Listening to: Kid A

by Radiohead. I get most of my super-cool music from one of my teachers. I just borrow the CDs from him and put them on my iTunes, then return them to his collection. When I asked him if Kid A was any good, he just said, in a very quiet, disturbing voice, "Oh, no. You're not ready for that yet. That one's going to drive you insane. It's going to make you kill yourself or something. Please, just put it back... put it back..."

So naturally, I put it back and then took it when he wasn't looking a few minutes later. So now I'm listening to it on my ultra-high-quality iPhone through brand new Apple-made headphones, and my verdict is: it's a powerful album. It is very powerful. I can see what my teacher was thinking when he warned me about it.

My favorite song is absolutely "National Anthem", followed in order by "Kid A" and "How to Disappear Completely".

"National Anthem" is a seriously depressing song. It starts with some cool bass, cool drums, crazy-sounding horns, etc, and then out of nowhere, the lead singer begins to sing, "Everyone/ Everyone around here/ Everyone is so near/ So alone/ So alone". Now the thing is, just typing those words here does the actual experience of hearing it absolutely no justice. His voice is very echoey (in music-speak, it's called reverb), and it's quiet, almost as if he's suffering, etc. And the lyrics themselves? I don't know why, but I fell in love with them as soon as I heard them. For some reason I feel as if I can relate to them. I can see why it's called the National Anthem. It's almost like he's saying, "We don't need that BS national anthem most countries have where they're saying everybody loves to get along with each other. We need a national anthem that speaks the real truth, comes out and says, 'You know what? Society isn't like that. We may be standing right next to each other, but we're so far apart that it tears us up into little pieces.'"

Then there's "Kid A", the second track on the album ("National Anthem" is the third). It features a robotic voice, presumably the lead singers' put through a talk box of some kind. This voice sounds really sad. For me, it kind of conjures up images of a person trapped inside a metal robot body, desperate to get out. I can't hear what the robot is saying yet, but I'll find out soon.

"How to Disappear Completely" features very few loud instruments, the core opposite of "National Anthem". The main lines include "I'm not here, this isn't happening". Almost disturbing when you think about it. It might not just be denial, but schizophrenia. With how messed-up the lead singer of Radiohead seems to be in the brain, I wouldn't doubt it.

Overall, it's a thought-provoking, brilliant piece of art. But don't listen to it if you are battling depression.