Radiohead's 7th album "In Rainbows" was released on October 10th, 2007. This meaning more than a year ago.
Looking back on it, I can't believe a year has passed me by so quickly. I find myself listening to In Rainbows more than any other album, vinyl, ep, or digital download I own. I still remember the morning of which In Rainbows was released. Me and a friend of mine (Mark Jacob) were sitting playing Valve's Portal and I had just downloaded the album, of course being the devout Radiohead fan that I am, I payed 15 £ for the album. In a way, I payed them for the version of OK Computer I have (notice I don't say own) and for In Rainbows.
I put the first song on, titled 15 Step. The opening to this song was the most incredible thing I had heard at the time. It fit with Portal perfectly, and I found myself moving around like Thom during Idioteque's drum break. It was incredible, quite a moving experiance.
Anyways, I recently purchased a book entitled IV by Chuck Klosterman. In this book, there is a section where he interviews Radiohead. I found this part one of my favorites throughout the book. It talked very breifly about how Thom writes his lyrics. I've looked around quite a bit, and In Rainbows is so immesially deep that I'll never be able to understand it in its entirety even if I was given a thousand life times to do so.
Upon listening to the song "Reckoner", which is apparently the kick track (title track) for the whole album. The lyrics go something like this:
Reckoner
You can't take it with you
Dancing for your pleasure
You are not to blame for
Bittersweet distracter
Dare not speak it's name
Dedicated to all you
All human beings
Because we separate like
Ripples on a blank shore
(In Rainbows)
Because we separate like
Ripples on a blank shore
(In Rainbows)
Reckoner
Take me with you
Dedicated to all you
All human beings
Anyways, I found this explanation on the internet:
"In Rainbows is 42m 34s, or 2554 seconds long. 2554/1.618 is the 1578th or so second of the album, which is 2m49s into Reckoner, precisely when the strings come in with the album title."
It's amazing that this holds true. I was blown away for a minute.
Also, a fellow with a masters in literary had this to say:
"Reckoner keeps reminding me of a line from the opening of Book II from Goethe’s Faust, “Life is not light but the refracted color.” The meaning is that life is not pure but mixed, like rainbows. Radiohead’s album title, “In Rainbows,” and this song from which it comes, suggest there are deals made, and reckonings to be made by the life we live and these deals mean we live multiple lives, not a singular or pure one. Thus, as the song, Reckoner, says, “Because we separate like/ripples on a blank shore.” That is to say, we fragment and in the fragmentation make and are “in rainbows.” We are clothed and bathed in the colors of life. This is the exit door from the moral dilemmas that would condemn us to hell for the choices we make, the inflexible codes that demand we live an impossibly pure life. It is redemption and is similar to the redemption of Faust at the end of the story, at least in Goethe’s version. Interestingly, the song preceding this one is currently called “Faust Arp.” This further leads me to think it was intended. And Mephistopheles, shows up in, “Videotape,” which interestingly enough is a song about a kind of redemption. The album has the vague structure, to me, of the Faust story."
It's amazing that a year later I can listen to an album and have a completely different point of view of it; and for it to have a completely different meaning to me.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008 at 05:48PM ;)
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