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