"Million Dollar Question" vs "The Bends"

Continuing on...

"Million Dollar Question"




Was always waiting for the crush
The car to drive right through the shops
To call in sick and late at work
And take a holiday
Was always tangled up in knots
To keep myself from speaking up
But no-one's listening anyway
Just trying to bribe me..
And if it's alright, then what am I doing here?
And if it's alright, this place is gassed by fear
And if it's alright, I'll tell you, 'cause you never understand
And if it's alright, I'll beg you, 'cause I'm a begging kind of man
Today I wrote a bad cheque
Packed a bag and took a jet
But no-one's looking anyway
I hope they miss me
I just think maybe I'm making a mistake. 

This song is fine. Good, even, but something about it feels dated now. It reminds me of the stuff I heard all the time at house shows and cheap concerts when I was in college. Although, I guess they were ahead of their time since I went to college 10 years after this was released. The song has a heavier rock feel (with guitar and drums) than my usual favorite Radiohead songs, but it does use an inverted soft-loud-soft formula, of which I am so fond.

"The Bends"

 


Where do we go from here
The words are coming out all weird
Where are you now when I need you
Alone on an airplane
Falling asleep against the window pain
My blood will thicken

I need to wash myself again
To hide all the dirt and pain
'Cause I'd be scared that there's nothing underneath
And who are my real friends
Have they all got the bends
Am I really sinking, this slow

My baby's got the bends, oh no
We don't have any real friends, no no no

I'm just lying in a bar with my drip feed on
Talking to my girlfriend
Waiting for something to happen
And I wish it was the 60s,
I wish I could be happy, I wish, I wish, I wish
That something would happen

Where do we go from here
The planet is all gummed up in a sea of fear
And where are you

They brought in the C.I.A
The tanks and the whole marines to blow me away
To blow me sky high

Baby's got the bends
We don't have any real friends

I'm just lying in a bar with my drip feed on
Talking to my girlfriend
Waiting for something to happen
And I wish it was the 60s,
I wish I could be happy, I wish, I wish, I wish
That something would

I want to live and breathe
I want to be part of the human race
I want to live and breathe
I want to be part of the human race, race, race

Where do we go from here
The words are coming out all weird
Where are you now, when I need you 

The album this song is on is probably my favorite Radiohead song and this, the title track is a great piece of it. Everything just sounds so much tighter and the great sounds of the guitar and voice are given room to be appreciated. I also love how Thom Yorke enunciates certain words in the song. I'm not always a lyrics person, but in this song I am because of how they're presented.


And the winner is...

The Bends!


The way the words are sung totally gets me!

"Life in a Glass House" vs "Inside My Head"

With Round 1 behind me, I'm ready to tackle anything! Okay, that's a lie, but I know that the next pairing isn't two of my favorites, which should hopefully make it easier.

"Life in a Glass House"



Once again I'm in trouble with my only friend
She is papering the window panes
She is putting on a smile
Living in a glass house

Once again packed like frozen food and battery hens
Think of all the starving millions
Don't talk politics and don't throw stones
Your royal highness's

Well of course I'd like to sit around and chat
Well of course I'd like to stay and chew the fat
Well of course I'd like to sit around and chat
But someone's listening in

Once again we are hungry for a lynching
That's a strange mistake to make
You should turn the other cheek
Living in a glass house

Well of course I'd like to sit around and chat
Well of course I'd like to stay and chew the fat
Well of course I'd like to sit around and chat
Only only only only only only only only only only...
There's someone listening in  

(2000. Amnesiac.) 

Oh how I love those instruments behind the singing. It reminds me of something I would play clarinet on so, of course, this song gets major bonus points for that! (And, actually, upon doing some research, I see that the clarinet player on this song is Jimmy Hastings, a Scottish musician.Yay!) This song always makes me think of New Orleans at like 6am. Most of the partiers are gone to bed, and just a few musicians and a passionate singer are left on the dirty, streamer-strewn streets, singing about injustices as they walk home.
I really love this song because of the jazz influences and how all of the non-guitar instruments sound so hazy and lazy combined with the singing.

"Inside My Head"



What do you want from me?
Now you got me
Now my fingers bleed
Now they're staring at me
I'm a coward now
I hold my peace

Now you tie me up to your feather bed
And I twist and turn in a Chinese burn
You won't let go
You won't let go

You're inside my head
Inside my head

What do you want from me?
Now you got me
Now my energy you suck from me
And I'm holding on for dear life

Quit smothering me
Quit laughing at me
I've got a disease
An English disease
It won't let go
It won't let go

You're inside my head
Inside my head

What did you put in that syringe?
Whatever you really said to him?
Is sitting there, inside of me

And you bother me
You possess me
You're there again
Ahead of me
And I won't let go
I won't let go

You're inside my head
Inside my head
Inside my head
Inside my head 

(1992. Creep. Stop Whispering.)

This song has a lot of energy and really has held up well since it was written 20 years ago (!!). I can imagine hearing this song at a small venue or even at a house show with the crowd going crazy. This song reminds me of Muse a bit, actually. Or, I guess I should say that this song sounds like how Muse ends up sounding later. And oh how I love Muse!

And the winner is...

Life in a Glass House!!!

Thank the clarinet playing for pushing this one to win.