Harry Patch (In Memory Of)

Allow me to describe my day so far. I was woken slightly earlier than usual by a text message (NP, NP) that contained good news. Not fazed by losing an hour’s sleep, I got up and journeyed to the shop to pick up a few supplies. Coffee ensued, before retiring to my room to check the internets. I was greeted by the RSS headline:

“Radiohead release new song as download”

Oh god. Here we go again.

I’ve learnt not to try and guess what Radiohead are going to do next, as whatever I imagine always ends up wrong and worse than what they come out with. This song is in memory of recently deceased last-standing World War One trench veteran, Harry Patch.

There are a few people I know that are as painfully in love with Radiohead as I am (Jesus, what an emo), and today I had the good fortune of listening to the new song with one of them. What came out of the following conversation was essentially this:

a) What lovely string parts and movements there were
b) How fitting a tribute it was
c) It doesn’t alienate anyone

The last one was the main thing really. If you’re saluting a man that was 111 when he passed away, it’s probably not appropriate to record a noisy electronic, track. Whilst the strings and falsetto make for a beautiful tribute, they also make the track much more accessible than most things recorded today. This piece of music could be enjoyed equally by a 15 year old or an 80 year old.

This is a kind of pointless entry, but what the hell. Any way I can profess my love for the ‘Head is fine with me. Radiohead are my ‘Girl Power.’ Plus, I’d made the banner at the top, and thought it was pretty cool. Hit it for the higher quality version.

Check out my Photoshop skillz. Then check out Harry Patch. It’s well worth a quid.

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