My favourite song by Radiohead. It's been my favourite for so many years now =)
Probably their most 'depressing' (for want of a better word) song. I'm gonna stop talking about it and let Thom Yorke say a little about his own song.
With regards to Street Spirit:
"'Street Spirit' is our purest song, but I didn't write it.... It wrote itself. We were just its messengers... Its biological catalysts. Its core is a complete mystery to me... and (pause) you know, I wouldn't ever try to write something that hopeless... All of our saddest songs have somewhere in them at least a glimmer of resolve... 'Street Spirit' has no resolve... It is the dark tunnel without the light at the end. It represents all
tragic emotion that is so hurtful that the sound of that melody is its only
definition. We all have a way of dealing with that song... It's called detachment... Especially me.. I detach my emotional radar from that song, or I couldn't
play it... I'd crack. I'd break down on stage.. that's why its lyrics are just a bunch of mini-stories or visual images as opposed to a cohesive explanation of its meaning... I used images
set to the
music that I thought would convey the emotional entirety of the lyric and
music working together... That's what's meant by 'all these things are one to swallow whole'.. I meant the emotional entirety, because I didn't have it in me to articulate the emotion... (pause) I'd crack.... Our fans are braver than I to let that song penetrate them, or
maybe they don't realize what they're listening to.. They don't realize that 'Street Spirit' is about staring the
fucking devil right in the eyes... and knowing, no matter what the hell you do, he'll get the last laugh...and it's real...and true. The
devil really will get the last laugh in all cases without exception, and if I let myself think about that to
long, I'd crack. I can't believe we have fans that can deal emotionally with that song... That's why I'm convinced that they don't know what it's about. It's why we play it towards the end of our sets. It drains me, and it shakes me, and hurts like hell every time I play it, looking out at thousands of
people cheering and smiling, oblivious to the tragedy of it's meaning, like when you're going to have your dog put down and it's wagging it's tail on the way there. That's what they all look
like, and it breaks my
heart.
I wish that song hadn't picked us as its catalysts, and so I don't claim it. It asks too much. (very
long pause). I didn't write that song."
That song evokes a feeling in me i can't describe, it will always be my favourite radiohead song.
See below for full lyrics.
Rows of houses, all bearing down on me
I can feel their
blue hands touching me
All these things into position
All these things are one to swallow whole
And fade out again and fade out
This machine will, will not communicate
These thoughts and the strain I am under
Be a world child, form a circle
Before we all go under
And fade out again and fade out again
Cracked
eggs, dead birds
Scream as they fight for life
I can feel
death, can see its beady eyes
All these things into position
All these things are one to swallow whole
And fade out again and fade out again
Immerse your soul in
love
IMMERSE YOUR SOUL IN
LOVE
