20/ Bodysnatchers - In Rainbows - 2007This is one of their most solid rock songs to date and one of my most favorite songs to play on guitar. And that's all that needs to be said about this amazing song.19/ Motion Picture Soundtrack - Kid A - 2000The perfect end to their perfect album. From the harps, to the pump organ, to Thom's voice, this song is such an incredibly heartfelt and emotionally strong song. Everything is written so beautifully. The song ends with Thom singing "I will see you in the next life." There's a peaceful death at the end. The harps are plucked so that it sounds as if you're slowly falling asleep... then... silence. One minute of silence before a single note penetrates. And then that single note turns into a short crescendo of beautiful sound. I describe it as the sound that you hear when you see Heaven.18/ Let Down - OK Computer - 1997This song was written about the feeling you get looking out of a fast-moving car or train and everything just whizzes by. And it definitely feels like that. One of the greatest things about Radiohead is their knack for new things to come up with. New sounds to make. New rhythms. And "Let Down" has a brilliant guitar riff that starts off the song. It's a simple and pretty series of notes and they're played in 5/4 time. For those that aren't music-term-literate, 5/4 means instead of the beat going 1-2-3-4, the beat goes 1-2-3-4-5. The twist on this is that the entire song is in 4/4 (typical popular music signature 1-2-3-4) time. So when the riff is played in the beginning, it's repeated twice. On the third repeat, the riff gets to the 3rd beat before the drums come in. So when the song bursts into motion after the intro, the riff starts at the 4th beat while everything else starts at the 1st. But each fourth series of 4 beats, the guitar riff starts one beat later. So it becomes guitar riff = 5th beat, everything else = 1st beat. Another four times through and the guitar's riff then starts with everything else, on the 1st beat. Then the 2nd and so on and so on. I could go on and on and get more and more confusing but that has always been something I've admired about this song. The molding of two time signatures so seemlessly. Everything else is golden too, don't get me wrong. It's got some of my favorite lines in the song. "One day I am going to grow wings. A chemical reaction. Hysterical and useless. Hysterical and let down and hangin around. Crushed like a bug in the ground. Let down and hangin around."17/ Big Boots - Live in Salamanca - 2002In a very recent interview with Ed O'Brien, Radiohead's rhythm guitarrist, the guy basically said that "Big Boots" is, without a better way of putting it, dead. Unless they decide to play it live again, this song is probably never going to get a proper recording in the studio. Very, very unfortunate news. This is an INCREDIBLE song. Imagine this scenario:You go to a movie theatre to see the newest 007 flick (this is a fictional situation. don't start thinking about Quantam of Solace here). It stars (English guy) and is titled Man-O-War.Radiohead's "Big Boots" would be the song played in the opening credits, right after he shoots the camera. This would be the perfect Bond song. And yet it's so Radiohead sounding. My favorite part of this song is Jonny Greenwood's signature riff for this song after the chorus.16/ Everything In Its Right Place - Kid A - 2000The first 5 notes of this song (a descending arpeggio in C) are the first 5 notes I heard of any Radiohead song ever (I'm not counting "Creep," sorry). I had just purchased Kid A and was listening to the CD. It's the first song on the CD, obviously. Those descending notes are some of the most memorable notes of all time for me. They essentially started my love for music. I have Radiohead to thank for my undying passion for it. They're so warm and inviting. And then Thom's voice comes in... but sampled. It's all over the song. Split-second clips of him in the middle of singing being repeated back and forth. Then Thom comes in, with all of his glitchy vocal samples, and sings "Everything. Everything. Everything. Everything in its right place. In its right place. In its right place. In its right place." It certainly is, Thom. Next comes my favorite Radiohead lyric of all time: "Yesterday I woke up sucking a lemon." I still, to this day, have no idea what it means but I absolutely love the ideas this one lyric gives you. I just... love this song. So much. The way the keyboard gets colder and colder by the end of the song... The way the sampled Thoms try and sing along with the real one.Interestingly enough, on May 8th of this year, probably my most beloved musical moment of all time happened at my first-time Radiohead concert. During the performance of this song, while I was singing along, I looked up at Thom (who was facing my side of the stage on keyboard) and he looked at me and, while bobbing our heads together in rhythm to the song, we sang "yesterday I woke up sucking a lemon" together.15/ <--not intentional-->15 Step - In Rainbows - 2007So while we're on the subject of Radiohead firsts...This is the first song on their newest album. Everyone already knows about their pay-what-you-want scheme. Well. I paid $80 to have my awesome discbox on October 1st. On October 10th they released the album online. Having a ticket for the download from the discbox, I received the email. I opened the attachment and downloaded the album. I checked and doublechecked everything. I saw the folder titled "In Rainbows" appear on my desktop. I threw that bitch in my iTunes. I got my best headphones and plugged them into my computer and pressed play. "BOOM clack clack clack clack - clack clack clack - How come I end up where I started?"I about pissed.I heard the birth of this song live in 2006 and now I was hearing its final studio version. And it was perfect. I had to keep from yelling outloud and waking up my parents. From the combination of drums and drum machine to the spacey guitar to Thom's vocals to the little kids yelling "YEAAAAAH!!!!" after he sings "Fads for whatever!" I adore this song. I have never danced as hard as when they played this song live in Atlanta. Insane.14/ Packt Like Sardines In A Crushd Tin Box - Amnesiac - 2001I love the beginning. It's like someone is just playing a pair of metal bowls for the hell of it and they just managed to capture it and put it in a song. And then that bass line comes in. One of my favorite bass lines from Colin. And I can't help but love the lyrics: "After years of waiting, nothing came. As your love flashed before your eyes, you realize I'm a reasonable man. Get off my case." !!!!! Haha! I love it! Unfortunately, I think they murder the luster of this song live. The fuzzbass needs to go, Coz.13/ The National Anthem - Kid A - 2000I don't know what genre to place this song in. I just don't. It's Radiohead genre. With the funkiest bassline ever, the song paints the picture of a few seconds of black and white footage of a man in a suit from the 20s dancing, repeating endlessly. It has an eery quality to it. And then Thom starts singing and it sounds like he's trapped in a metal box and singing into a long pipe that extends out from the box. And then... SAXOPHONE?! Yep. And then more brass. And more. Until finally it's just one big ball of brass that comes crashing to an end. But Thom sings it all back to life and it gets going again. But the furosity with which these musicians play their instruments causes the song to come crashing down once more. This time it's irreparable. This is the most remarkable example of fusing different styles of music I know of.12/ Planet Telex - The Bends - 1995The sheer intensity of the electric guitars playing the first chord of the chorus just makes me sweat. I love every single thing about this song. "EVERYTHING IS BROKEN. EVERYONE IS BROKEN." A perfect rock song. I don't think that Radiohead need to go back to pure rock. They've already made the perfect rock album. The Bends has been out for 13 years. Let it be. They won't be able to outdo themselves.11/ All I Need - In Rainbows - 2007This is an example of how to make a song in a major key sound kinda creepy. But it's not TOO creepy. It does have a stalkerish feel to it but it isn't overwhelming. When Thom sings the verses, it has a very aggressive feel to it. But then he sings the chorus and it takes on more of a delicate feel. "You are all I need. You're all I need. I'm in the middle of your picture lying in the reeds." And at the end of the second chorus the song takes a turn for an explosion of emotion. Strings, piano, and glockenspiel back Thom basically crying out "It's all right! It's all wrong! It's all right! It's all wrong!" This was one of my favorites when they premiered it live in 06 and I feel that they did the song justice. I love the hip-hop drums in the song combined with the dark-yet-inviting bass synth. And then the chords that sound like they're played by ghosts in the background. It's an atmosphere that they perfected in the studio. And that's why it's my 11th favorite Radiohead song.PART 5 SOON
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