Suffer for your art, they always say. Thing is, why do they say that? Why should someone suffer for art? Seems Radiohead's lead singer, Thom Yorke, must have believed that theory when he helped concoct the idea for the "No Surprises" video from their diamond selling O.K Computer album.
The video features Thom Yorke inside a diver's helmet as the helmet fills up with water. He then has to sing most of the song underwater, and get to the final bridge before running out of air. The trick was, there was no trick. They did film him singing slightly faster than he was on the album and slowed it down for the video so it would all sync up, but that is it.
Thing is, if you watch Meeting People is Easy, you see the behind-the-scenes of how they did this, and there were MANY times Thom had to pull the helmet off as he was just about to black out. You can actually tell how relieved he is in the video when that first pocket of oxygen hits him and you see him just breathing it in deep, in relief. Amazing stuff, really.
The end result is a mesmerizing video that works incredibly well with the stunning composition itself, and ends up leaving you as breathless as Thom himself by the time the whole thing is over.