Radiohead

A television piece on the “Just” video and The Bends. The video's director explains that he was playing with a short story about a man who lies down in the street on his way to work, for no reason anyone can find, while a crowd gathers to ask why; the more he heard the song, the more it fitted. The band say they could never have thought of it, and that pop videos were out of date 20 years ago, so anything that brings life into a dead medium, subtitles included, is welcome.

The Bends may sound desperate, but they think it is positive, if only because it got made. There is no screaming hit single off it, which is fine, because they have a screaming hit album, and they would rather be known as the band that did The Bends than the band that did “Creep”. Thom Yorke is not sure what “Just” is about, maybe shaking someone into seeing that they are the one responsible for screwing themselves up. His tip for coping with all the attention is to shut your eyes, and he has played a whole hour-and-a-half show barely opening his.