Karma Police

With the demise of the original MTV and Channel V in the late '90s, quality western music and videos had all but vanished from our television screens. The first half of the new millennium was dominated by cheap remixed versions of Bollywood songs from the '60s, '70s and '80s. The two aforementioned music channels had junked English music in favour of recycled Bollywood trash. Needless to say, the trash was in big demand. But with the availability of VH1, one can now escape this anarchy of skin and incessant beats.

It was during the first half of the '90s (early teens) that I seriously started to dig rock music. Grunge and Brit rock band were making waves the world over. Music was once again an art form, reminiscent of the '60s. MTV was an out and out English music channel. Music videos of bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Radiohead, Suede, etc were not just videos. They were work of art.

I was witness to that magic once again yesterday. As I was surfing channels I chanced upon the video of "Karma Police" by Radiohead on VH1. It must have been years since I had last seen it. The video shows a man running on a dark road. A car with its headlight on is chasing this man. Throughout the video the car chases the man, while the man, in the process of running, gains weight, grows older and slows down. At the time of its release, I was just not able to fathom what the video was all about. The lyrics were equally abstract.

I wanted to find out what the video was all about. It was sheer poetry in motion. Sadly, there were no clear answers. It was left to the viewers' interpretation. The closest I could get was this:

The car represents a corporation (large, faceless entity), and the guy running is an employee. He is older, gaining weight, and his life's baggage slows him down. The car chasing him represents the corporation seeking continuous results from him. When he stumbles and falls and the car backs up, this represents the corporation mulling over firing him (in this case, running him over). The gas puddle is a weakness in the corporation that he exploits to bring it down!

An experience, both musically and intellectually satisfying.