Pyramid Song

"Pyramid Song"
Song

"Pyramid Song" is a song by the English band Radiohead. It was the first single from their 2001 album Amnesiac and the first Radiohead single released in over three years, after none were taken from their previous album Kid A.

"Pyramid Song" was issued in most parts of the world, except the United States (where "I Might Be Wrong" was the first, radio-only single). The UK public responded well, and the song made the top 5, peaking at #5; it was also named NME's single of the week. The song was played on Top of the Pops in May 2001. A favourite among fans despite a lack of wide-scale radio play, it continues to be performed at Radiohead's live concerts. The band themselves consider it a high point of their career. According to guitarist Ed O'Brien, upon hearing an early version of the recording, singer Thom Yorke declared it "the best thing we've committed to tape, ever."

Song details

Music and song history

"Pyramid Song" is a piano-driven piece with vocals and lyrics by Yorke. It also features string orchestrations by band member Jonny Greenwood. The song builds to a climax with the introduction of Phil Selway's jazzy percussion and the siren-like wails of the ondes Martenot, an early electronic instrument also played by Jonny. Colin Greenwood plays upright bass rather than his usual electric; O'Brien adds subtle electric guitar to live versions, playing with lots of delay. Yorke said "Pyramid Song" was heavily influenced by the Charles Mingus song "Freedom," and originally he had even included similar hand-claps. The song was produced by Nigel Godrich together with Radiohead.

At various times "Pyramid Song" has also been known as "Egyptian Song" and "Nothing to Fear," from a lyric in its chorus. It received its live debut in 1999 at the Tibetan Freedom Concert in Amsterdam, at which it was performed solo by Yorke on piano. Subsequently the full-band version became a part of Radiohead's anticipated concert tours in 2000, both before and after the release of Kid A. "Pyramid Song" was one of several new songs played live but not included on that album, leading some to criticize the band for leaving off their most melodic new material. The recorded song features piano chords in an unusual rhythmic pattern, and there has been debate about the correct time signature that describes the pattern ^{[1] [2] [3]}. There was a rumour that the track was called "Pyramid Song" because of its rhythm, as if one counts carefully, they can hear 4 groups of 3 beats and 1 group of 4 beats (as a musical representation of a square-based pyramid: 4 faces with 3 sides, 1 face with 4 sides). The piano is sampled in the start of "Missing Links" by Plan B.

Originally slated for a series of EPs or singles, "Pyramid Song" and the other unreleased songs (such as "You and Whose Army?" and "Knives Out") eventually came together as the follow-up Amnesiac, along with other material that had been recorded during the marathon Kid A sessions. "Pyramid Song" was in fact recorded during this time, although not included on Kid A; for example, its string parts were performed by the Orchestra of St. John's during the same day as those used in Kid A 's "How to Disappear Completely" (as well as Amnesiac 's "Dollars & Cents"). When "Pyramid Song" is performed live, Yorke usually sings along with O'brien backing with electric guitar the parts assigned to the strings in the studio version.

In recent live performances Jonny has contributed guitar, played with a bow as in the music of Icelandic band Sigur Rós or English band Led Zeppelin. Sigur Rós opened for Radiohead in 2000 and also collaborated with them on Merce Cunningham Dance Company's Split Sides project in 2003. The end of "Pyramid Song" is sampled by the band in "Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors," the following track on Amnesiac.

Influences on lyrics

The lyrics of "Pyramid Song" references Dante's Divine Comedy with references to the Inferno, Purgatory, and Paradise, though Yorke has mentioned the Tibetan Book of the Dead (Bardo Thodol), the Egyptian Book of the Dead, and Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha as other inspirations.. The first two lines bear a resemblance to the beginning of the first verse of "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot." The line "and we all went to heaven in a little row boat" is nearly identical to a lyric found in Tom Waits' 1985 song "Clap Hands", which itself is taken from a 1965 hit by Shirley Ellis, "The Clapping Song".

Music video

The video for "Pyramid Song", directed by collective Shynola, features a combination of computer 3D and hand-drawn animation and was based on a dream that lead singer Thom Yorke once had. Following on from the more abstract Kid A promotional blips, it was the first video not to feature the band (the animated "Paranoid Android" clip had briefly included a caricature of each member around a table in a pub), although the character 'is' based on Thom Yorke. It tells the story of a person who survives the flooding of a city and submerges into the sea where the ruins of the city stand. The character swims into a house, sits on a chair and disconnects the lifeline. After this, the camera takes us back above the water, where we see what appear to be souls circling each other in the sky. The video ends with each soul - represented as a bright point of moving light in the sky - blinking out or racing off-screen.

The video won several awards, including NME Carling's best video of the year.

Track listing

Single

1. "Pyramid Song" – 4:51
2. "The Amazing Sounds of Orgy" – 3:38
3. "Trans-Atlantic Drawl" – 3:02
4. "Kinetic" – 4:06

Pt. 1

1. "Pyramid Song" – 4:51
2. "The Amazing Sounds of Orgy" – 3:37
3. "Trans-Atlantic Drawl" – 3:02

Pt. 2

1. "Pyramid Song" – 4:50
2. "Fast-Track" – 3:17
3. "Kinetic" – 4:05