Lift

At some point recently I wanted to name an album something like "riding a rainbow" or something equally drippy yet descriptive of my feelings. Radiohead went and ruined it for everyone!!!

I mean, not really. A) In Rainbows is better than anything I've done, and B) Riding a Rainbow is a shit title.

But Radiohead isn't all roses, either. They've got great songs, great albums. BUT!

What about the songs that people (who aren't already avid Radiohead fans) know about?

There are a few obvious ones, most of which I'll talk about here.


For 10 years, the most obvious (maybe second most) was Nude, or Big Ideas, or Your Home is at Risk if you fail to keep up with Repayments." They played it, everyone loved it, then it wasn't on Kid A, and everyone was sad. Everyone was happy later when they released it on In Rainbows, but some people were obviously saddened that it meant it was no longer special to hear it in concert.

But there are three other songs that are the real crimes.


One of which is easy, as it's been released officially.

It's called Cuttooth, and it's their best song. It was supposed to be on Amnesiac, but at the last minute it was replaced with Hunting Bears. I used to love Hunting Bears, but i can't justify being into it when it replaced such a wonder as Cuttooth.

Cuttooth (from the Knives Out single)

The second one is called Follow Me Around, which was in the movie Meeting People is Easy played in the background at a Soundcheck. It's a wonderful song, that thankfully pops up in live sets now and then (rarer than Nude, certainly). This live version is from 2000, which is the version I've had for years, and am used to it's semi-poor quality.

Hopefully someday they record that one.

Follow Me Around

But, of course, the most infamous Radiohead song is Lift.
When they started playing Lift in 1996, everyone really went bonkers. "This is the song!" Everyone said. Their label was stoked, they were all like "ooh, first single, etc" and stuff. And rightly so, because it's amazing:


And the band recorded it for OK Computer, too! But for some reason, they were just like.. Nah. Don't like it anymore. They never played it again.


UNTIL THEY PLAYED IT IN 2002!!!

Of course, they'd dramatically rearranged the song, and everyone was sad. Except for me, who likes this version equally to the old. They recorded it for Hail to the Theif, but again, they were just like... Nah.

Neither version of Lift was on a b-side, either. It's sad. But people still keep up hope! When the tracklist of In Rainbows was announced, one semi-popular theory was that MK1 and MK2 would be the two versions of Lift. That's silly, of course, but people still dream.

First Lift
Second Lift

I hope someday, Radiohead looks back and goes "wait wait, did we say Nah? shit, we fucked up."

But you know, whatevz. We can wait another 10 years.

Midsummer's Day In A Graveyard

When people talk about Radiohead, and In Rainbows especially, I feel like a lot of people really gloss over the fact that it's such a good album. It's a great album! But people are hung up on either A) distribution or B) it's not OK Computer. Well, I like Kid A better than OK Computer, and I still love In Rainbows. That wasn't really a proper argument, but it doesn't really need to be. Just like In Rainbows doesn't have to be about dystopic faults in humanity and technology. It can be about you & me, you know? Well it is, I guess. It's very hotly debated. I try to keep up with At Ease's message board, but I stopped because it got really really ugly talking about the 'themes' of In Rainbows. I feel like getting really really ugly defeats the whole mood of the album. Except Bodysnatchers, I guess.

Anyways, on New Year's Eve Radiohead had a webcast (pre-recorded segments, but put together, so it was more like a little film. With Radiohead in it). It was called Scotch_Mist, and it was really stellar.

(side note: i find it funny i take the time to explain things that are incredibly easy to find out anywhere else. please indulge me until i get over it)

Scotch_Mist was a really wonderful thing. It was great to watch the band play through the whole album, really intimate. All the songs held up great, and the variations made on them really got me riled up and excited for the tour coming up. Ooo-eee!

Here's the whole thing:


And here's some songs from it:

Videotape
Jigsaw Falling Into Place
Reckoner

And here's one of the spoken Interludes:
Head & Shoulders

Not to mention a short bit of an Arpeggi Remix:
Outro


Fact is, I'm nuts for Radiohead, and while I'd love to gush and gush about them and talk about specific things, I do believe I should wait until all the commotion turns down. It shouldn't be too long, I think people are starting to get over "the end of the music industry." Silly lads. Tee hee!