The National Anthem (Radiohead song)

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"The National Anthem"
Belgium promotional single cover
Song by Radiohead
from the album Kid A
Released2000 (2000)
Recorded1997–2000
Genre
Length5:51
Label
Songwriter(s)Radiohead
Producer(s)

"The National Anthem" is a song by the English rock band Radiohead, released on their fourth album, Kid A (2000). The song is set to a repeating bassline, and features horns influenced by jazz.

Recording[edit]

"The National Anthem"
This song, featuring a horn section improvising over a repetitive bassline, demonstrates the band's increasing influence from jazz during this time period. Yorke cited Charles Mingus as his main inspiration here.
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Radiohead's singer, Thom Yorke, wrote the "National Anthem" bassline when he was 16.[2] In late 1997, Radiohead recorded drums and bass for the song, intending to develop it as a B-side for their third album, OK Computer (1997). Instead, they saved it for their next album, Kid A (2000).[3][4]

Radiohead returned to "The National Anthem" in mid-1999 while recording in Gloucestershire.[4] Yorke played bass,[3] and his vocals were processed with a ring modulator.[5] Jonny Greenwood added ondes Martenot and sampled sounds from radio stations.[3] The guitarist Ed O'Brien said: "It's a very ill-disciplined way of recording ... You're adding things to the stew — as well as rejecting things — and then you come back to the song with fresh ears."[3]

In November 1999,[4] Radiohead recorded a brass section inspired by the "organised chaos" of Town Hall Concert by the jazz musician Charles Mingus. Yorke and Greenwood directed the musicians to sound like a "traffic jam". According to Yorke, he jumped up and down so much during his conducting that he broke his foot.[6] Yorke said: "The running joke when we were in the studios was, 'Just blow. Just blow, just blow, just blow.'"[7]

An early demo of "The National Anthem" was included in the special edition of the 2017 OK Computer reissue OKNOTOK 1997 2017.[8]

Composition[edit]

The bass riff of "The National Anthem" was written and performed by Thom Yorke (pictured in 2010)

Yorke said Radiohead tried to convey the feeling of angry people trapped in a lift or traffic.[9] MTV described the free jazz section as "a brass band marching into a brick wall".[7] Simon Reynolds of Spin wrote that it was "a strange, thrilling blast of kosmik highway music" that combined jazz with the Hawkwind song "Silver Machine" and the Can song "Mother Sky".[10] Cam Lindsey of Exclaim! wrote that the song is a "radical jazz-rock fusion".[11] David Fricke of Rolling Stone called the song "crusty funk".[12]

Reception[edit]

Many critics disliked the jazz elements. In his review of Kid A for the New Yorker, the novelist Nick Hornby described "The National Anthem" as "an unpleasant free-jazz workout, with a discordant horn section squalling over a studiedly crude bass line".[13] Mark Beaumont wrote that the "free-form jazz horns" produced a "mingus-in-a-tumble-dryer racket".[14] Lorraine Ali, writing for Newsweek, described the song as "annoying pileup of squawking instruments".[15] Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone said the horn section "was a cornier-than-usual art-rock cliché, trying way too hard for a way-too-obvious gimmick".[16] Yorke described meeting a fan who told him that he could not understand the horns; Yorke concluded that some listeners did not want to hear such an angry sound on a record.[9]

Adam Downer of Sputnikmusic said that "by the end of the song, you're in awe of such a jam session" and named it a "recommended track".[17] Siobhan Kane of The Irish Times wrote that it "distills Radiohead's worldview, with those guitars and Yorke's evocative voice, all intelligence and deep emotion".[18] Cam Lindsey of Exclaim! cited it as the standout track on Kid A.[11]

Reviewing the demo version released on OKNOTOK 1997 2017, Record Collector wrote that the song "could very easily have resembled the sort of latterday U2 track chosen to soundtrack Goal of the Month reels ... That Radiohead had the self-awareness to sit on it rather than go for the drive-time jugular says so much about their intuitive good taste, and the prolonged success it would bring them."[8]

Live performances[edit]

Radiohead has performed "The National Anthem" with a wind section in their 2000 performances in New York City (one of which was at Radiohead's taping for Saturday Night Live), a 2001 performance in London for the BBC's Later with Jools Holland, during a 2001 concert in Paris, and on The Colbert Report in 2011.[19]

Personnel[edit]

Radiohead[edit]

Additional personnel[edit]

  • Nigel Godrich – production, engineering, mixing
  • Gerard Navarro – production assistance, additional engineering
  • Graeme Stewart – additional engineering

Additional musicians[edit]

  • Henry Binns – rhythm sampling
  • Andy Bush – trumpet
  • Andy Hamilton – tenor saxophone
  • Steve Hamilton – alto saxophone
  • Stan Harrison – baritone saxophone
  • Martin Hathaway – alto saxophone
  • Liam Kirkman – trombone
  • Mike Kearsey – bass trombone
  • Mark Lockheart – tenor saxophone

References[edit]

  1. ^ Sheffield, Rob (2 October 2015). "How Radiohead's 'Kid A' Shocked the World". Rolling Stone.
  2. ^ Fricke, David (2 August 2001). "Making Music That Matters". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 20 April 2006. Retrieved 29 March 2009.
  3. ^ a b c d Nic, Harcourt (12 October 2000). "Radiohead – Morning Becomes Eclectic". Morning Becomes Eclectic (Interview). Jonny and Colin Greenwood. KCRW.
  4. ^ a b c Swenson, Kylee (January 2001). "A Spy In the House of Music: Radiohead's Ed O'Brien Discusses Sonic Espionage". MC2 Magazine: 44–47. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
  5. ^ Swenson, Kylee (January 2001). "A Spy In the House of Music: Radiohead's Ed O'Brien Discusses Sonic Espionage". MC2 Magazine: 44–47. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  6. ^ Zoric, Lauren (1 October 2000). "Fitter, Happier, More Productive". Juice Magazine. Archived from the original on 9 March 2016. Retrieved 19 May 2007.
  7. ^ a b Loder, Kurt (1 October 2001). "Radiohead: Ice Age Coming". MTV. Retrieved 3 March 2009.
  8. ^ a b Atkins, Jamie (22 June 2017). "OK Computer – OKNOTOK 1997-2017". Record Collector. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  9. ^ a b Pettigrew, Jason (September 2001). "How to reinvent completely". Alternative Press (158).
  10. ^ Reynolds, Simon (2 October 2000). "Classic Reviews: Radiohead, 'Kid A'". Spin. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  11. ^ a b Lindsay, Cam (1 November 2000). "Radiohead - Kid A review". Exclaim!. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
  12. ^ Fricke, David (12 October 2000). "Kid A". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  13. ^ Hornby, Nick (30 October 2000). "Beyond the Pale". The New York. p. 106. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  14. ^ Beaumont, Mark (11 October 2010). "Radiohead's Kid A: Still Not Much Cop". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  15. ^ Ali, Lorraine (5 November 2016). "Radiohead, 'Kid A': Newsweek's Original Album Review". Newsweek. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  16. ^ Sheffield, Rob (2 October 2015). "How Radiohead Shocked the World: A 15th-Anniversary Salute to 'Kid A'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  17. ^ Downer, Adam (27 February 2006). "Radiohead - Kid A (album review)". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  18. ^ Kane, Siobhan (20 June 2016). "Radiohead live review: an exploration of their musical universe". The Irish Times. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  19. ^ "The Colbert Report". Comedy Central. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
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