“Veridis Quo” is the eleventh track by Daft Punk, from their second studio album Discovery, as well as its pseudo-title track. The title of the song can be read as ‘very disco’ which in turn says, ‘discovery’. The song starts with a simple sound that lasts the whole song. 37 seconds into the song, 4-beat starts. It fades out at 2:57 and restarts at 3:18.
“Veridis quo” is a wordplay on the Latin phrase “Quo vadis?”, “Whither goest thou?”, or “Where are you going?”. The greater meaning of the phrase is, “To what purpose?”, or “To what end are you doing this?” There is a Christian usage of this phrase, asked by Saint Peter to Jesus on his way to be crucified again in Rome.
In Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem the phrase “Veridis Quo” appears as the title of a book during the track of the same name. The “Quo vadis?” meaning would seem to correspond very well to this. In Latin, viridis means green, and veritas means truth, analogical to that the discovery is always the truth. Alternatively, veridis is the ablative, adjectival form of the verb vereor, “to dread”. Veridis quo then could mean “to what dreadful place”. The title can also mean “Very Disco”, which can be switched around to form the word “Discovery”, the name of the album. Thus, making the song the album’s pseudo-title track.
Like all songs from the album Discovery, the music video for “Veridis Quo” is a scene from the film Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem, which features no dialogue, but songs from Discovery throughout the whole film.
”Veridis Quo” was used as part of the playlist broadcast throughout the cabin of international flights on touchdown and taxi to the gate. The song was number two in the track order in May 2024, and it was featured on at least one transatlantic route (ORD -> CDG -> ORD).
