Song: "Airbag"
Songwriters: Radiohead (Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, Phil Selway, Ed O'Brien and Colin Greenwood)
Original Release: June 16, 1997
Album: OK Computer
Radiohead - Airbag [OK Computer] from faustidioteque on Vimeo.
In the early days of the current century, my wife and I lived in New Jersey. I was in graduate school and she was commuting into New York everyday. Since she left earlier than I did, I always had some time in the morning to myself before heading to class. I began every day essentially the same way, by turning on the computer and checking my email as I ate my breakfast. For what must have been several months, Radiohead's OK Computer CD was loaded into our iMac and would come on whenever we turned on the computer. I began every day with "Airbag." I won't go so far as to say it's even the best song on the album but it's the first song I think of when I think of Radiohead. Can't deny it also reminds me of a quieter, simpler life.
I never got into the band the way some of my friends did but I admire Radiohead immensely. Few bands of any era have been so eager to challenge their audience, each new album bucking any sense of established formula. OK Computer was their third studio album and the most successful of the bunch, both commercially and critically. The song was inspired by a car crash Yorke and his girlfriend had survived several years earlier. It is intended as a celebration of a life saved.
Want to hear all of the songs I have featured in a convenient playlist?
Enjoy: A Window Above
What are you listening to these days?
I'm not very familiar with Radiohead. I know their name, but I can't put them to any songs off the top of my head.
ReplyDeleteAnd, well, we're dealing with more fires out here, so I'm not going to try to do that right now.
The fires sound awful. Be safe.
DeleteNot a Radiohead fan but love the name.
ReplyDeletecheers, parsnip and badger
They were an acquired taste for me.
DeleteI do like Radiohead, if I'm in the mood for it. Thank you for the playlist, really enjoying it and discovering new stuff:-)
ReplyDeleteThanks. I enjoy it, too.
DeleteRadiohead was kind of the vanguard in the disconnect between what critics loved and what was actually popular in rock music, and so in that respect was kind of the death of popular rock music. Cheers, Radiohead!
ReplyDeleteI don't think Radiohead can be blamed for wait ails the modern music industry! The garage band culture is certainly a far cry from what it once was but there are other culprits: auto-tune and Simon Cowell have done far more damage than any one band could have. The rise of hip-hop has certainly taken its toll on rock, worldwide. You want to know the biggest enemy these days? Fortnite. The video game industry has been kicking the music industry's booty for a long time.
DeleteUnfortunately, the free market will always win out over the critics in the long term. I still say Radiohead deserves a lot of credit for offering something more artistically sophisticated than the usual, predictable, formulaic crap.
I am more in the zone of the 60-70s. Led Zeppelin, Credence Clearwater, Lynyrd Skynyrd (sp), Fleetwood Mac,
ReplyDeleteThat's about it.
Well yes, that's generally my terra firma as well. Radiohead, though, falls solidly in the legacies of older bands such as Pink Floyd, Queen and the Beatles.
DeleteI love Radiohead. Knives Out and Dollars & Cents are among my favorites :)
ReplyDeleteI had no idea what sparked this song to be created. I have always enjoyed Radiohead. Thanks for sharing. :)
ReplyDelete~Jess
I never knew before either. I do enjoy learning these things.
DeleteMy pleasure!
ReplyDelete