Street Spirit (Fade out) by Radio-head

Radio-head – street spirit (Fade out)

Yorke has suggested that the song was inspired by the 1991 novel The Famished Road, written by Ben Okri, and that its music was inspired byR.E.M. The track is built around a soft melody in A minor with an arpeggio (broken chord) guitar part. A previous, working title for the song was "Three Headed Street Spirit", as seen in interviews with Thom Yorke preceding the release of The Bends. The single is also acclaimed for the quality of its B-sides; for example, "Talk Show Host" rose to prominence after it was remixed by Nellee Hooper for the 1996 film Romeo + Juliet, since becoming a regular at Radiohead concerts.

Mise en scene

Lighting - There is no lighting as it is in black and white. 
Location - Filmed during two nights in a desert just outside Los Angeles.
Costume - The main band where normal everyday clothing. The other characters in the video wear either black clothing or regular clothing.  
Make up - The make up is simple and not obvious.
Actors - There are the band, some dancers and some extras. 

Narrative

All of our saddest songs have somewhere in them at least a glimmer of resolve. Street Spirit has no resolve. It is the dark tunnel without the light at the end. It represents all tragic emotion that is so hurtful that the sound of that melody is its only definition. We all have a way of dealing with that song. It’s called detachment. That’s why its lyrics are just a bunch of mini-stories or visual images as opposed to a cohesive explanation of its meaning. I used images set to the music that I thought would convey the emotional entirety of the lyric and music working together. That’s what’s meant by ‘all these things you’ll one day swallow whole’. I meant the emotional entirety, because I didn’t have it in me to articulate the emotion.This song is actually the blueprint of life compacted into three short paragraphs. They basically state how it doesn't matter where we're going in life; we just need to "love" what we're doing. People spend too much of their time pondering the meaning of life instead of actually living. Some people even blindly do what seems socially encouraged and become part of "the system".

Camera
In this video there are mainly long shots and close ups used in it. It is more the long shots are to see what is happening and the close ups are to see the reactions or important things that are going on.

 This is a long shot of one of the dancers in the video. This shot is so simple but through the dancer it tells you a story and as she is dressed in black you can interpret that it is sad.  

 This again is another long shot of dancers but this time it is a three shot rather than just a single one.

 This is a close up of the main band memebers face as he sings. It shows you his reaction to the words that he is saying.

This is an extreme close up of a chain that a dog is on. It could represent that a person feels like they are on a chain and that they want to break free.










This is a long shot of the main band memeber smashing some glass. it is interesting as it could mean that he is fiunally breaking out of something.

Editing

The editing uses mainly one type which is fade but it is a diswsolving fade between each scene. In the video there are alot of slow motion shot within it, it is like time is slowing down but it also gives you a chance to absorb what the video is trying to tell you.

Sound

The track has a simple beat. 
The lyrics are the thing that run the video as they are both linked together. Even though it is a four minute video it only has a few lyrics. 
Here are the lyrics:
Rows of houses, all bearing down on me
I can feel their blue hands touching me
All these things into position
All these things we'll one day swallow whole
And fade out again and fade out

This machine will, will not communicate
These thoughts and the strain I am under
Be a world child, form a circle
Before we all go under
And fade out again and fade out again

Cracked eggs, dead birds
Scream as they fight for life
I can feel death, can see its beady eyes
All these things into position
All these things we'll one day swallow whole
And fade out again and fade out again

Immerse your soul in love
IMMERSE YOUR SOUL IN LOVE

Genre
The genre of this is alternative rock.