Wednesday, April 26, 2006

"My Iron lung"

I'm obsessed with this song. From the very moment the eastern-influenced guitar leads you into a swirling George Harrison moment, to the whiny, moaning voice of Thom Yorke, to the cataclysmic (and I do use that word in the fullest sense) guitar wig-out that draws the song towards its close, this is an addictive, seductive song about frailty. Be it mental, physical or spiritual, we are all frail in some way, and we all need an iron lung sometimes, a device to help us out, to take over for a little while. And sometimes this need to release our hold on responsibility angers us, makes us frustrated and bitter, and that's exactly where I think this song is coming from.
Towards the end Thom Yorke sings "And if you're frightened/You can be frightened/You can be, it's OK." And it comes like a release, an exhalation, the realisation that we are all just dumb animals sometimes and we can give in to our instinct.

2 comments:

Natsthename said...

One of my favorite Radiohead songs. (but there are at least 10 favorite Radiohead songs in my head!) I love the guitar in this one...it really IS Harrison-like and very trippy.

Anonymous said...

It's an amazing song and such a beautiful way you reviewd it.I adore Radiohead.I would have loved if you reviewd "Lucky" and "Street Spirit" as well.But oh well,as your posts said,this blog-part is finished(or not?)