The Racing Rats by Editors by Mark

The music video for "The Racing Rats" features the band performing in a rural suburb in slow motion, much like the video for the band's other single "Bullets". Lead singer Tom notices a little girl who is drawing a big circle on the pavement. Near the end of the video a solar eclipse occurs directly parallel to the girls circle causing it to light up spectacularly as the band look on in awe. At the end of the video the town is empty of life suggesting the eclipse consumed all the townspeople. The relevance the video has to the song is from the lyrics "Slow down little one, you can't keep running away / You mustn't go outside yet, it's not your time to play / Standing at the edge of your town with the skyline in your eyes / Reaching up to God, the sun says its goodbyes”. This is noticeably relevant to Goodwin and demonstrates a relationship between the lyrics and visuals. It most certainly is illustrative in the sense it relates directly to the lyrics and helps to explain the songs.

The band themselves have a unique take on the indie rock genre and are heavily influenced by older and contemporary bands. There video does not necessarily demonstrate the typical conventions of an indie video. A typical video from the likes of the Kooks or the Wombats would demonstrate the band in a playful manor or live performance, however the Editors video challenges these generic conventions and pursue a more artistic and post-modern approach much like the work of REM and Radiohead. The video focuses on young girl and a hidden meaning behind the song which has become a common factor in Editors videos, that life is fragile and miniscule in the grand scheme of things. Director Vince Haycock is relatively new to music video direction however has established a very cinematic approach to 'epic' songs and hopes to avoid the commercial aspects of music videos by concentrating on the meaning behind the song and incorporating this message through the video.

The little girl is a key part of the mise-en-scene of the video as she demonstrates the innocence in the world today and this is amplified by the white dress and blonde hair. This reinforces the ideological discourse that the typical victim has these features to amplify this meaning. In addition to this the unique lighting from the sun and also the circle drawn onto the pavement creates an emphasis of the key moments in the song and in particular the eclipse. Colour is also used to represent a change in the song, after the eclipse the volume is increased and the video becomes extremely dark. along with colour the cut speed increases and demonstrates this louder concluding and dramatic ending to the song. also the non-verbal language by the singer indicates a passive viewer of this girl and he is often seen looking into the sun and being disorientated which is relative to the songs lyrics of a surreal and emphatic moment.

This song also reminds me of the film Donnie Darko and the reading behind it. In particular the part about if a plane were to fall from the sky. As for the interpretation and intertextuality, it seems to be another song about impending death. Or the feeling of being aware that everything comes to an end eventually. this is one of many readings and i have found some from others. Many fans believe there meaning is about a relationship situation, he might have been fooling around with other women alot, and that now he's correcting himself: You can't keep running away from the pain through other women(Slow down little one, you can't keep running away), and you're also not ready yet for a serious relationship (You musn't go outside yet, it's not your time to play). This is a common reading of many Editors songs. There is also the reading of a message about terrorism andSeptember the 11th, along with the location being that of an US suburbian area , this can easily be interpreted in this way. In this sense Editors are most ecrtainly a multiple maening band

The representation of the band is unique in the sense that there is no relation to the meta-narrative and it seems the video is aimed towards the passionate and focused viewer. However it is obvious that the essential aspects of a music video are there such as the meat shots of the band including various close ups of the lead singer and other instrument players.

They are clearly though portrayed to be deeper and focus on more important aspects of life in their songs. Many bands aim to create a unique view of there music and this video certainly amplifies the fact that Editors are creating this view. However, it is still evident that the star image is still of key importance in many music videos. Because of the genre of the band it is likely to be viewed on channels so as MTV 2 and Q as they are focused more on this genre and also the the alternative approach to music is highly rated with it viewers.