From Reddit:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/jrpxvwx1utwhw73/FLAN.zip?dl=0

Huh, I didn't even know about the bonus CD thing. Well then.

Thanks for the link.

good looking out!

Have been revisiting lyrics on this album a lot over the past week. We already knew that Thom Yorke and Rachel Owen had split during the recording of the album; and then Ms. Owen passed away from cancer shortly after. I'm curious what the chain of events was: Had they begun the separation process before her diagnosis? It would add an even sadder element to the already heartbreaking lyrics:

Burn the Witch was immediately seen as a commentary on the current global political climate. But forget the video that came later, and just focusing on the lyrics, it could pretty easily be interpreted as a song about blame:

Red crosses on wooden doors
If you float you burn
Loose talk around the tables
Abandon all reason
Avoid all eye contact
Do not react
Shoot the messengers

Imagine getting a cancer diagnosis after having agreed to separate. Consider the anger that could be directed at the doctor in such circumstances ("shoot the messengers"), and the state of denial that most people will immediately go through ("Avoid all contact / Do not react"). What's the obligation to take care of your former partner at that point? And if you decide to follow through with the separation, will you be perceived as a bad person by your community ("If you float you burn")?

The implications of Daydreaming are self evident. But Decks Dark takes on a slightly different meaning. The cancer element was already fairly obvious, but the sequence of events (separation before diagnosis) is possibly spelled out with the lines Oh this dread circumference / You've gotta be kidding me / The grass grows over me. Imagine going through the anguish of deciding to separate after twenty something years, to come to some sort of equanimity about the decision with your partner, only to have that equanimity monkeywrenched by the diagnosis. It would have to be emotionally paralyzing, right ("the grass grows over me")?

Desert Island Disk was similarly fairly clear on its implications around their separation, but I'm newly intrigued by the last line: Different types of love are possible. I originally thought this to be about their agreeing to maintain a friendship, possibly even explaining their split to their children. But now I'm wondering if it's not a compliment to his wife? Did she relinquish him of any caretaking responsibilities in her final stretch? Or perhaps it's written from her point of view. The entire first verse takes a different meaning in either case:

Now as I go upon my way
So let me go upon my way
Born of a light
Born of a light
The wind rushing round my open heart
An open ravine
With my spirit light
Totally alive
And my spirit light
Through an open doorway
Across a street
To another life
And catching my reflection in a window
Switching on a light
One I didn’t know
Totally alive
Totally released

Here he's not just leaving something sad behind; he's compelled by her liberation of his duties as a husband as she enters the death phase. And imagine trying to embrace the sense of freedom with this as the backstory? Brutally sad stuff.

Ful Stop doesn't take on a new meaning, necessarily. But the first verse is further darkened by a cancer diagnosis:

You really messed up everything
You really messed up everything
If you could take it all back again
Strike up the tinderbox
Why should I be good if you're not?
This is a foul tasting medicine
A foul tasting medicine
To be trapped in your full stop

Did Thom initiate the split, only to feel the retroactive guilt of having decided to leave his wife as she was dying on the inside? Then "Why should I be good if you're not" doesn't read as a behavioral comparison, but rather a commentary on relative wellness: Why should I move on with my life if you're not well? "Strike up the tinderbox" now reads like an obvious attempt to rekindle the relationship given the new information.

Glass Eyes now reads as a simple day-in-the-life of a man who's trying to get on with his newly single life, but feels the pull of love and obligation:

Hey it's me
I-I just got off the train
A frightening place
The faces are concrete grey
And I'm wondering, should I turn around?
Buy another ticket?
The panic is coming on strong
So cold, from the inside out
No great drama
Message coming in
In the oh-so-smug
Glassy eyed light of day
Glassy eyed light of day
----------------------
I feel this love to the core

Identikit maintains its enigmatic tone for me. It reads like random thought cobbled together as they navigate the co-dependent emotions of death, love, dating, and reconciliation.

When The Numbers made its live debut prior to the album's release, it was immediately pegged as an environmental protest song by the indie music blogs. But now I'm wondering if it isn't simultaneously a recognition that Ms. Owens would return to the Earth after she passed?

Present Tense is another one that doesn't change drastically, but is deepened by the knowledge about Ms. Owens illness.

Someone else posted after the album's release that True Love Waits sounds like the vocal take is years older. I have to agree, and I don't think this was simple studio laziness. Using lyrics about romantic longing that were recorded years earlier give the song an eerie sense of foreshadowing, and while I don't love this version of the song (I prefer the older live versions), I have a new appreciation for its implications given the events that came to be.

What a heartbreaker this album is. I'd been avoiding it this winter, as things have felt challenging enough in my own life. I'm glad to have revisited it a bunch in anticipation of the Radiohead gig we attended in Seattle last night, and I've got a new appreciation for the album concept as not just about the end of a years-long relationship, but now also the grappling with the sense of obligation and sorrow if/when they decided to separate prior to Ms. Owens cancer diagnosis.

Fantastic post, trag. I think you got to the emotional core of the album, if we can believe what we've read about the circumstances behind Thom's personal life. The only think I have to add is that "Burn the Witch", "Ful Stop", "Present Tense" and "Identikit" are old songs, so it's hard to know if the lyrics have any significance relating to what happened. "Burn the Witch" dates back to at least 2003, "Present Tense" to 2008 and the other two are from the TKOL era (and were both played a lot on tour in 2012). It doesn't mean those issues weren't festering for a long time, though.

The new songs on the album are the ones where the personal pain is most apparent, too.

This is still one of my favorite albums. It's just...incredible. I love every single thing about it.

Damn! Had no idea those songs had been around for a while (I'm assuming with the same lyrics?). Shoot...Pretty much negates most of my post, but whatever -- it's an amazing album full of depth and life. Not too many records even ask the listener to examine them this closely, regardless of the artists' intentions...And as you mentioned, it could be that their issues had been growing for a while. But I'm just so curious about her diagnosis and passing. At the risk of sounding creepy and insensitive, I'd love to know more about the order of events for those two.

"Burn the Witch"
"Ful Stop"
"Identikit"
"Present Tense"

That site is really interesting, fascinating even, if you care enough to dig through all the pages.

Site looks great, will dig through a bit and report back.

From AUG 2016. Why haven’t we done this yet?

for some inexplicable reason, i thought we did do one a long while back. but if not, it's a crime.