Has The Light Gone Out For You?

Radiohead “Bodysnatchers” – Radiohead’s most effective expressions of alienation are incredibly exhilarating: The enormous power chord that signals the chorus in “Creep;” the fight-or-flight adrenaline rush of “The National Anthem” and “Idioteque;” the feeling of victory and escape that accompanies the ascending hooks of “Airbag” and “The Bends.” Thom Yorke’s protagonists are freaked out by their bodies and terrified of the world, but what pushes his work beyond the banality of adolescent poetry is how fully the music, the words, and the vocal performances are rooted in physicality. At their best, Radiohead never let you forget that you’re in a body, whether you like it or not — and in most cases, it is most certainly the latter.

“Bodysnatchers” is an update of “Creep,” at least in the sense that it so baldly states the singer’s discomfort in his own body. Whereas “Creep” is basically a self-deprecating love song, “Bodysnatchers” is complicated and messy — Yorke’s alienation from his body approaches total hysteria, but there’s barely a note of self-loathing, which is exactly what makes it so captivating. If anything, he seems overwhelmed by the rush of existence. When he sings “I’m trapped in this body and can’t get out,” it could just as well be an expression of dissatisfaction with his physical form — too ugly, too male, too female, too far removed from the ideal self that exists in his mind, whatever — as it could be an equation of corporeal existence and spiritual/intellectual imprisonment. Either way, it’s a song about unwilling compromise and limitations, and the singer seems desperate to circumvent nature and reality in order to achieve some greater potential. The tune stubbornly charges headlong towards failure and futility, but its ambition is anything but ugly. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)

Elsewhere: Carl Wilson appeared on Fair Game yesterday to talk about his excellent new book about Celine Dion’s album Let’s Talk About Love. It’s a fun, light-hearted interview that still manages to touch on the complexity of his project, which uses Dion and her music as a starting point for a very engaging and thoughtful riff on the nature of taste.