Creep
Would I have paid any attention to the subsequent work by Radiohead without this song? As much as the band may hate my answer, no. I probably would not have cared (at least until OK Computer).
I still remember the chills this song created. Absolutely thrilling. It may have lost the lustre over the years but this is the song that put Radiohead on the map. It’s their legacy and they cannot escape it as much as they might want to.
Paranoid Android
Please could you stop the noise
I’m trying to get some rest
From all the unborn chicken voices in my head
And with this song, Radiohead elevated themselves, in my eyes, to rock gods.
The way the song maneuvers in and out various segments going from a hard rock to a soft melody and then back to a hard rock is done with the finesse of a painter delicately painting a masterpiece.
Everything In It’s Right Place
The switch in the music for a band that is at the top of it’s game is very very risky. Only bands like Beatles or Pink Floyd have come out of this transition with flying colours. And we can add Radiohead to that list.
The first time I heard this song it was jarring. “This can’t be Radiohead!!!”. “Are they selling out?”
But the haunting sounds of their record Kid A starting from “Everything….” were too addictive to ignore for long.
Street Spirit (Fade Out)
Cracked eggs, dead birds
Scream as they fight for life
I can feel death, can see its beady eyes
I think of this song that began the transition of Radiohead from a run of the mill rock band to mega stars.
There There
After Kid A and Amnesiac, it was refreshing to hear Radiohead pick up their guitars. Very very hard not to air drum to this song.
True Love Waits
Some sage advice from these poets.
And true love waits
In haunted attics
And true love lives
On lollipops and crisps
Just don’t leave
Don’t leave
Bodysnatchers
The song builds and builds to the point where it seems even the band wants to take a break and soothes the music to a beautiful bridge.
Reckoner
This song was never going to be in my list. Only after listening to it again a few days ago, it but me, this is one of the most “perfect” songs by Radiohead.
House Of Cards
If you want to listen to a beautiful song that is both visually and sonically mesmerizing, this is it.
A Wolf At The Door
Took me forever to decide the final song for this list.
Lyrically this song is meaningless.
But the play of the words and the music and Thom’s voice is so intricate and yet so beautiful that you can do nothing but admire the band that came up with the song.
Desi In Toronto 