Electioneering by Radiohead
Listening Phase 1 (Rhythm)
- Tempo: This song has a very fast tempo, except for the very beginning and a small part before the guitar solo.
- Source: The rhythm of this song comes from the drums, along with a lot of help from the cowbell and tambourine.
- Groove: The song has a sort of modernized 60's rock feel with a hint of eastern sound in a few parts.
- Instrumentation: The instrument that stands out the most in this song is the crazy lead guitar, which is heavily distorted and does the most for the song. The song is almost a battle between the lead guitar riffing and the lead singer wailing his lyrics about corrupt politicians. Underneath it is some rhythm guitar and a grooving bass track. Finally, there are the drums, the cowbell, and the tambourine keeping time.
- Structure/Organization: The song begins with a quick intro, then goes straight into a verse. This is followed by the chorus, another verse, and the chorus again. After the second chorus, there is a slow breakdown, and then the tempo picks back up and an energetic guitar solo finishes the song.
- Emotional Architecture: The eerie sounds that the song starts with makes you question where the song is headed, and then the actual song begins and emotion starts to pick up. Energy peaks twice at the chorus, and then drops down to a low to build tension during the breakdown. This tension is released with the guitar solo, which is the part of the song with the most emotion. Overall, the song is a roller coaster of emotion with its biggest drop and peak at the very end.
- Height: The song has a lot of height. The bass is very low, which contrasts the very high notes reached by the lead guitar and the singer's voice.
- Width: The song has a decent amount of width. Right from the very beginning the eerie intro pans strange sounds left and right. During the actual songs, there are several instruments, particularly the guitars, that only play on a certain side.
- Depth: The song has a good amount of depth. There are around 5 instruments that are playing at any given time, and that's if you count the tambourine, cowbell, and drums all as one instrument.
Listening Phase 1 (Rhythm)
- Tempo: This song has a very slow tempo, especially compared the original song.
- Source: The rhythm comes from the very simple drums.
- Groove: The song gives off a very minimalist feel with some hints of blues because of the singer's voice.
- Instrumentation: This is a much simpler song compared to Radiohead's version. The only particularly noticeable instruments, and certainly the ones driving the song, are the singer's voice and the drums. Some piano does come in for the latter half of the song, and if you listen closely there is some intermittent bass work. A couple other instruments chime in quietly and rarely.
- Structure/Organization: Much like the instrumentation, the structure of the song is very simple. There is a quick intro of the drums playing the rhythm, then a verse, a chorus, another verse, and another chorus. The drums play on for a few more bars and the song ends.
- Emotional Architecture: The emotion during the song does not really vary at all. The song gives off a very dry tone throughout, and the only instrument that seems to be doing any work is the singer's voice. Again, the contrast to the original is astounding.
- Height: The song has a good amount of height. The bass, although it is quiet, is extremely low, and the singer goes very high, especially during the chorus.
- Width: There is very little width in this song. The instruments do not pan left and right very much if at all.
- Depth: The depth in this song is also limited. Like I mentioned before, there are really only two consistent instruments. At certain points the bass, piano, drums, and voice are all going, but overall there is not a lot of depth going on.
The combination of this Radiohead song and the cover of it by Cold War Kids is a great example of how differently the same song can be approached. It’s simply amazing how one interpretation of a song can make me want to jump around and yell but a different interpretation of the same song makes me sit still and sends shivers down my spine. Yes, the songs have exactly the same lyrics. It is, after all, a cover. The melody is generally the same, although they are in different keys. The organization is the same, although the cover has no guitar solo (and no guitar, for that matter). Even though it is the “same song,” the similarities basically end here. In the original, the tempo is very high; it is an energized rock song. The cover, on the other hand, is a slow, brooding, interpretation. Radiohead’s original is incredibly intense, but the cover is not intense at all. In fact, I would just describe it as tense. The song is so slow and the singer’s voice is so screechy that it is kind of a frightening song. The instruments in the original, especially the lead guitar, are quite distorted and have a lot of timbre. Everything in the cover is clean, almost to an uncomfortable extent. I would describe the cover as “brutally honest.” These different versions are so different that it seems to create different meanings for the same lyrics, or at least different attitudes. The lyrics, as they are written, are satirical and meant to be written from the perspective of a corrupt politician who “trusts he can rely on your vote.” In Radiohead’s version, it makes me feel angry towards this politician, because he sounds arrogant and irritating. In the version by Cold War Kids, even though the lyrics are exactly the same, it makes me feel afraid of this politician, because the slow tempo and the way the song is sung makes it intimidating. Which one is my favorite is a difficult choice, because I love both of the songs, but if I had to choose I would pick the Radiohead version, because I enjoy the lead guitar and quick pace. That being said, I still enjoy the cover because it is such a dark derivative from the original.
No comments:
Post a Comment