The week leading up to the show I prepared by listening to Radiohead's entire discography from beginning to end. For some of these albums it was the first time I had heard them in years. I can honestly say that I hadn't sat down and actively listened to "The Bends" in almost five years prior to last week. It's crazy how as you get older you relate to music so differently - you tune in to things you didn't notice when you were younger, or you can connect to the lyrics differently with life experiences you've had since the last time you have listened to the song.
Musically I noticed more how much they draw from 20th century classical composers - such as the use of rhythmic phasing associated with Steve Reich (Who is debuting a piece based on "Everything in it's Right Place" and "Jigsaw Falling Into Place" in March of 2013), or with Johnny's Penderecki inspired orchestration (whom he recently collaborated with for an album they released this year). But also having absorbed much more pop music since my last Radiohead phase (thanks to having to learn lots of tunes for music therapy) I also was able to have a new found appreciation for how accessible and relatable their music is to a mainstream audience (despite the depth and complexity of it).
Speaking of music therapy, since the release of "The King of Limbs" there have been multiple occasions where participants have requested Radiohead songs for sessions. The first time was during my internship at Shattuck (an inpatient psychiatric hospital) and I remember having a conversation with my supervisor Carylbeth about Radiohead's lyrical content and which of their songs would be appropriate for the session. Most of this conversation was me trying to convince her that Radiohead didn't just make weird dark music...which at times is something Radiohead's music can be - but I feel like even some of their darkest lyrics/songs can be very therapeutic as well. I know for me at times, hearing some of these "darker" songs validated my emotions and experiences I was going through. Songs like "How To Disapear Completly" and "Let Down" I found extremely cathartic and not only validated what I was going through at the time but brought insight. This conversation came to mind Tuesday night - with some of their songs that are extremely positive and inspiring with themes such as reawakening and love. The most recent song of theirs that jumps to mind is "Seperater", the closer their most recent album "The King of Limbs. Lines such as "Like I’m falling out of bed from a long and weary dream/Finally I’m free of all the weight I’ve been carrying" seem only too fit for a music therapy session in that setting, especially with the ending repeating line of "Wake Me Up" which on Tuesday night felt like mantra to me.
But also some of the older songs like "Lucky" and "Airbag". I dig this quote from Ed talking about how "Airbag" is “about the wonderful, positive emotion you feel when you’ve just failed to have an accident; when you just miss someone and realize how close it was and stop the car and just feel this incredible elation. There’s something joyous about it- life suddenly seems more precious.”
Anyway, I could ramble on forever about how inspiring and awesome Radiohead is. But if you haven't found this out for yourself already - I can't recommend checking them out enough ("In Rainbows" is a great place to start). Or if you want to get an idea of what they're up to now live check out this video "The King Of Limbs - Live from the Basement":
Here's the Setlist from the show on Tuesday night (May 29) at the Comcast Center :
01 Bloom
02 15 Step
03 Airbag
04 Staircase
05 The Daily Mail
06 Myxomatosis
07 The Gloaming
08 Separator
09 Pyramid Song
10 Weird Fishes/Arpeggi
11 Morning Mr Magpie
12 Identikit
13 Lotus Flower
14 There There
15 Feral
16 Idioteque
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17 Supercollider
18 The National Anthem
19 Lucky
20 After The Gold Rush/Everything In Its Right Place
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21 Give Up The Ghost
22 Bodysnatchers
23 Reckoner
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