What is the purpose of Radiohead’s music if not to uplift listeners?
ll hear it all in one overdubbed track. Listen for how each note of the pattern lines up with the drumbeats on “16” (the beginning of each 4/4 measure), rather than on “1” like most rock patterns would. After a couple of goes through this, the song kicks into its main section, driven by Colin Greenwood’s bounding bassline. The low end really propels this song forward. It also contains an ingenious hook: as Jonny Mardirosian points out, the emphasis on the ninth scale degree (the B) in the bassline is unusual. It gives the song a soaring quality.
The rest of the band comes in to the main section with a three-measure lick that begins on the dominant (the E) and descends chromatically to the tonic. As Ryan Meehan points out, that dominant-to-tonic motion is an extremely common way to begin a section of a song. The chromatic descent from the E to the A impart the section with a gentle dissonance, ratcheting up the tension before giving way to a falling motion.
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This song raises a question: Why does Radiohead make music that is so haunting and eerie? Russian music philosopher Boris Gasparov makes a compelling argument. In his essay “Three Themes in Igor Stravinsky’s “The Rake’s Progress” and Their Appearances in Russian Literature of the 19th-20th Centuries,” Gasparov points out that music in a minor key is like a candle in the darkness: it illuminates the pain and despair of human existence, giving us the chance to confront it. When music is set in the major key, it is like a pleasant view out to the sunset, to make us forget the darkness.
If the point of Radiohead songs isn’t to make you feel good, what is their music for? It’s for feeling all the complex, bittersweet, overwhelming emotions that we must deal with to process the world around us. Radiohead’s music is a powerful mirror to the soul, reflecting back to us the uncertainties, complexities, and anxieties of modern life.
So, next time you listen to Let Down, pay attention to the intricate musical layers: the mix of major and minor chords, the unusual rhythms and phrasing, and the emotional depth conveyed through every note. Radiohead’s music is a testament to the power of art to capture the human experience in all its messy, beautiful, and haunting glory. Let’s embrace the discomfort and beauty of Let Down and allow ourselves to be swept away by its haunting melody and complex musicality.