov's narrative theory as an equilibrium is found in the peaceful village and is disrupted by the Inspector's arrival which leads to the chain of events of the Inspector being shown around at all the vaguely sinister parts of the village which culminates at the climax of the Inspector being thrown in the wicker man statue and burned which forms a new equilibrium as the Inspector escapes and the village goes back to normal. Levi Strauss' binary opposition is followed between the village and the Inspector as his arrival creates conflict.

Intertextuality

There are multiple intertextual references in this video which all link to the ideologies of the music video.
Trumpton- Trumpton was a kids show that followed the peaceful and idealistic town of Trumpton another small detail about Trumpton was that all citizens of Trumpton were white and had no diversity. The music video was filmed with the same style as Trumpton to emphasise the so-called idealistic life of the village in the video and the ideas of xenophobia and the fear of outsiders and enforcing traditions.
The Wicker Man- The video follows the same story as The Wicker Man which is a movie about a police detective that goes to a remote island to investigate a murder only to find out the village isn't as pleasant as it seems as he is trapped in a giant wicker man and burnt to death as part of the island's traditions. This also links the themes of the video about the fear of outsiders and the dangers of tradition.
Lord Of The Flies- There is a pub in the background of the video called 'The Speared Boar' which is a reference to Lord Of The Flies which is a book about a group of kids on an island that eventually go savage and try to kill each other. This links to the themes about the dangers of mob mentality in the music video.
Witch trials- Two kids are using a ducking stool as a see saw. The device was used to dunk women who were accused of being witches and added to the sinister undertones of the village.
Red Crosses- A red cross is put on the door of a person which was used to warn others of plague which adds to the village's sinister nature
Gallows- A noose is covered in flowers in the video to show the sinister nature of the village and foreshadows their attempted murder of the inspector

Ideology

The music video criticises mob mentality through the villagers conforming to the murder of the Inspector and the entire town joining in. This supports a Tweet that Thom Yorke sent on the day Donald Trump was elected containing the lyrics to Burn The Witch which criticises Trump supporters mob mentality and their xenophobia. Xenophobia and a fear of outsiders is also shown in the villagers murder of the one outsider that came to the village (the Inspector) and the links to The Wicker Man which has the same message. Tradition is also criticised in the video by the links to the Wicker Man and the use of old traditions like the red crosses on doors, gallows and the ducking stool and the style of Trumpton which championed tradition, this presents Radiohead as a left leading band that doesn't care about conserving tradition.

miscellaneous

  • Radiohead's mailing club got sent a postcard that said 'we know where you live' for the release of the song as it is in the lyrics of the music

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