What A Nasty Surprise

Radiohead “Man of War”

I suppose that when you’re in the middle of a creative hot streak as impressive as Radiohead’s in the mid to late ‘90s, you learn to follow your instincts when a good song isn’t quite working they way you’d want it to. But I listen to “Man of War” – this fully fleshed-out, gorgeously produced version recorded circa OK Computer that is featured on the new reissue, or really any other version of the song that’s leaked out over the years, and I’m just baffled as to what the problem could’ve been. It seems to have been mostly an issue of arrangement, as the structure of the song never shifts. And as much as I love this recording, I can understand that restlessness – I’m not crazy about the particular tone on the intro guitar part, for example. But it comes together as one of Radiohead’s darkest, most majestic pieces of music, and features a few of the best melodies the group has ever written. How is that big Jonny Greenwood guitar lick, followed by an orchestral iteration of the same motif, not one of his finest moments? How is Thom Yorke’s strange balance of sexuality, dread, menace, and morbidity in this song not a perfect example of his peculiar and potent charisma as a singer? It’s just incredibly hard to imagine what could have motivated them to keep this song locked up for 20 years, aside from perhaps some bad memories attached to the process of making it. Either way, as a person who rewinded that bit with this song in Meeting People Is Easy many times over, I’m very grateful to finally have this.

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