It's Simpler Than You Think

          Why an Analysis of Radiohead's "Videotape" by Vox is Incorrect

            Among the heat of early August, while scrolling through Facebook newsfeed, a young American might have happened upon a video titled “The Secret Rhythm in Radiohead’s ‘Videotape’” posted by the pop news website, Vox. This ten-minute video focuses on a misjudged assumption of the nature of an implicit rhythm of the Radiohead song. Their main argument is about how the strong pulse of the song is not the main underlying beat, but rather a syncopated rhythm laid on top of the main beat.[1]This opinion is primarily derived from a similar, but more in-depth, video posted in 2016 by Warren Lain, “a Radiohead enthusiast who also happens to be an incredibly talented musician and music teacher” as Vox described. These videos explain their way of thinking quite well, however, their main basis of reaching their conclusion is skewed for the reason they fail to consider the main pulse is not an aural illusion, but rather, the metrical foundation of the whole song.

            This particular Radiohead song has gone through a couple of versions before being officially released in the 2007 album “In Rainbows.”[2]These pre-album, live performances still have audio and video recordings that can be viewed and studied since they are still circulating the internet. In these live versions, the pianist and singer of Radiohead struggles to begin an early draft of “Videotape,” and it is in this moment where Lain first develops his hypothesis, however, his thoughts on the syncopated rhythm is also carried over to the album version of the song.[3]While considering both the 2006 live, audience recorded version performed at the music fest Bonnaroo, and the 2007 album version, it becomes clear that this idea of a syncopated rhythm is not obvious and should therefore be considered with a grain of salt. Both versions begin with a continuous piano rhythm that becomes an ostinato throughout the rest of the piece, then, later on, the bass guitar and kick drum join in of the ostinato. [4][5]At the start of the song, the vocals join these three elements seemingly following the same pulse. The basis of Lain’s “hidden syncopation,” however, is that this pulse felt at the beginning is actually not the strong beats of the meter, but rather the off-beats of a meter that is twice as fast.[6]While the song seems to have a double time feel when the remaining rhythmic elements join, there does not seem to be a shift in the strong and weak pulses. It is this failure of shifting beats that becomes the gaping hole in Lain’s argument.

            If a listener is to be convinced that there is an auditory illusion happening, there must be some evidence suggesting that what they heard is not what is actually happening in the overall form of the song. While it is entirely possible to transcribe a version of “Videotape” with the piano playing on the off-beats, it might not be the best representation of the elements of the song. When discussing the elements of a musical work, it would be naïve to ignore the immediate responses of the listener. In many of the live versions of this song, including a version that Vox shares in their video, audience members can be heard clapping with the piano, and not with the theoretical syncopated pulse.[7]As pointed out by Jonathan Still, this should be well-considered as “movements such as nodding the head, bending the knees or swaying from side to side not only help listeners to entrain to a beat in music, but are also crucial for parsing or construing meter.”[8]Musical pulses are not at the suggestion of the composer or any individual listener, but rather, the meter arises when the music will “stress the notes according to the musical sense of the phrase.”[9]Having this wide array of people unified in hearing a specific meter adds weight to the idea that the meter of the song is probably not syncopated.

Music can be expressed and represented in many ways, however, merely writing down music does not equate to notation that accurately depicts all of the elements of a song.   Writing a waltz with a 4/4 time signature is entirely possible, however, the performers would quickly realize that the strong pulses of what they are playing do not line up with the conductor nor the bar lines in their music.   This would be a poor way to transcribe a waltz, and so, using a syncopated piano would be a poor way to transcribe “Videotape.”

            In the latter half of the Radiohead song, a drum machine joins the mix, and this machine will play the metrical rhythms relating to the suggested hidden syncopation. However, there is a lack of activity happening to suggest that this is the main pulse of the song, rather than merely that this is itself a syncopated rhythm. It is best to primarily consider the album version of the song because tis version was released seemingly as the official version of the song. In this version, the drum machine will play some sort of rhythm on every beat besides the theoretical syncopated downbeat.[10]This leaves the listener with a rhythmic hole where the strongest beat should be placed. However, if the hypothetical syncopated version is not to be considered, then there is no perceived hole, but rather a simple repetition of the musical phrase with the drum machine playing on the off-beats. It should also be noted that the drum machine at this part does not play with a timbre that would be considered an accented pulse, but instead plays with a light hi-hat sound that is most likely heard as accented syncopation. If the ”phenomenal accents are the primary source of meter” and the phenomenal accents can be “related to the surface structure of music,” then the listener should consider the obvious piano, kick drum, bass guitar trio as the metrical pulse instead of considering the drum machine as the metrical pulse.[11]

            It is entirely possible when writing and performing this song, the members of Radiohead were trying to perform the song with the hidden syncopation suggested by Lain and Vox, however, if this is truly the case, then the band would be overcomplicating their song. Due to the main pulse continuously lying with the piano, there is no reason for a listener to hear “Videotape” entirely syncopated and this should be reflected in any attempt to transcribe the song. Auditory illusions in regards to pulse and meter are entirely possible, however, “Videotape” never presents convincing evidence that what is heard is not happening in the overall form of the song. It is refreshing to see a pop news source like Voxintroducing an audience to a fascinating song and challenging their music listening abilities; however, they unfortunately presented a misinformed analysis to unsuspecting viewers.

[1]Caswell, Estelle. "The secret rhythm in Radiohead's ‘Videotape’," Vox. August 04, 2017. Accessed September 04, 2017. https://www.vox.com/videos/2017/8/4/16092184/videotape-radiohead-secret-rhythm-earworm.

[2]Lain, Warren. "The Hidden Syncopation of Radiohead's "Videotape" by WARRENMUSIC." YouTube. December 15, 2016. Accessed September 04, 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvKhtFXPswk.

[3]Lain, Warren. "The Hidden Syncopation of Radiohead's "Videotape" by WARRENMUSIC." YouTube. December 15, 2016. Accessed September 04, 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvKhtFXPswk.

[4]Omahahnful. "Radiohead - Videotape (2006 Bonnaroo Version, Soundboard)." YouTube. December 19, 2012. Accessed September 04, 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTZt6Dzkq6w

[5]Radiohead. In rainbows. Xurbia Xendless, 2007, CD.

[6]Lain, Warren. "The Hidden Syncopation of Radiohead's "Videotape" by WARRENMUSIC." YouTube. December 15, 2016. Accessed September 04, 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvKhtFXPswk.

[7]Caswell, Estelle. "The secret rhythm in Radiohead's "Videotape"." Vox. August 04, 2017. Accessed September 04, 2017. https://www.vox.com/videos/2017/8/4/16092184/videotape-radiohead-secret-rhythm-earworm.

[8]Still, Jonathan. "How Down is a Downbeat? Feeling Meter and Gravity in Music and Dance." Empirical Musicology Review10, no. 1-2 (2015): 121. doi:10.18061/emr.v10i1-2.4577, 124.

[9]Copland, Aaron, Alan Rich, and Leonard Slatkin. What to listen for in music. New York, N.Y: Signet Classics, 2011, 31.

[10]Radiohead. In rainbows. Xurbia Xendless, 2007, CD.

[11]Toiviainen, Petri, and Tuomas Eerola. "Autocorrelation in meter induction: The role of accent structure." The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America119, no. 2 (2006): 1164. doi:10.1121/1.2146084.,1.

Cover image optainted from Vox's website