Radiohead - Backdrifts

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"Though I have the impression that this song is almost purely electronic it seems to meld natural noises with artificial ones convincingly. The song is dominated by a mystic background sound reminding me of the amplified sound of a shell when you hold it onto your ear: you can hear the roaring ocean. The backbone of the track are the hypnotic (what else did you expect) propelling drums which kick in after 30 seconds together with Yorke's tortured voice. The drumming is precise and robotic like a drum-machine. After three minutes the piano repeats the theme, I wouldn't call it a melody. A trippy haunting track whetting my appetite for this album. "

From this story in my blog. This used to be my fave on Hail to the Thief. Not too sure about it anymore but still a very addictive song.

― alex in mainhattan (alex63), Friday, 13 June 2003 20:46 (twenty-two years ago)

this song doesn't sound haunting to me, it's quite an "up" sounding track for me. i like it. a lot of reviews singled it out as a weak link, but i disagree (and there are a handful of dull songs on this record).

― weasel diesel (K1l14n), Friday, 13 June 2003 22:01 (twenty-two years ago)

Not my favourite but I find the lyrics interesting. It could be about a doomed relationship but I feel it's more about Thom's feelings about Radiohead post-Amnesiac and how to write this particular album, "That's far, but no further" etc... It's fairly rye if construed this way and Thom's self-deprecating tone echoes "Optimistic" (another track that I always think is about his trouble of composing new and exciting material) "The best you can is good enough.. This one's optimistic" etc...

― dog latin (dog latin), Saturday, 14 June 2003 12:34 (twenty-two years ago)

I think it's a real stretch to interpret the lyrics of "Backdrifts" and "Optimistic" as being about Yorke's own songwriting. Like, a huuuuuuge stretch.

― Matthew Perpetua (Matthew Perpetua), Saturday, 14 June 2003 12:41 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm sure, but this is the notion that always strikes me when i hear them. It was only i realised the subtitle of Backdrifts is "The honeymoon is over" that changed my mind.

― dog latin (dog latin), Saturday, 14 June 2003 12:45 (twenty-two years ago)

Both "Optimistic" and "Backdrifts" seem to be about resignation - the lyrics are vague enough so that it can apply to political, emotional/romantic, or artistic resignation. It's probably not that huge of a stretch. I would guess that Yorke is talking about politics, and not about music. He's just not the type to sing about art itself, you know? He's not that meta.

― Matthew Perpetua (Matthew Perpetua), Saturday, 14 June 2003 12:59 (twenty-two years ago)

But he IS affected by media criticism. Whenever new material comes out, he always speaks extensively abouot the songwriting process. This time around he explained in an interview that to start with he didn't know what direction to take, how to "wow" the public with new amazing sounds etc and decided to just put something together till it made sense. "Optimistic" sounds like he's saying, "look we've made this album, we've done our best - you can like it or lump it. We said we'd make an upbeat, optimistic album but we lied and we don't care".

― dog latin (dog latin), Saturday, 14 June 2003 13:12 (twenty-two years ago)

I guess you can read it that way, but I strongly doubt that's what he meant it to be. It seems much more likely that it's simply about trying to do the right thing, being socially responsible, and trying to make a difference and being frustrated by how little difference one person can make in a world of big fish eating little fish. You try the best you can, the best you can is good enough. Pretty straightfoward stuff for Yorke, really.

I think the "oh, it's about wanting to make a kickass album!" is kind of a shallow reading, honestly. That seems like what a lazy critic would want him to be saying more than anything else.

― Matthew Perpetua (Matthew Perpetua), Saturday, 14 June 2003 16:28 (twenty-two years ago)

well, yeh I do agree it's not meant to be about that but that's what i hear anyway.

― dog latin (dog latin), Sunday, 15 June 2003 11:29 (twenty-two years ago)

Well, that's cool.

― Matthew Perpetua (Matthew Perpetua), Sunday, 15 June 2003 14:38 (twenty-two years ago)

Does anyone else think the verse sounds like "Dancin' in the Streets"?

― jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 16 June 2003 20:42 (twenty-two years ago)

I think it sounds like the hottest new riddim. Seriously! When I first heard it (the rough mix that leaked so long ago) I just thought it was a nice pop song, but when I got the album and heard it on a really nice, bass-heavy car system, I couldn't stop thinking about Elephant Man toasting all over it. Radiohead are smart boys, conscious of current trends. Perhaps this is intentional? The snare sound is a good indicator.

Can someone bootleg this to see how it would sound?

― Adam A. (Keiko), Monday, 16 June 2003 20:56 (twenty-two years ago)

i feel the same way about the gloaming. it seems to me like a lot of the productions on hail to the thief are not that far off (all things considered) from the hip hop/ragga/garage stuff that's going on these days.

likewise i'd love to hear thom yorke singing over a wiley production ...

for starts do you know where i could get some acapella elephant man tracks?

― fields of salmon (fieldsofsalmon), Monday, 16 June 2003 21:11 (twenty-two years ago)

Sorry, no. Damnit. Any dancehall inflected rap track might work, though. Or maybe you could find an a capella "Dancing in the Streets"

― Adam A. (Keiko), Monday, 16 June 2003 21:30 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm really enjoying this. I wish Thom would stop singing words entirely and just sing sylable drones, it would go with the music better.

― kate (kate), Tuesday, 17 June 2003 09:40 (twenty-two years ago)

I like Backdrifts a lot, but there's something about it that just doesn't *quite* work... I think its the way his voice sits uneasily on top of of all the oscillating and panning and growling and stuff... odd really because I think his voice works very well indeed on The Gloaming.

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Tuesday, 17 June 2003 10:03 (twenty-two years ago)

The drumming is precise and robotic like a drum-machine

Um, because it is a drum machine, obv.? (at least programmed anyway)

― Jordan (Jordan), Tuesday, 17 June 2003 14:47 (twenty-two years ago)

This is turning into my early fave on the album. It's this album's Idioteque. ;-)

― kate (kate), Tuesday, 17 June 2003 14:49 (twenty-two years ago)

I found myself dancing about in my seat while listening to backdrifts on the bus - very embarassing.

― leigh (leigh), Tuesday, 17 June 2003 15:36 (twenty-two years ago)

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