The Brilliance of Radiohead

PARIS, FRANCE - OCTOBER 11: Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood from Radiohead perform at Palais Omnisports de Bercy on October 11, 2012 in Paris, France. (Photo by David Wolff - Patrick/WireImage)

I know Radiohead has a huge following, and I’m not the first to point out any of what I’m about to point out. But I simply am always amazed at how wonderful they are as a band, and commercially they have done “OK” but their best work, by far, is the stuff you’ll never hear on the radio. Of course. It’s for that reason I pretty much ignored them for so long until I stumbled upon their “In the Basement” recordings. Which I advise anyone to give a watch/listen to.

Even though a lot of their sound is attributable to electronica, it still stands on its own when stripped down to the minimum, as with this video of Thom Yorke and a guitar:

I will never tire of hearing the song Reckoner. Since it’s hard to interpret the lyrics in falsetto here they are:

Reckoner
Can’t take it with you
Dancing for pleasure

You are not to blame for
Bittersweet distractor
Dare not speak its name
Dedicated to all human beings

Because we separate
Like ripples on a blank shore
(in rainbows)
Because we separate
Like ripples on a blank shore

Reckoner
Take it with you
Dedicated to all human beings

Here’s a study which uses Radiohead’s music. The theory is that you may have a unique brain if you get chills from music. I could easily argue everyone indeed does have a unique brain, but Radiohead’s music is something I like. I have gotten “chills” from music before, but if I recall correctly it was classical music or the Grateful Dead.

By musgrove

Storytelling content strategist who likes to code, design, and write. And dogs and tech. And pizza. And 3-D printing. And woodworking. And... http://linkedin.com/in/wdpop

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