These are not my twisted words
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Itâs been on-line for a few days and, as all memes do, has reproduced itself all over the place: a new Radiohead song, apparently. Leaked. On YouTube. Not a film clip â just a still accompanying the music. But there are a multitude of stills accompanying the same soundfile, entitled âThese Are My Twisted Wordsâ, all over the internet now.
Iâve chosen to share the one posted by âJonnyswhoreâ because I quite like the still [s]heâs provided. Iâd like to think itâs from the sessions for âHarry Patch (In Memory Of)â â Radioheadâs most recent official release, in honour of the last known surviving British soldier to have fought in World War I.
I donât quite know what to make of this newest, leaked song. The first few seconds sound like a different song entirely â different drum beat, different music â until a disco beat â not unlike John Paul Youngâs âLove Is In The Airâ â barges in over the top. (Okay, whatâs happening is the drummer is âcounting the band inâ just after the tapeâs started rolling, guitars already strummed â maybe with a bit of whammy bar action; thatâs what it sounds like. The [programmed?] disco beat was probably added later.)
The opening lead guitar motif sounds reminiscent of The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn-era Floyd; the falling melody as well as the tone of the guitar suggest âAstronomy Domineâ to me.
At about 2 minutes 13 seconds in, the bass line is suddenly Frank Zappaâs âYa Hoznaâ from Them Or Us. About midway through the track, just when you want to start singing âNational Anthemâ from Kid A over the top, the lyrics kick in. By this time, the drums donât sound so obtrusive.
âThese Are My Twisted Wordsâ apparently first appeared as an MP3 file, embedded with the following info (courtesy of ateaseweb â Iâm not sure if thatâs âat ease webâ or âa tease webâ â via stereogum):
iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
iiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiii
iiiiiii radiohead - these are my twisted words iiiiiii
iiiiiii iiiiiii
iiii artist.......radiohead iiii
iiii title........these are my twisted words iiii
iiii label........?????????? iiii
iiii cat.nr.......????????? iiii
iiii style........'dificult' iiii
iiii nr of tracks.1 iiii
iiii total length..5.32 iiii
iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
iiii audio source.CD Advance iiii
iiii encoder......LAME 3.93 iiii
iiii quality......320kbps/44.1kHz/Joint Stereo iiii
iiii size.........12,70 MB iiii
iiii ripper.......sca[GG]er iiii
iiii rls.date.....2009-08-17 iiii
iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
iiii i just wanted to reassure readers iiii
iiii that following representations iiii
iiii seeking confirmation iiii
iiii that before your very eyes iiii
iiii behind the wall of ice iiii
iiii that the box is not under threat iiii
iiii however they are set to remove iiii
iiii other boxes iiii
iiii in fact i have the list in front of me iiii
iiii i went to a briefing on their plans iiii
iiii and challenged them to tell me iiii
iiiii exactly what the cost would be iiiiiii
iiiiii iiiiiiii
iiiiiii they spoke in broad terms iiiiiiiiii
iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
iiiiiiiiiii we're looking for: talented puppeteers iiiiiiiiiii
iiiiiiiiii worms, disgruntled executives, sacked flies iiiiiiiiii
iiiiiiii genres: doomcore, folktronica, ukf iiiiiiii
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I hope it leads to a new album. I also hope this is a work-in-progress, that the finished version is different to this, making this one special. Thatâs if itâs authentic. I think it is: despite all the things the different bits remind me of, together they make a song that sounds like bona fide Radiohead to me. Judge for yourself.
Thanks to John Brannan and Kip Williams
