Level 4, Intermediate, Post 3, 'Themed Free Post' (My favorite song)

Hi! In this occasion I would like to talk to you about one of my favorite songs.  This is “No surprises” by the English band, Radiohead. I will tell you why.

Let’s start from the beginning. Radiohead is one of the iconic bands from the 90’s, the song in question in on their third álbum, Ok computer, from 1997.

The song talk about alienation in the city, how the whole system has reduced us to ‘A heart that's full up like a landfill’. Not only in economic terms, but also life itself has been reduced –‘a handshake of carbon monoxide’-. Hence seek and wish for a moment of peace and silence, ‘with no alarms and no surprises’ say the chorus.

Well, all good so far… it is not a new theme in his songs, but this one sounds different. The others songs sound loud and heavy; like they are angry. Here is different, here it sound sad and slow, and that is precisely what I like.

In this sense, it is the musical form that says the content of the song, the lyrics. There is a harmony between both parties. I mean the chords used, the instruments, the rhythm, etc. For example, chords do not generate tensión as usual. Harmonic progression is particular.

The instruments also collaborate. To the two guitars, one that does the main riff and the other that accompanies an acoustic one, a metalphone is added that makes a melody sharper that gets confused with the lead guitar. All this creates an atmosphere of torpor… let’s not forget that the song says ‘You look so tired, unhappy’.

The other part that also matters and that is related to this is the video. In it, Thom Yorke, appears singing with a bubble on his head, which is filling with water. At one point in the song, the bubble fills up and stays that way for almost a minute. When the song is resolved, it breathes again, as if it came to life and sings ‘Such a pretty house / And such a pretty garden’, implying that the essential thing is to breathe and pretty house in silence.

I share the video of the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5CVsCnxyXg

PD: I also share a link with a “making off” of the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzqOeD7FV2s

See you!