2,129,935 plays (373,468 listeners)
“The National Anthem” is a song by the band Radiohead, the third track from the album Kid A (2000). The song is moored to a repetitive bassline, has a processed electronic production, and develops in a direction influenced by jazz.
In the album recording, the bass is played by lead singer Thom Yorke, who wrote the riff at age 16. The song is thought to have been previously attempted at recording sessions in 1994 and 1997, but according to Colin Greenwood, the band decided it was “too good to use it as a b-side for OK Computer singles”.
The free jazz-style brass section featured in this song creates a soundscape of chaos, and has been described as “a brass band marching into a brick wall” by one reviewer. In the recording sessions, band members Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood conducted the session musicians as best they could, though Yorke lacks formal musical training, telling them to ‘go crazy’ with their instruments as if they were caught in a traffic jam. It should be noted that although the recording sounds chaotic, each instrument is soloing to the riff.
The jazz style arrangement was apparently influenced by Charles Mingus, one of Thom’s favorite composers, while the song also features an Ondes Martenot, played by Jonny Greenwood. That early electronic instrument was picked up by Jonny for several songs on Kid A and subsequent albums, inspired by the music of Olivier Messiaen which makes much use of it. Some also found “The National Anthem” reminiscent of the contemporary work of fellow UK bands Primal Scream and Spiritualized, with whom Radiohead had toured in 1998.
In the album recording, the bass is played by lead singer Thom Yorke, who wrote the riff at age 16. The song is thought to have been previously attempted at recording sessions in 1994 and 1997, but according to Colin Greenwood, the band decided it was “too good to use it as a b-side for OK Computer singles”.
The free jazz-style brass section featured in this song creates a soundscape of chaos, and has been described as “a brass band marching into a brick wall” by one reviewer. In the recording sessions, band members Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood conducted the session musicians as best they could, though Yorke lacks formal musical training, telling them to ‘go crazy’ with their instruments as if they were caught in a traffic jam. It should be noted that although the recording sounds chaotic, each instrument is soloing to the riff.
The jazz style arrangement was apparently influenced by Charles Mingus, one of Thom’s favorite composers, while the song also features an Ondes Martenot, played by Jonny Greenwood. That early electronic instrument was picked up by Jonny for several songs on Kid A and subsequent albums, inspired by the music of Olivier Messiaen which makes much use of it. Some also found “The National Anthem” reminiscent of the contemporary work of fellow UK bands Primal Scream and Spiritualized, with whom Radiohead had toured in 1998.
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Kid A
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I Might Be Wrong: Live Recordings
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2002-07-24: Coliseu de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal
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Shouts
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YukonCornelus wrote:
GREAT!
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rights_reserved wrote:
Everything in this song is perfect; the bassline, simplistic vocals, saxophone, steady drumming. I fell in love with this song when I first heard it a half hour ago.
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alexjgrant wrote:
Win
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Amnesius wrote:
I've been listening to all of Radiohead's discography/songography since 2002. But this song have been consistently dominating my listening times when the time is limited.
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Illumynatuz wrote:
Ridiculously cool.
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RIPELIVEJAM wrote:
ed's contribution to this is essential.
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messersebald wrote:
this bassline. period.
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torycrack wrote:
da da um da da, um da da da, mint!
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torycrack wrote:
on jools holland in 2000 they were pretty effing good
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capitanburbuja wrote:
hypnotic
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davidbowiegirl wrote:
Possible the best song on the planet Earth
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MarionetteDolly wrote:
I want to make love with Thom York <3
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xDanx1 wrote:
This is my Radiohead's favorite...Love it so much!
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yaghma wrote:
I am sincerely pissed I've never had sex to this song. (3)
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arielJasmine wrote:
pzow
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attackthestereo wrote:
wowowow..
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egyptianhead wrote:
Imagine walking out at the olympics opening ceremony with this song
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clecktown wrote:
I've often tried playing a portable radio to this song, and failed miserably every time.
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deetrix42 wrote:
one of my faves from radiohead
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exoticurse wrote:
Cabeza de radio
Radiohead
The National Anthem
full track
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Recent Activity
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evilest_twin, kandman, bcjustchilin and 13 other people loved Radiohead – The National Anthem. 2 hours ago
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Oldies_only added The National Anthem to Oldies_only’s library. yesterday evening
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dochypatia added The National Anthem to dochypatia’s library. yesterday evening
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dochypatia added The National Anthem to the playlist radiohead. yesterday evening
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Fat_Dogs added The National Anthem to his Loved Tracks. yesterday evening
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Bartik0 wrote about The National Anthem in Top 200 Songs of the 2000's(200-21 so far). yesterday evening
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snowman206, Travonomics, Ujine and 18 other people loved Radiohead – The National Anthem. yesterday evening
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Cellomantiker added The National Anthem to the playlist. Saturday evening
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Cellomantiker, royritchie, raysunlove and 26 other people loved Radiohead – The National Anthem. Saturday evening
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vertigo456 added The National Anthem to vertigo456’s library. Friday evening
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