What shall i say of these save that they too stand in the sunlight, 

but with their backs to the sun?

They see only their shadows, 

and their shadows are their laws

 

the director actually tells us the identity of the man on the floor in the very first line of subtitled dialogue.

And that is far from the only reference

to the idea of God and Jesus and religion in the video.

there are lots of other references to Jesus and the gospel story in the video. look at various elements and moments in the video once again, but through the lens of assuming that that first line of subtitle dialogue is not a swear word, but it's telling us the identity of the man on the floor.

The story of Jesus launching his time as a religious leader in the Bible starts off with him being baptised in the River Jordan, and as soon as he emerges from the water, his ministry begins.

And what's the first scene in the whole video?

It's the main guy getting into the water in his bathtub. Baptism. There is also a large proportion of phrases in the subtitle dialogue that are taken directly from the pages of the gospels.

The second man says 'You've been drinking,' and the same allegation is made against Jesus in Luke 7:34.

A member of the listening crowd says 'He must

be mad' and the same allegation is made against Jesus in John 10:20.

The man on the floor says 'Don't touch me' and Jesus says the same thing in john 20:17.

The man on the floor says 'You don't know what you ask of me' and Jesus says the same thing in Matthew 20:22.

But now let's look at that final phrase, the one without subtitles, the one that says 'I've seen a way'.

this is meant to be one of Jesus' most famous phrases from John 14:6, where he says 'I am the way',

This is the line in the Bible where Jesus proclaims himself the messiah,

It's also worth noting that Christianity itself is called 'The Way' in the Bible.

Then there's the American police officer in London. Why an American copper in London?

that represents the dominant world power at the time.

Back in the days of Jesus it was Rome, but today,

where the story is set, it's America. And just as Rome was, the representative of the dominant world power at the time is also converted and ends up down on the floor. This mirrors Rome under the emperor Constantine, adopting Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire in 313 AD.

the man lying down in the street grabs everyone's attention seemingly reluctantly, seemingly unwillingly, but why is he laying down in a street? The street is a very, very public place, it's meant for walking, not lying down. He has a home where he could lie down, we see it in the first shot. He's doing something that is guaranteed to attract attention and is doing it in public in one of the busiest cities on the planet.

It's a choice to lay down in the street, not at home, and so he gets his first follower seemingly by chance - except it's not by chance because he made the choice to lie down in a public place. Even those who think he's mad are still fascinated by him and stick around. The man on the floor however plays them so well that even the people who think he's mad end up becoming his followers. It's brilliant because the man on the floor is playing the reluctant messiah. He says he wants to be left alone, he says he doesn't want all this attention, whilst simultaneously doing something in a very public place specifically designed to attract a lot of attention. It's a crash course in the art of manipulation.

Here's the first verse: Can't get the stink off, he's been hanging around for days. Comes like a comet, suckered you but not your friends. One day he'll get to you and teach you how to be a holy cow.

In the first line we meet a character called The Stink.

We know it's a character because it's a 'he', not an 'it'. The Stink is a person who hangs around for days, unwanted.

In the second line we learn something about this male character. He suckers people - not all, but some.

And in the third line we find out what he does to the people he suckers: he teaches them to be a holy cow.

synchronicity between the lyrics, the video, and this interpretation of both.

The chorus says 'You do it to yourself and that's what really hurts, you do it to yourself, just you, you and no one else.'

this video is a 1990s British retelling of the Jesus story. the story of the video and the song is that of false messiahs and how easy they have it when it comes to suckering people.

how people are just so desperate to believe in something that a false messiah can literally just pretty much lie there,

and the people will just do it to themselves

in March 2020 Jamie Thraves said  'Sometimes I'm very tempted  to go online under a pseudonym  on YouTube and plant the exact truth amongst all  the conjecture. 
Perhaps I've done that already...'

Radiohead - Just

 

People have been speculating about this for years

The Matrix

he is trying to self actualise and wake up from the dream world - so he tells the others how he knows they are in the Matrix somehow , keeping in mind because we don't know what he said, we don't know how long he was talking for, we might assume it's only a short sentence due to the cut, and maybe it is, but it could go on for longer for him to get the explanation out so they realise

Dream:

he has realised he is in a dream (not in the Matrix, in our real world, having a normal night time dream) - he has not actually got up, bathed, dressed, and gone out as we saw him do, he is still asleep, and that was part of the dream

- he lies down like that so he can wake up back in bed in that position - the people round him are not real, so when he wakes up they will cease to exist - he tells them this and they lie down as well, like him, waiting for him to wake up so the dream can end - as in Inception, his subconscious creates these people and he talks with them as they "exist" to him inside the dream

- as well as Matrix this idea brings to mind the opening of Vanilla Sky driving and running in the empty city, then his interactions with the characters through the film who are of course not real

- then Truman Show where he starts to realise something is wrong even though he is awake and in the real world - we are watching this man on a TV screen here - what if, like Truman, he is in that TV world and realises it in some way, so he just lies down in the street - the actors playing the other characters don't know what to do apart from ask him what he is doing - whatever he says is some explanation of what he has realised - the show will end when "Truman" effectively "quits" the show and the whole reality they live in will cease to function

There have been a lot of "religious" discussions as well

 

For what is evil but good tortured by its own hunger and thirst? 

Verily when good is hungry it seeks food even in dark caves, 

and when it thirsts it drinks even of dead waters

 

the mountain to the climber is clearer from the plain

 

Man will be on the path to perfection 

when he feels that he is one with space that knows no bounds and with the ocean that has no shores; 

when he becomes that undying fire, 

that ever-gleaming light,

 that still air or that violent storm,

 those clouds charged with lightning, thunder and rain,

 those rivers merry or sad,

 those trees in bloom or shedding their leaves,

 those lands that rise up into mountains or slope down into valleys, 

those fields under seed or lying fallow.

 

The great dildo of consequence often arrives unlubed 

Summer

 These silent summer nights

even the stars
seem to whisper.
—Kobayashi Issa,

These brown summer grasses?
The only remains
of "invincible" warriors ...
—Matsuo Basho,

Forbearing the night
with its growing brilliance:
the summer moon.
—Tsukioka Yoshitoshi

The moon still appears,
though far from home:
summer vagrant.
—Matsuo Basho

On a hot summer night
dreams and reality
merge.
—Takahama Kyoshi,

Every time I see the lightening
Every time I hear the thunder
Every time I close the window
When this happens in the summer
Oh the night is so inviting
I can feel that you are so close
I can feel you when the wind blows
Blows right through my heart

It's hot here at night

Lonely, black and quiet
On a hot summer night

For all the dreams and schemes
People are as they seem
On a hot summer night

Hot summer streets
And the pavements are burning
I sit around

Trying to smile
But the air is so heavy and dry

The city is crowded
My friends are away
And I'm on my own

It's too hot to handle
So I got to get up and go

Summer breeze makes me feel fine
Blowing through the jasmine in my mind

Sweet days of summer, the jasmine's in bloom

summer afternoon; 

to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language

The summer night is like a perfection of thought

Summer Afternoon

 

summer afternoon; 

to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language

Summer breeze makes me feel fine
Blowing through the jasmine in my mind

Sweet days of summer, the jasmine's in bloom

 Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?

Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date:

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm’d;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature’s changing course untrimm’d;

But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander’st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest:

So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,

So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

Summer night

 

The summer night is like a perfection of thought

When this happens in the summer
Oh the night is so inviting

It's hot here at night

Lonely, black and quiet
On a hot summer night

For all the dreams and schemes
People are as they seem
On a hot summer night

These silent summer nights

even the stars
seem to whisper.
—Kobayashi Issa

Forbearing the night

with its growing brilliance:
the summer moon.
—Tsukioka Yoshitoshi

The moon still appears,
though far from home:
summer vagrant.
—Matsuo Basho

On a hot summer night
dreams and reality
merge.
—Takahama Kyoshi,

 summer’s lease 

hath all too short a date

 

Everything good, 

everything magical 

happens between the months of June and August

 

 If June was the beginning of a hopeful summer, 

and July the juice middle,

 August was suddenly feeling like the bitter end.

 Every time I see the lightening

Every time I hear the thunder
Every time I close the window
When this happens in the summer
Oh the night is so inviting
I can feel that you are so close
I can feel you when the wind blows
Blows right through my heart

July

 

July

July is the seventh month of the year in the Gregorian calendar. It has 31 days and is a summer month in the Northern Hemisphere, and a winter month in the Southern Hemisphere. It is named after Roman general Julius Caesar. In the Northern Hemisphere, it is often the warmest month of the year 

The July birthstone is ruby. It is a vibrant red gemstone known for its association with love, passion, and vitality,

Flowers that represent the month of July are the larkspur and water lily. In the Astrological zodiac, the zodiac sign of a person born between July 1st and July 22nd is the crab, Cancer, and the zodiac sign of a person born between July 23rd and July 31st is the lion, Leo.

July is named in honor of Julius Caesar. Originally, the month was called Quintilis (meaning "fifth" in Latin) as it was the fifth month in the early Roman calendar, which started with March. However, in 44 BC, after Caesar's death, the Roman Senate renamed it July

As the heart of summer, July represents a time of growth, abundance, and inner illumination. In many cultures and traditions, the seventh month of the year holds deep spiritual meaning, connecting to themes of transformation, creativity, and personal empowerment

July

 

July

My emblem is the Lion, 
and I breathe The breath of Libyan deserts 
o'er the land; 
My sickle as a sabre I unsheathe, 
And bent before me 
the pale harvests stand.
 
The lakes and rivers shrink at my command, 
And there is thirst and fever in the air; 
The sky is changed to brass, 
the earth to sand; 
I am the Emperor whose name I bear.

 

Sweet days of summer, the jasmine's in bloom

July is dressed up and playing her tune

July

 

July's for Independence Day,
For flags and speeches and for play,
For hiding deep in meadow grass
And watching flying creatures pass,
For sailing boats on little seas,
Where just the smallest summer breeze
Can blow; for picking flowers any day;
July comes for flags and play.

A very pleasant month is this
To be in a country town.
The sunlight doth the foliage kiss,
Each verdant leaflet beams with bliss,
I see not one that's brown.

Fresh zephyrs fan the thrifty trees
The oaks, the elms, the willows,
The lake's face caressed by the breeze
In imitation of the seas,
Is flecked with tiny billows.

I am for the open meadows,
Open meadows full of sun,
Where the hot bee hugs the clover,
The hot breezes drop and run.

Now 'tis the time when, tall,
The long blue torches of the bellflower gleam
Among the trees; and, by the wooded stream,
In many a fragrant ball,
Blooms of the button-bush fall.

Gone are Spring's graces! mute her melodies!
Yet in their place what Summer can bestow,
Freely she yields; she tunes the river's flow
To gentlest music,—fills with sweets the breeze,—
Gives the last flush of leafage to the trees,—
Flowers to Earth's nursing bosom,—to the sky
Brightness oppressive from intensity,—
And calms, with halcyon wing, the azure seas.
Such are her spells!—yet I look back on Spring
(As middle age delights on youth to pore)
With feelings mournful, but unmurmuring.
I ever loved the bud more than the flower
And hope than full enjoyment: thence I cling
Alike to life's and nature's budding hour.

When the scarlet cardinal tells
Her dream to the dragon fly,
And the lazy breeze makes a nest in the trees,
And murmurs a lullaby,
It is July.

In idle mood, this happy day,
I let the moments drift away;
I lie among the tangled grass
And watch the crinkling billows pass
O'er seas of clover. Like a tide
That sets across the meadow wide,
The crimson-crested ripples run
From isles of shade to shores of sun;
And one white lily seems to be
A sail upon this summer sea,
Blown northward, bringing me, to-day,
A fragrant freight from far Cathay.

The sun gleams over the mountains,
And through the hazy air
It lightens the sombre hill-sides,
And meadows green and fair.
It gilds the light clouds drifting
Adown the summer sky;
There's beauty in the dawning
Of a morning in July.