Home / Content /
Thom Yorke: Harrowdown Hill
It’s singles like this that have the listener longing for the immediate return of Top Of The Pops - to see Thom Yorke twitching his way from left to right across a BBC studio stage before a gaggle of bewildered teenagers waiting for BoyBandX to deliver their sole key change would be a wondrous thing.
With an immediate bassline that’d sit prettily in a composition by The Rapture, it’s entirely likely that ‘Harrowdown Hill’ would make the TOTP cut, slipping onto Sunday night television screens between a slew of sound-alike production-line poppers. The subject matter’s already well-documented – Dr David Kelly winding up dead on the titular hill – but what album reviews may have failed to mention is just how good Yorke’s bouncing beats actually are; how effectively they have the first-timer following the singer’s lead, jerking arms and legs and losing themselves, entirely, in four minutes of solo work that stand up well against anything that ‘R’ band has ever penned.
Little on parent album The Eraser, though, is of a quality comparable to ‘Harrowdown Hill’, so don’t expect too many further singles to follow in its wake. Instead, assume Yorke’s got ‘R’ matters on his mind when he sings “We think the same things at the same time”; it surely goes without saying that his audience at large is rabidly expectant, quite probably palpitating come each and every update on the recording of said band’s seventh studio album.
Still, it would have been a rare treat to see the guy dance, as if possessed by playful spirits, while viewers simultaneously tucked greedily into their roasts.
-
Good review
This is easily one of the best on "The Eraser".
-
8?
Piss off, it's better than that.
-
dunno i reckon
the whole albums really good, cymbal rush is probably better than this tune too. but yeh its worth more than an 8
-
what rot
To my mind, there's nothing on the album - or indeed on any RH album - that's better than Harrowdown Hill.
-
no, it isn't
I quite clearly put that forward as an opinion, what with "to my mind" having pride of place at the beginning of the sentence.
I also think that each RH album has been better than the last. Would you like to criticise me for that too, while you're in the mood?
Jesus, get some fucking perspective anyway.
-
Chillen Sie
Out
-
ha ha
"mood". Very apt.
Anyway in my opinion. Love this song.
-
My song of the year so far.
And definitely the best song on the album. When I hear him sing "I'm coming home to make it alright so dry your eyes", it just really captures a mood for me, and I have to really hold back the tears, goddammit.
-
yeah man
8 is about right.
the eraser could be a single i think.
-
it's all about 'Analyse'...
..like Radiohead covering 'La Ritournelle', beautiful. But apart from that, this and 'And It Rained All Night', there's not much else worth bothering with in my opinion. Frustratingly inconsistant.
-
the best
by quite a way.
-
I really like
Black Swan.
-
spot on
It's a chilling song, it really is (particularly so if you believe he was murdered, as Thom seems to).
Astounding.
-
I concur
Very good song indeed. Haven't listened to The Eraser enough to decide if it's the best track on it yet, but it's obviously considered the one with most commercial appeal. "It was a slippery, slippery slope..." brought out goosebumps on my arm - always a good sign!
-
the fact that you put it forward as an opinion
doesnt mean it isnt an extreme opinion, because it is.
-
no, otterfeatures, it isn't
An extreme opinion would be along the lines of "we should bomb the irish". Mine was an opinion about the relative merits of pieces of music.
Did I not mention something about perspective?
-
Black Swan
Mint
-
The Eraser should definitely be a single.
Black Swan is another contender.
-
b sides?
harrowdown hill was my first love on the album; I think it's certainly the easiest to get into, but now I think they are all great, analyse being my favourite becuase of it's flow and lyrics
what are the b sides like on this single more importantly?
-
dunno
promo didn't feature any.
-
saying something is
'the best' is by definition extreme, because its an absolute statement. being extreme doesnt automaticaly make something wrong, or controversial, or take away any merit. it just means its an extreme opinion.
-
I didn't say that
I said that to my mind there was nothing that they've done that was better. So yes, within the limited field of Radiohead-related recordings, it is at an extremity.
However, the wording "that's a bit extreme" does indeed imply that there's something wrong with it. Which is the wording of a twunt.
-
video is alright
too. fits the mood of the song.
but hasn't thom done the whole 'getting wet' thing in videos a few times before?
best song of the year so far. in my opinion, of course.
Comments
- Post a new comment on this article