| Radiohead – Paranoid Android Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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^^I forgot a couple of things: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzSXTMUe0Do&feature=related During the ^^intro prior to Thom's vocals, the cabasa Ed is curiously going out of his way to make heard sounds to me what I'd imagine a guillotine blade slicing through bone would sound like. Also, during the second movement, the backing vocals give me an eerie yet appropriate impression of Medieval choral hymns. I feel like I'm forgeting much more... |
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| Radiohead – Paranoid Android Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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Paranoid Android = Robespierre's Reign of Terror during the French Revolution. The barbarity and despotism of the Middle Ages had man revert back to pre-Classical era humanity when man's decision making was driven by instinct or neurosis impulse/compulsion rather than cognitive reasoning; perfect parallel to an automated android. Lack of self control. When the absolute monarchy fell, the innately power hungry androids were instinctually driven to seize power. A kind of automated anarchy ensued. Reason driven revolutionaries could easily justify the guillotine as a virtuous means to protect the Revolution from the unreasonable instinct driven androids. So they put an 'uncorruptable man' in charge of ordering executions. But Robespierre lived too much within his own head; he became paranoid of everyone and the paranoia manifested itself to the point where his conspiracy accusations/arrests/executions became inevitable whenever the slightest political dissent was perceived by him; it was called political purging (the panic, the vomit). What it was in reality was paranoia driven automated fascism enacted by Robespierre's devolution into the paradoxical paranoid android. ***Ambition makes you look pretty ugly*** = political ambition resulted in ugly decapitation. ***Kicking squealing Guicci little piggy*** = privileged noble and religious elites. Revolution threatened their inherited monopoly of France's wealth, so they were assumed to be enemies of the Revolution and summarily dragged kicking and squealing to the guillotine. Guicci is Italian fashion but it’s French owned. ***Off with his head man off with his head man*** = self explanatory. ***Why don’t you remember my name?*** = at the end of his Reign, Robespierre was accusing National Convention members of conspiracy. When asked of conspirator's names, he couldn’t remember. ***I guess he does*** = the accused Convention members whose names he couldn’t remember had become the judges of his fate; their names were on his execution order. ***Rain down on me, from a great height*** = literally as the guillotine blade falling and figuratively as the Reign of Terror falling. Reign down on me. I imagine the final scene of Braveheart. ***The dust and the screaming*** = once placed on the dusted off slab, Robespierre is known to have been screaming until the guillotine blade silenced him. ***The yuppies networking*** = the revolution’s emergent middle class establishing mercantilist trade networks. ***The panic, the vomit*** = political purging. ***God loves his children, yeah*** = the revolution had established a Cult of Reason to replace religion. This appalled the paranoid android Robespierre, so he created the Cult of the Supreme Being as the official state religion. He was lovingly rewarded with execution? |
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| Radiohead – Let Down Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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Probably the most uplifting song I've ever had the pleasure of listening to. Existential Thom is vocalizing an emotional metamorphasis manifested with the overwhelming feeling of freedom one experiences when they find themselves with nothing left to lose. 'Let Down' picks up where Kafka's 'Metamorphosis' protagonist [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Metamorphosis], a grotesque man-turned-insect, is giving up hope in his life's worth and contemplating whether society would be better off if he were dead. The insect creature, in great despair, eventually decides to die alone in his room. 'Let Down' is so inspiring because Yorke doesn't give up hope; he has faith he will endure the insect stage and the crushing societal torment it brings; one day he is going to develop into a butterfly and be free. Existence precedes essence. Thom isn't looking for anyone's pity as it only ends up drivel. It's useless anyways because he has to do it for himself -- he must break through the artificial identity society has defined for him which he knows will inevitably crumble. He must develop his authentic identity from within so that he may have something of substance to bounce back up off of after his fake world breaks down. Only when his existence is authentic to himself can he have freedom. These are some of the fundamental concepts of existential philosophy. After the bridge, the final verses of the song make my eyes water every time I hear it. The most beautiful and theraputic emotional catharsis I've ever witnessed: "You'll know, You'll know where you are when You'll know where you are when Floor collapses floating, Bouncing back and one day I am gonna grow wings A chemical reaction (you'll know where you are) Hysterical and useless (you'll know where you are) Hysterical and (you'll know where you are)" |
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