Radiohead

[Fireal1222]

I understand that, but that guy refuses to acknowledge that I have an opinion.

no i refuse to acknowledge that you have a brain

[Fireal1222]

i feel sorry for you, you said you hate radiohead and pink floyd more than any other band on the planet


your missing out

[ben]

That was a pretty interesting point.  But although you may be right about making lyrics that do in fact connect with many sub-groups of people, it doesn't bother me that the lyrics may be somewhat calculated.  The instruments themself are just beautiful and I find most of my enjoyment from just listening to the instrumental part of RH.

I feel more strongly about Pink Floyd being very cold, calculated, and without a proper soul than Radiohead.  I prefer many other 70s era bands over PF for that reason.

[Fireal1222]

You mean you've proven me wrong because I've given more than you asked for? That doesn't make sense. Why give you one single line of a song when I quite clearly stated that I believe all the lines in the song prove my point?

I'm fairly sure that not only do you have the lyrics for 'Fitter Happier', for example, but that you could likely recite most of it from memory. I can remember it, so why do I need to post it to prove my point? How does not posting it disprove my point? What you will, then. I'll post 'Fitter Happier' for you. Though I could go for any song, especially on OK Computer.

Fitter, happier, more productive,
comfortable,
not drinking too much,
regular exercise at the gym
(3 days a week),
getting on better with your associate employee contemporaries,
at ease,
eating well
(no more microwave dinners and saturated fats),
a patient better driver,
a safer car
(baby smiling in back seat),
sleeping well
(no bad dreams),
no paranoia,
careful to all animals
(never washing spiders down the plughole),
keep in contact with old friends
(enjoy a drink now and then),
will frequently check credit at (moral) bank (hole in the wall),
favors for favors,
fond but not in love,
charity standing orders,
on Sundays ring road supermarket
(no killing moths or putting boiling water on the ants),
car wash
(also on Sundays),
no longer afraid of the dark or midday shadows
nothing so ridiculously teenage and desperate,
nothing so childish - at a better pace,
slower and more calculated,
no chance of escape,
now self-employed,
concerned (but powerless),
an empowered and informed member of society
(pragmatism not idealism),
will not cry in public,
less chance of illness,
tires that grip in the wet
(shot of baby strapped in back seat),
a good memory,
still cries at a good film,
still kisses with saliva,
no longer empty and frantic like a cat tied to a stick,
that's driven into frozen winter shit
(the ability to laugh at weakness),
calm,
fitter,
healthier and more productive
a pig in a cage on antibiotics.

Now, I've posted all of it. Why post all of it? I mean all of it. Not one or two lines. All of it.

Read that, and tell me; A) how that is not Radiohead trying to sum up the general behaviourisms and feelings of most normal people, followed by B) how that is not Radiohead trying to tell us that they understand how we want to feel, for the purpose of C) empathising with us on nothing more than the very subtle presumption to dictate, in a calculated attempt to woo people into believing that Radiohead are societal saviours.

The great irony being that Yorke's own musings of being just that - a societal saviour - are just as commonplace and banal as any of those of anyone whom he patronises.

Did I need to do that? No, because 'Fitter Happier' has very memorable lyrics, and I knew that we both know them. Everything Radiohead has done right back to 'Creep' has been the exact calculated crap I've been talking about. Everything they've ever done has been about falsified bonding with the common person. For what purposes? I can only presume to make money - as that's all they accomplish outside of proliferating their music.

OK Computer just happens to be the best example, and if I say 'all of OK Computer', its because I mean 'all of OK Computer'.

Though to be honest, I don't believe you actually know what I'm talking about, otherwise you'd stop trying to bait me with the tangentile, which has nothing to do with an argument that I don't need to present any further.

OK Computer is a perfect example of picking out the societal lowest common denominators in; people who work, especially in an office; people who've been cruel to animals; people who've felt basic alienation; people who've thought about mortality - and to specifically fit into the fast paced, commuting lifestyles Radiohead are critiquing, being in a car wreck or airplane crash; people with status anxieties; people who'd like to think that they're politically aware; people who're new parents... or whatever other trivialities that happen. This all leading up to the final, universal exclamation of loathing for, and excommunication from the world, in which Radiohead can have people ultimately identify with the music.

All Radiohead then have to do is soup up the lyrics in an 'intellectually superior' way in order to clinch people's egos. Everybody's a pseudo intellectual. Everybody wants to believe that they can have an enlightened laugh at triviality. Radiohead indulge this mindless need for societal superiority and then cash in on some supposed 'bond' they have with us.

'Yes, the world is unkind, and we are with you.'

...and for that I say Bollocks to Radiohead.

It's so simple to look at every little thing I do wrong
It's so simple to overlook every little thing I do right, right
I think too much
I feed too much
I'm gone too much
I skate too much
I starve too much
I'm gone too much
I gave too much
I'm way too much
Too stuck up

You're probably right, this time but I don't want to listen
You're probably right, this time but I don't even care

I drink too much
I fit too much
I stop too much
Lose things too much
I add too much
I'm pissed too much
I need too much
I'm not one to trust

You're probably right, this time but I don't want to listen
You're probably right, this time but I don't even care
And if it was mine to say I wouldn't say it
And if it was mine to say I wouldn't speak

I've gone too much
I think too much
I hate too much
I fix too much
I think too much
I'm used too much
I sleep too much
I stop too much...


looks like radiohead arent the only ones to make broad enough lyrics so that anyone can relate

[Bergerac]

no i refuse to acknowledge that you have a brain

That's classic coming from someone who likes Pink Floyd, the band that came out with the lyric 'We don't need no education'. Arguably the most ignorant line ever written.

Really though, what an argument.

I do, however, find it funny that you're seemingly incapable of actually answering and meeting such a brainless person as myself in conversation. What does that say about your brain?

All this because I dared convey a negative opinion in your topic. I'm sorry that I don't like Radiohead. You seem to be having such a hard time coping with the idea.

It's so simple to look at every little thing I do wrong
It's so simple to overlook every little thing I do right, right
I think too much
I feed too much
I'm gone too much
I skate too much
I starve too much
I'm gone too much
I gave too much
I'm way too much
Too stuck up

You're probably right, this time but I don't want to listen
You're probably right, this time but I don't even care

I drink too much
I fit too much
I stop too much
Lose things too much
I add too much
I'm pissed too much
I need too much
I'm not one to trust

You're probably right, this time but I don't want to listen
You're probably right, this time but I don't even care
And if it was mine to say I wouldn't say it
And if it was mine to say I wouldn't speak

I've gone too much
I think too much
I hate too much
I fix too much
I think too much
I'm used too much
I sleep too much
I stop too much...

looks like radiohead arent the only ones to make broad enough lyrics so that anyone can relate

...the key differences being that Chino wrote that first and foremost because its what he felt, and that it was simply beneficial that a listener could relate to it. There's nothing wrong with writing broad lyrics, because they don't tell you how you think or feel. Besides which, Radiohead's lyrics quite obviously aren't open to interpretation at all, but rather they are enforced narrative.

Though, like I said, you don't know what I'm talking about. Either that, or you simply don't have a rebuttal because you can't prove your point.

Ben, I absolutely agree. Pink Floyd is ingenuine crap.

[no name cola]

hey, maybe Thoms lyrics are easy to relate to to many people.. and he's not doing that on purpose, but because he is part of many people.

but also, if he came up with all those lyrics as something he knew that would sell millions and make him and his 4 band mates rich... then he's one smart guy. cause if you, Bergerac (or anyone), had the chance to make that much money and live as comfortable as he does, i have no doubt in my mind that you would do it.

so you can have your opinion, but it still shows that Thom is a smart song-writter.

[Fireal1222]

hey, maybe Thoms lyrics are easy to relate to to many people.. and he's not doing that on purpose, but because he is part of many people.

but also, if he came up with all those lyrics as something he knew that would sell millions and make him and his 4 band mates rich... then he's one smart guy. cause if you, Bergerac (or anyone), had the chance to make that much money and live as comfortable as he does, i have no doubt in my mind that you would do it.

so you can have your opinion, but it still shows that Thom is a smart song-writter.

i believe thom writes his lyrics so that they mean something to hisself, and only him... but i also believe he writes them in a way so that you can relate.. not just to sell records


if you think people are making lyrics and albums just to make money, blame the peopel who whore themselves in the media.. radiohead gained there popularity by making good MUSIC not good lyrics... the lyrics are always 2nd to the music


unless ur a rapper

[Corleone]

I think of the vocals as another instrument and equally important.

Bergerac, I'm really confused with you. All music is calculated, Thom Yorke loves to perfect every lyric, sound or emotion in a song. Isn't that what music is all about?

[bartdaddy12]

Amen to Corleone.

That is what music is all about. IMO

[Oldnewtype]

You know, I always thought people made bands to make music. Every time I see one thats what ends up happening.

Anyone who thinks Thom Yorke is trying to take over the world needs to see a doctor.

[Fireal1222]

You mean you've proven me wrong because I've given more than you asked for? That doesn't make sense. Why give you one single line of a song when I quite clearly stated that I believe all the lines in the song prove my point?

I'm fairly sure that not only do you have the lyrics for 'Fitter Happier', for example, but that you could likely recite most of it from memory. I can remember it, so why do I need to post it to prove my point? How does not posting it disprove my point? What you will, then. I'll post 'Fitter Happier' for you. Though I could go for any song, especially on OK Computer.

Fitter, happier, more productive,
comfortable,
not drinking too much,
regular exercise at the gym
(3 days a week),
getting on better with your associate employee contemporaries,
at ease,
eating well
(no more microwave dinners and saturated fats),
a patient better driver,
a safer car
(baby smiling in back seat),
sleeping well
(no bad dreams),
no paranoia,
careful to all animals
(never washing spiders down the plughole),
keep in contact with old friends
(enjoy a drink now and then),
will frequently check credit at (moral) bank (hole in the wall),
favors for favors,
fond but not in love,
charity standing orders,
on Sundays ring road supermarket
(no killing moths or putting boiling water on the ants),
car wash
(also on Sundays),
no longer afraid of the dark or midday shadows
nothing so ridiculously teenage and desperate,
nothing so childish - at a better pace,
slower and more calculated,
no chance of escape,
now self-employed,
concerned (but powerless),
an empowered and informed member of society
(pragmatism not idealism),
will not cry in public,
less chance of illness,
tires that grip in the wet
(shot of baby strapped in back seat),
a good memory,
still cries at a good film,
still kisses with saliva,
no longer empty and frantic like a cat tied to a stick,
that's driven into frozen winter shit
(the ability to laugh at weakness),
calm,
fitter,
healthier and more productive
a pig in a cage on antibiotics.

Now, I've posted all of it. Why post all of it? I mean all of it. Not one or two lines. All of it.

Read that, and tell me; A) how that is not Radiohead trying to sum up the general behaviourisms and feelings of most normal people, followed by B) how that is not Radiohead trying to tell us that they understand how we want to feel, for the purpose of C) empathising with us on nothing more than the very subtle presumption to dictate, in a calculated attempt to woo people into believing that Radiohead are societal saviours.

The great irony being that Yorke's own musings of being just that - a societal saviour - are just as commonplace and banal as any of those of anyone whom he patronises.

Did I need to do that? No, because 'Fitter Happier' has very memorable lyrics, and I knew that we both know them. Everything Radiohead has done right back to 'Creep' has been the exact calculated crap I've been talking about. Everything they've ever done has been about falsified bonding with the common person. For what purposes? I can only presume to make money - as that's all they accomplish outside of proliferating their music.

OK Computer just happens to be the best example, and if I say 'all of OK Computer', its because I mean 'all of OK Computer'.

Though to be honest, I don't believe you actually know what I'm talking about, otherwise you'd stop trying to bait me with the tangentile, which has nothing to do with an argument that I don't need to present any further.

OK Computer is a perfect example of picking out the societal lowest common denominators in; people who work, especially in an office; people who've been cruel to animals; people who've felt basic alienation; people who've thought about mortality - and to specifically fit into the fast paced, commuting lifestyles Radiohead are critiquing, being in a car wreck or airplane crash; people with status anxieties; people who'd like to think that they're politically aware; people who're new parents... or whatever other trivialities that happen. This all leading up to the final, universal exclamation of loathing for, and excommunication from the world, in which Radiohead can have people ultimately identify with the music.

All Radiohead then have to do is soup up the lyrics in an 'intellectually superior' way in order to clinch people's egos. Everybody's a pseudo intellectual. Everybody wants to believe that they can have an enlightened laugh at triviality. Radiohead indulge this mindless need for societal superiority and then cash in on some supposed 'bond' they have with us.

'Yes, the world is unkind, and we are with you.'

...and for that I say Bollocks to Radiohead.

your pretty gone man, the reason a computer voice is saying all that is because thom is trying to make it look like we all think and act like robots. rather than using our minds and being different

[Bergerac]

I think of the vocals as another instrument and equally important.

Bergerac, I'm really confused with you. All music is calculated, Thom Yorke loves to perfect every lyric, sound or emotion in a song. Isn't that what music is all about?

No, I meant more than that.

When I say 'calculated', I don't just mean being a perfectionist with the music, and making sure that it sounds good. What I mean is that the music is designed to make the listener believe that the band can empathise with them, when they really do not.

By using basic experiences in the lyrics - like being barked at by a dog, and then pretending to bond with the listener over whatever they find trivial or stupid about life, or however they  react - panic, sadness, glee, anger, etc. - to these things, Radiohead make it appear that they understand everybody's lives.

The truth is, they pick out the most basic things in life, and then expound on them in a way which gives the listener a sense of pride about the fact that they, individually, 'realise what life's all about', and that they are in some way 'better' than all the crap that happens to them. They may very well be, and are, but it sure as Hell isn't because Radiohead say so.

That's why on OK Computer, the life situations he sings about are all very basic, vague experiences that nearly everybody - in the Westernised society anyway - can relate to. In short, Radiohead say: life's crap, and some of those crap things are stupid enough to laugh at, and we can laugh at them with you. Feel good about yourself.

That's what sells their records.

Another point. Why tell anybody that you went to Oxford, when it has nothing to do with your music? It makes you look a more intelligent band, and everybody wants to listen to 'intelligent' music from 'intelligent people', varying by standard or awareness. Especially the casual, large demographic listener - who then become the hardcore Radiohead fans.

I find the idea that it is a well known fact that Radiohead went to Oxford to be very suspect. Look at David Bowie. He's far more famous, and I've loads more of his records, but I know absolutely nothing about him other than his music, or things which quite obviously couldn't be used for hype purposes - like his marriage to Angie Bowie.

If I was in a band, why would I tell you where I studied? If I went Oxford, I might tell you because of the prestige. That's why.

You know, I always thought people made bands to make music. Every time I see one thats what ends up happening.

Anyone who thinks Thom Yorke is trying to take over the world needs to see a doctor.

I didn't say he was trying to 'take over the world'. I said he was trying to sell records, and woo a public in a duplicitous manner. A manner which I believe he is quite obviously adept in.

your pretty gone man, the reason a computer voice is saying all that is because thom is trying to make it look like we all think and act like robots. rather than using our minds and being different

Well, I appreciate that that's your interpretation, and I found this:

Many people mistook the computerized voice on this track for that of physicist Stephen Hawking. The strange voice was, in fact, created by Thom on his Mac computer. He recorded it one night in an isolated area of the rehearsal space that the band had set up. Ed: "Thom basically had this checklist, like a nineties checklist if you like, and he had written it out. There is a bit of him playing piano, [which was] in the rehearsal room. He was very drunk one night, which you can tell by the sloppy playing on it, and he just played out this melody and stuff. He was very anxious that it wasn't him saying [the lyrics] - this voice is neutral. By the computer saying it, it doesn't becomed a bit of pretentious art-wank, it's something neutral in the way that the computer stumbles over words and doesn't get the pronunciation or the inflections right." Adds Thom: "The reason 'Fitter Happier' exists is 'cos of mental background noise. Some days you're in a disturbed state and it moves to the front." The track was used as an entrance song for the band on their 1997 tour.

link:

http://www.greenplastic.com/lyrics/fitterhappier.php

Personally, I believe the voice is neutralised in order to make sure that Radiohead aren't seen as dictating, and that they would be if Thom had sang it himself. Though - and here's the point - if Yorke legitimately didn't want to dictate people's lives (rather than be seen to be really dictating, as I believe), then why does he still feel uncomfortable enough with the lyrics to not put his voice behind it? Its because the lyrics are still dictative. This is the 'calculation' I'm talking about.

If he didn't want to dictate peoples lives, he'd change the lyrics so that he didn't. He wouldn't misplace any reaction or blame he would've potentially received by using a different voice, if that was the case.

I mean, really, when you think about it, the simple context of using another voice is a very obvious way to misplace blame.

He had to make the voice neutral, because the lyrics aren't. They obviously still aren't a neutral observation, otherwise there'd be no need for the voice to be used on the record.

[Oldnewtype]

Dude get a fucking life.

If you're THAT big of a Radiohead fan you should know that music can be interpreted by anyone in anyway they see fit and no one is ever right or wrong. Even if you did know what Thom was trying to accomplish I don't see how it would possibly change anything in the world in the slightest.

Why do you go play Mr. Big Stuff on repeat...try figuring out the hidden meaning in that one

[Oldnewtype]

And i forgot to add that people buy Radiohead albums because the music is good, not because someone warped them into buying it.

[Fireal1222]

And i forgot to add that people buy Radiohead albums because the music is good, not because someone warped them into buying it.

radiohead are amazing. end of discussion


i think bergerac is upset he and his garage band cant even cover creep, if they spent there whole lives trying to

[Corleone]

It's funny because I know nothing about thier lives and they know nothing about mine, but they have a good sound and thats all I really care about.

[Fireal1222]

It's funny because I know nothing about thier lives and they know nothing about mine, but they have a good sound and thats all I really care about.

yes.

theres something about that band that can make me stop listening to them for months, thinking i already know all there material in my head

then after the break when i actually put my headphones on and listen, its not like hearing music, its just a rush of emotions

[Oldnewtype]

its like music to my ears

[Bergerac]

Dude get a fucking life.

If you're THAT big of a Radiohead fan you should know that music can be interpreted by anyone in anyway they see fit and no one is ever right or wrong. Even if you did know what Thom was trying to accomplish I don't see how it would possibly change anything in the world in the slightest.

Why do you go play Mr. Big Stuff on repeat...try figuring out the hidden meaning in that one

The whole time I've claimed this as nothing more than opinion. You're the one who's attacking me because I said 'nasty things about the nice band'. You get a life.

This is a Radiohead discussion. Don't post them if you don't like opinions which conflict with your totalitarian approach to music.

And i forgot to add that people buy Radiohead albums because the music is good, not because someone warped them into buying it.

radiohead are amazing. end of discussion

i think bergerac is upset he and his garage band cant even cover creep, if they spent there whole lives trying to

Stop arguing like an adolescent.

[Oldnewtype]

hey man.

why the fuck are you in here if you don't even like Radiohead. Fuck off butthead, and if you throw another fucking rock I swear to god I shall smoketh it.