Ashes to Ashes - Uptown Girl - an analysis

[qthewetsprocket]

There is so much awesome in this video - and so much to ponder over - that I feel it warrants its own meta post.

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Ah, yes. So much to squee about here...how damn tasty Keeley and the boys all look; how Glenister's fringe flops about in the most adorable way as he does the little cross-hop over to the backup singers; his and Dean Andrews' valiant attempts to keep from bursting out laughing; and the fact that Marshall Lancaster looks like he's been waiting his whole life to be in a music video. Glorious.

The thing that's most significant about this song, though, is something that's NOT there...namely, a missing lyric:

"And when she wakes up and makes up her mind."

0_0

The relevance to Alex and her situation is pretty striking. As I wrote in a2ashes, the obvious reading would be that Alex is in a coma (and in denial) and needs to "wake up" and make up her mind about Gene Hunt and Jim Keats. But what else could it mean? They almost played that missing line later on, when Alex was dreaming on her couch (when the corpse's eyes opened). So maybe it could be a reference to Alex 'having her eyes opened' about something? Gene Hunt, maybe? (Sheesh, I almost typo'ed 'Gene Hung' there. Y HALO THAR MRS. FREUD YOUR SLIP IS SHOWING.)

Also, the song cuts off right before the word "blood" ("as long as anyone with hot blood can"). Maybe Alex is in denial about anything having to do with her own death?

Moving on to other, more subtle things in the video...Gene's American flag is on backwards:



I googled "backwards flag" and learned that it's mostly a sort of macho posturing thing, supposedly in honor of the troops of old rushing headlong into battle with their flag waving behind them in the breeze. Is Gene riding into battle, like the cavalry in the old western films he loves so much? Or is there some deeper meaning?

Next, let's play "what's in the background?" There's the Cortina, for one thing:




:D

And a mysterious figure, for another:




The figure is too tall and skinny to be Sam or Keats, but does bear more than a passing resemblance to the young man we've seen playing the dead copper this series. Significant? Maybe. But definitely intriguing.

Anyone catch anything else? Let me know if I've missed anything and I'll try to add it to the post.

EDIT: The little yellow car up on the lift could be a 1979 Ford Cortina Estate - which belonged to that guy in series one (played by Keeley Hawes's husband) who was soaking in the tub of beans to raise money for Children in Need - or a 1977 Chrysler Talbot Sunbeam.

EDIT EDIT: You reckon the BLITZ poster on the Guv's locker is significant? Might be another connection between him and an earlier historical era, like the uniform on the young dead copper.

EDIT THE THIRDE: You reckon the noise at the end is the Cortina firing up? :D

Thoughts?

Q