Radiohead--Kid A

My interest in this album was peaked by Chuck Klosterman in his book, Killing Yourself To Live (far less emo than the title suggests). To those who have read the book, this evaluation of Radiohead’s Kid A will be very familiar and sound completely ripped-off. That’s because it is. To those who haven’t, let me make it clear that this is NOT my original idea, it is all Klosterman’s thoughts, but the idea intrigued me. I apologize if this offends anyone, it is not meant to be anything more than an interesting way to view a popular album, and I present it here to spark your thoughts. Perhaps it will ruin the album, perhaps not.

It made a Radiohead fan out of me.

Kid A is a wonderful album on its own. But it is more than that, when placed under a certain lens, it is the "soundtrack to 9/11." Corny as it may sound, let’s go through the songs: "Everything In Its Right Place," like the title suggests, shows life going as normal. The song is pleasant and upbeat, everything is going as it should and is in motion. "Kid A" follows up with more normalcy, and a general acceptance that science and technology reign supreme in our world (Kid A is supposedly the world’s first human clone). What could possibly break through that?

"The National Anthem" does, the randomness and paranoia in the song - especially in the second half - represent when the first plane smashes into the World Trade Center. The chaotic vocals of "What is going on?" repeat, and things begin to spiral out of control in a musical whirlwind of brass and rhythm. Somewhere before the end of the song, the second plane has hit. "How to Disappear Completely," the fourth track, is the beginning of the aftermath. "This isn’t happening," is repeated by Yorke in a desperate tone, and natural disasters like hurricanes begin to rage across the earth. The instrumental and very somber track "Treefingers" follows, because, as Klosterman writes, "what can you say when skyscrapers collapse?"

Continuing, "Optimistic" mentions how "vultures circle the dead," and "In Limbo" deals with the United State’s new sense of realism. "Idioteque," possibly the best track on the album, deals with survivors ("Women and children first") and an acceptance of the event ("This is really happening"). In the new nation, "everyone wants to become a friend" in "Morning Bell," and "Motion Picture Soundtrack" speaks of ways that people are dealing with the terrible tragedy. And that’s where it leaves us.

While it all may seem to be a stretch, listen to Kid A again. The "This isn’t happening" lyrics take on a new weight, to me at least. You may not agree, and I am sorry if you are offended, but I think it is an extremely interesting way to look at an album, and frankly what is music but everyone’s own personal reaction to it? This reaction is all Chuck Klosterman’s, it is by no means my original thoughts. It doesn’t give Radiohead any undeserved credit for incredible insight and prediction in their 2000 release, and in fact Yorke created much of the album by pulling lyrics out of a hat. But, as Klosterman ends, "A genius can be a genius only by trying to be a genius; a visionary can only have a vision by accident."