The tracks title, ‘Idioteque’ is a combination of a pun and a hybridized word. The first part of the word ‘idio’ comes from the Greek prefix ‘ἴδιος’ which means; pertaining to one's self, one's own, or belonging to one's self . The second part is taken from the French words ‘bibliotheque’ (a library), ‘videotheque’ (a video library) and ‘discotheque’ (a DJ club). Bringing these two word fragments together creates an overall meaning of ‘one’s own collection, club or place’. Secondly the word ‘idioteque’ is a play on the word idiotic. As the overall theme of the song is unraveled it will become clearer how these relate to the song.
3) Lyrics: Apocalyptic Postmodern Anxiety: ‘Idioteque’ & Jean Baudrillard
Apocalyptic postmodern anxiety is rooted in the fundamental question of how we see our role in the world, our disconnectedness from absolutes and whether we are creating a world in which we can exist. More specifically within postmodernity is found ‘the anxiety of obsolescence’ which is concerned that extreme technological advancement could render humanity or aspects of humanness obsolete .
The lyrics of ‘Idioteque’ are a mosaic of such anxious postmodern images which predict apocalyptic disaster generated by consumerism, greed, environmental ignorance and war. The opening lines “who’s in a bunker, who’s in a bunker. Women and children first, and the children first and the children first…” sets the scene by painting pictures of war and of the Earth as a sinking ship. Closely followed by the stanza “I’ll laugh until my head comes off, I’ll swallow until I burst…” representing a sense of mania and anxiety an uncontrollable dread that ravages the senses.
These same lyrics continue in rhythmic repetition relatively unchanged for two stanzas but are interrupted by the addition of new lyrics “I have seen too much, I haven’t seen enough, you haven’t seen it”. Perhaps reflecting upon Yorke’s observation of man-made disasters, destruction and war whilst acknowledging his own lack of foresight and the complete ignorance of others on such environmental and social issues. Yorke is a member and advocate for ‘friends of the earth’ and ‘warchild’ two organisations involved in environmental and war aid respectively, thus further suggesting his seeing too many problems and not seeing enough action if any at all!
The next fraction of the montage is a repeated lyrical phrase continued throughout the remaining piece as a literary motif: “here I’m allowed everything all of the time”. This appears as a tongue in cheek statement towards global authorities and capitalist consumerism as echoed in the song title. I.e. the elite self-seeking clubs that ravish the Earth for profit, who aim to accumulate as much as possible without regard for social-environmental ethics. This is further consolidated in later lyrics stating, “Mobiles squawking, mobiles chirping, take the money and run”.
Such clubs could be likened to those that Jean Baudrillard has named the “neo-capitalist cybernetic order that now aims at total control” who are aided by the mass media and who have effectively destroyed all that is real and valuable in society where reality has been replaced with a complex system of simulations and media-constructs to generate profit. Baurillard has also reasoned that independent thought, effectual action and hope are made impossible through the command of this code further amplifying Thom’s woes that we have seen too much but haven’t seen enough.
The reality of the consumer and media driven market is apparent yet Baudrillard further paints a conspiratorial and relentless dystopia comparable to Orwellian and Huxleyesque science fiction also referenced in Radiohead’s lyrics and in their general bleak perspective of the future . Thom has also communicated that many of his politicized lyrics in this decade have been driven by fear for his children’s future .
Furthermore in ‘Idioteque’s’ lyric are the repeated lines “ice age coming, ice age coming” suggesting an impending apocalyptic disaster. This phrase in reference to the song and Radiohead merchandise is most likely referring to global warming . The expression ‘let me hear both sides’ following this apocalyptic prophecy indicates the scientific division between global warming as man-made or as natural cyclic phenomenon.
Baurillard is also suspicious of technology and finds irony in technology eluding humanity and becoming beyond our control . Hence we find this paralleled in the above mobile phone reference, where the sounds created have been animised, i.e. squawking and chirping like a bird. Another technological theme underlying ‘Idioteque’ is it’s sole usage of electronic musicality accompanied only by fragile human vocals. The main chord sequence is sampled from the 1972-3 ‘mild und leise’ by Paul Lanksy and also samples ‘short piece’ by Arthur Krieger both of which are among the first computer generated pieces of music . ‘Mild und leise’ is ironically based around a Richard Wagner leitmotif from the opera ‘Tristan und Isolde’. Hence an electronic expression of a purely orchestral work from the modern era being resampled and recontextualised to communicate a sense of postmodern angst.
The tracks title, ‘Idioteque’ is a combination of a pun and a hybridized word. The first part of the word ‘idio’ comes from the Greek prefix ‘ἴδιος’ which means; pertaining to one's self, one's own, or belonging to one's self . The second part is taken from the French words ‘bibliotheque’ (a library), ‘videotheque’ (a video library) and ‘discotheque’ (a DJ club). Bringing these two word fragments together creates an overall meaning of ‘one’s own collection, club or place’. Secondly the word ‘idioteque’ is a play on the word idiotic. As the overall theme of the song is unraveled it will become clearer how these relate to the song.
3) Lyrics: Apocalyptic Postmodern Anxiety: ‘Idioteque’ & Jean Baudrillard
Apocalyptic postmodern anxiety is rooted in the fundamental question of how we see our role in the world, our disconnectedness from absolutes and whether we are creating a world in which we can exist. More specifically within postmodernity is found ‘the anxiety of obsolescence’ which is concerned that extreme technological advancement could render humanity or aspects of humanness obsolete .
The lyrics of ‘Idioteque’ are a mosaic of such anxious postmodern images which predict apocalyptic disaster generated by consumerism, greed, environmental ignorance and war. The opening lines “who’s in a bunker, who’s in a bunker. Women and children first, and the children first and the children first…” sets the scene by painting pictures of war and of the Earth as a sinking ship. Closely followed by the stanza “I’ll laugh until my head comes off, I’ll swallow until I burst…” representing a sense of mania and anxiety an uncontrollable dread that ravages the senses.
These same lyrics continue in rhythmic repetition relatively unchanged for two stanzas but are interrupted by the addition of new lyrics “I have seen too much, I haven’t seen enough, you haven’t seen it”. Perhaps reflecting upon Yorke’s observation of man-made disasters, destruction and war whilst acknowledging his own lack of foresight and the complete ignorance of others on such environmental and social issues. Yorke is a member and advocate for ‘friends of the earth’ and ‘warchild’ two organisations involved in environmental and war aid respectively, thus further suggesting his seeing too many problems and not seeing enough action if any at all!
The next fraction of the montage is a repeated lyrical phrase continued throughout the remaining piece as a literary motif: “here I’m allowed everything all of the time”. This appears as a tongue in cheek statement towards global authorities and capitalist consumerism as echoed in the song title. I.e. the elite self-seeking clubs that ravish the Earth for profit, who aim to accumulate as much as possible without regard for social-environmental ethics. This is further consolidated in later lyrics stating, “Mobiles squawking, mobiles chirping, take the money and run”.
Such clubs could be likened to those that Jean Baudrillard has named the “neo-capitalist cybernetic order that now aims at total control” who are aided by the mass media and who have effectively destroyed all that is real and valuable in society where reality has been replaced with a complex system of simulations and media-constructs to generate profit. Baurillard has also reasoned that independent thought, effectual action and hope are made impossible through the command of this code further amplifying Thom’s woes that we have seen too much but haven’t seen enough.
The reality of the consumer and media driven market is apparent yet Baudrillard further paints a conspiratorial and relentless dystopia comparable to Orwellian and Huxleyesque science fiction also referenced in Radiohead’s lyrics and in their general bleak perspective of the future . Thom has also communicated that many of his politicized lyrics in this decade have been driven by fear for his children’s future .
Furthermore in ‘Idioteque’s’ lyric are the repeated lines “ice age coming, ice age coming” suggesting an impending apocalyptic disaster. This phrase in reference to the song and Radiohead merchandise is most likely referring to global warming . The expression ‘let me hear both sides’ following this apocalyptic prophecy indicates the scientific division between global warming as man-made or as natural cyclic phenomenon.
Baurillard is also suspicious of technology and finds irony in technology eluding humanity and becoming beyond our control . Hence we find this paralleled in the above mobile phone reference, where the sounds created have been animised, i.e. squawking and chirping like a bird. Another technological theme underlying ‘Idioteque’ is it’s sole usage of electronic musicality accompanied only by fragile human vocals. The main chord sequence is sampled from the 1972-3 ‘mild und leise’ by Paul Lanksy and also samples ‘short piece’ by Arthur Krieger both of which are among the first computer generated pieces of music . ‘Mild und leise’ is ironically based around a Richard Wagner leitmotif from the opera ‘Tristan und Isolde’. Hence an electronic expression of a purely orchestral work from the modern era being resampled and recontextualised to communicate a sense of postmodern angst.