Radiohead's most complex song

[@DavidBennettPiano]

Thanks to Tape Runs Out for sponsoring this video! Check out their music: www.taperunsout.co.uk/pages/Floodhead/ 😊🎶

[@CasiMediocre]

Content idea: songs that use their chords as the melody (example: [Am [root only] moving to Am [full]. Try to play this: [root, full, full-root*, root, root-root, full_ -full] *Half + full beat) Progression: F#m F#m D E It's the Blast Processing bass but as fifths instead of octaves Sorry in advance for the confusion 😓

[@CasiMediocre]

By the way, is there such a thing as [note]3 or [note]4 chords? (Only third/bb5 maj or min)

[@UpliftedCapybara]

Hail to the Thief is definitely the dark horse of their discography. It’s surrounded by more well-known albums and often gets overlooked for it.

[@placeadrien5566]

It has their best individual songs but as an album it's lackluster. It's a common theme with Radiohead imo but this album is the most extreme between the insane quality of some of the songs and the overall tracklisting being poorly thought out. Even the band themselves talked about how the tracklisting isn't good and suggested alternative versions

[@kevinr.3542]

Great album. Musically complex and dense but with moments of pure beauty. Just because it didn't have the themes of Ok Computer or the amazing flow of In Rainbows but, like the Beatles White album it's more about the incredible variety and rich tapestry of sounds. I loved this album, it was a step back from the electronic sounds of.Kid A/amnesiac. Lots of acoustic piano and guitars.

[@elbonow8393]

@@placeadrien5566 do you know where to find these alternative tracklistings? Would like to try them out

[@BTBAM819]

Some of my favorite RH material is in Hail to the Thief. 2+2=5, Sit Down, Sail to the Moon, Go to Sleep, There There, Myxomatosis, Wolf at the Door... The álbum is full of amazing songs

[@kevinr.3542]

@@BTBAM819 exactly, plus cool experimental stuff like Sit Down Stand Up, etc and the slowest song ever to have people clap along too...forget the name but its like "are you happyyyyyyyy (slow clap), are you saaaaaad (slow clap)

[@therealshmorg]

As soon as I saw the title, I knew it was definitely going to be Sail to the Moon. It's such a beautiful song, and one of their best in my opinion

[@Paul-dw2cl]

yea rite

[@STERNWAERTS]

loving that album cover

[@therealshmorg]

@Paul Yeah, if it wasn't that then I also was thinking Pyramid Song. Still can't believe that it's in 4/4.

[@therealshmorg]

@@STERNWAERTS Thanks haha, it's a classic

[@odilimfurnace4000]

Yo... Also, their track 'Pyramid Song' is similarly complex... i thought it was gonna be about that one.... ❤ ok.. big up radiohead, nice video!

[@JoeEdelmann3]

Really appreciate the kind words David! Your channel is a fantastic resource and I love this video (and the song ☺️).

[@mistapeper1283]

i was so happy to hear your cover in this video, i love those covers so much

[@DavidBennettPiano]

Thanks Joe! You deserve the praise and thanks for allowing me to use your fantastic cover version!

[@CommanderBob22]

I never even realized that it was a cover watching this video! Absolutely insane job!

[@robbybobbyhobbies]

Subscribed. Whilst YT and bands continue to not get the principle of fair use and education (and afterwards, if ever they do engage their brains), you should be getting recognition (and money) for your interpretative skills and heartfelt performances.

[@leevanderpool3126]

Joe’s covers are remarkably faithful to the originals and demonstrate just how complex the songs and their arrangements are. I have a greater appreciation for Radiohead every time I see his cover videos, and I’m very glad that he’s getting the recognition he deserves. Kudos to both Joe and David.

[@Labyrinth1010]

I’m not surprised it’s from Hail to the Thief. The album is a masterpiece.

[@valentinasanchez5757]

Yes , and very underrated

[@fluentpiffle]

@@valentinasanchez5757 ..especially by radiohead 'fans'!

[@skeletonkey6]

Very, very strong & underrated album.

[@AndreLuiz-zf6wq]

@@fluentpiffle fans who dont like your fav album are still fans.

[@AshleySOAD]

It's slightly bloated, but i still love it and the opener and closer are in my top 5 radiohead songs

[@radiolocke]

I never anything weird about this song and used to listen to it all the time back when the album was new. It’s funny that this can sound so “normal” but have the sheet music look so strange, while Pyramid Song sounds so weird but ends up just being in 4/4.

[@stenyxx]

That wasn't the original recording?? That is absurdly accurate

[@MDE128]

Ikr, it sounded so similar. That guy is amazing at covering Radiohead songs. He’s on a tribute band called There, There.

[@antoniopp7169]

@@MDE128 wow, they got me too.

[@actionjacksondan]

That is insane, fooled me

[@nepesilva2284]

For a while there, I thought it was a live performance by Radiohead themselves. Incredible.

[@scottfynnschannel]

Bro it’s nearly impossible to accurately replicate Thom Yorker’s vocal, Though the instrumental is basically perfect

[@MaquiladoraIII]

This song is an absolute pleasure, from Thom's slightly diffuse vocals, to the crisp guitar from Jonny, to that mournful, almost funereal piano throughout.

[@elbowfanpeteg]

I can't believe that was a cover of the song. Massive respect to the band who did it. I'm a massive fan of Radiohead and I love this song and the album as a whole and I didn't even realise it was a cover until you said at the end. Really impressive

[@blanchild]

I felt something in the guitar was slightly off and I attributed it to me not having listened to the song in a while and misremembering it. It's so well made that I'd sooner question myself than the recording.

[@SoloSlater]

What’s baffling is that I think it’s just 2 people doing it

[@Ghostlydustup]

I thought he used a live version of the song. So very good.

[@anthonyfuqua6988]

I'M SORRY BUT ITS A LIVE VERSION.

[@SoloSlater]

@@anthonyfuqua6988 look in description

[@AKAtAGG]

I have no idea, as a musician for almost 40 years, how you can be *this* creative and still come up with an almost perfect sounding song. It's insane to me.

[@pegasusmoussavi23]

Radiohead a magical and genius! ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥

[@andginisin]

i think what makes their risks pay off is that they’re so insistent that it works. they seem to really drive their dissonance/rhythmic complexity with repetition plus of course thom’s clear and intent vocals really drive it home

[@dustmighte]

The way this song ends is one of my favorite musical moments, just in general

[@elrabeechum5180]

That gently ascending spacey sound….the piano tinkling off into nothingness. Gorgeous.

[@computrhead]

I didn’t expect that this song was that complex. I’m intrigued.

[@M0torsagmannen]

ikr, it sounds pretty simple on the surface. but i guess i never looked close enough at it to realize the time signatures were so different on each pass.

[@alexneill8338]

I've played this and many other Radiohead songs dozens of times on acoustic guitar, and I have to admit that I never consciously think about time signatures, I just play the song exactly as it sounds. Discovering how complex it is is actually very eye-opening!

[@heuxheux]

I think that’s exactly what Thom meant when he said you can’t really hear the complexity. You kind of feel it

[@MV-vv7sg]

Speaking is easier than writing. (Hence so many illiterate but vocalising people throughout time). Music sheet / notation does pretty much seem to be an attempt at what we did with words. Put them into a written language. It makes sense that sometime as intricate and complicated as music is really hard to depict when you limit it to a written language. Just like speaking and writing.

[@sibbyeskie]

@@MV-vv7sg Considering that maybe the most complex thing humans do is real time language communication - the immediate connecting of thoughts, meaning, words, strung together and "performed" - we are all naturally equipped with the capacity for such complexity, but it just seems like one is harder than the other due to practice. Most musicians get to a point where they don't really have to count explicitly. The next note becomes just as natural as the next word. You don't have to stop and think unless you want to try a different path in real-time. But once you try to formalize that process, like here, it starts to look grotesquely complex. I think it's actually unfortunate that we linger on this complexity and formalism a bit too much sometimes, as often is the case in other domains like math and programming. When really it's ultimately simple component ideas that can be learned just as any natural language, and seem just as natural.

[@MV-vv7sg]

@@sibbyeskie Agreed. By trying to make ‘understanding’ happen, we make things awfully complex. We try to reduce things to smaller parts to make it ‘consumable’ but in doing so we create the need for many complex other things. We employ analogies because using an already existing thought that is know to compare to another is useful. But we forget analogies are representations, transpositions, not perfect translations. We introduce false ideas and errors when we then use the rest of the notions about the thing we analogised with and thus arrive at mistakes.

[@sibbyeskie]

@@MV-vv7sg exactly. I like that thought because these types of formalism are very loosely transposed from something like mathematical formalism. Yes, harmony and tempo and many musical concepts have mathematically precise reasons for being true. However unlike in pure math, you don’t have to adhere to those boundaries with music composition, and sometimes the most interesting results come from forgetting the boundaries exist. Im willing to bet in this instance Radiohead didn’t even think about every time signature change. In some places it probably just “seemed right” to end a bar a beat early, or extend it. That’s also probably why it flows so naturally. They’re a good example of a band who can strike a musical balance, which is not easy once all of these theoretical concepts start to enter the process.

[@voidleech3465]

this is the first time i’ve seen a band sponsor a youtube video, that’s pretty cool.

[@elchavoguero]

It's such a breath of fresh air to see someone cover a song from Hail to the Thief. It's always OK Computer, Kid A, In Rainbows. HTTT is my favorite of their albums and this is probably my favorite song of theirs. So thanks for covering it

[@danpro4519]

This was strangely one of the first Radiohead songs that made me fall in love with them. I was on a bus trip through Costa Rica with headphones on and the song plus the scenery drifting by was almost an out of body experience.

[@pbelancsik]

Were you on a chicken bus? It was on a chicken bus in Costa Rica that I realized how obsessed Latin Americans are with New Order and Depeche Mode

[@user-py8wr9pw7r]

I’m from CR I’m definitely obsessed with Radiohead

[@colosalblack]

I always heard this as a beautiful piano ballad. I had no idea it was this complex. Truly a testament to Radioheads musicianship.

[@Lotschi]

After you covered this song I completely fell in love with this!

[@arturofustet5883]

The cover its crazy

[@oliverjohnson2570]

I love Radiohead and this is one of my favourite songs from them. I never realised it was so complex till now, I always saw it as a simple beautiful song. At least I was half-right

[@dashdrum-again]

Thanks for recommending Tape Runs Out. I'm enjoying their new album, and starting on the back catalog.

[@Trendyflute]

I had a friend in high school who was musically very gifted and also an incredibly intelligent person in general, one of the smartest people I've ever met, and they were very much interested in jazz, classical, modern orchestral, opera, and so forth; they didn't think rock music like Radiohead would do much for them. But I played them the HTTF album and Sail To The Moon in particular really impressed her, she was quite taken with it.

[@giles3211]

to be fair you need to have a very high iq to understand radiohead, theyre one of the most experimental bands out there

[@shanegallagher3524]

@@giles3211 i hope you’re joking

[@Brian-ek6no]

​@@giles3211 same with Tool

[@_templesleeper]

did u hit

[@toolebukk]

I continue to absolutely adore this song! Great cover job!

[@DavidBennettPiano]

Me too 😊😊😊

[@georgesonm1774]

aaah! my favourite song of theirs, alongside Pyramid Song and Everything in its Right Place... So happy to see it get the love it deserves

[@y2kona]

ice age coming ice age coming

[@mustuploadtoo7543]

faster johnny

[@marioi.carrillo6264]

this is really happening

[@theaver6ge]

im back to say the n word

[@china_is_asshole]

Winter is Coming.

[@nickpinguim]

Let me hear both sides, let me hear both sides, let me hear both-

[@strawberry_heaven]

Just when I'm listeting to Radiohead you came up with a Radiohead song... great.

[@Mayonnegg]

Haha same🤝

[@emira0223]

that guy made such a accurate cover that it involved jonny greenwood himself

[@phaustho]

Joe is just SO good... I love his work, he's amazing. And I'm a huge fan of some of his own work. He's got songs like Marionette which are REALLY good, they're crazy good!

[@FluffyMomo]

Thanks for using our cover🥺🙏

[@MikeyC314]

That Tape Runs Out song ‘Paperback’ is great, just had it on repeat for a few spins. How unique to have a band sponsor a video!

[@radio.ned1385]

I listened to Sail To The Moon for the first time in a while last night, re-affirming how much of a haunting yet blissful song it is…life truly is a simulation…

[@MyNameIsNeutron]

Of what though?

[@burgermind802]

Our experience of life is truly a simulation.

[@MV-vv7sg]

@@MyNameIsNeutron suffering

[@radio.ned1385]

@@MyNameIsNeutron of David Bennett Piano making amazingly in-depth and digestible music theory analysis of songs you've 'coincidentally' listened to recently

[@danielguy3581]

@@radio.ned1385 It's nice when schizophrenia isn't dark.

[@kristinzeiber23]

Joe Edelmann is AMAZING! He is also in the Radiohead tribute band called There, There - which is out of this world incredible! I've seen them several times and have met most of the band members. Close your eyes and you'd swear it was Radiohead, they're THAT accurate. I mean, listen to Joe in this video. Super talented musicians who happen to be genuinely nice, humble human beings! Although I love music, I do not have a technical understanding of it, so I never realized how complex this track really is. It's always been one of my favorites. Thank you for this enlightening video!

[@AntonyStrus]

Joe Edelman makes incredible Radiohead covers, I'm glad you used on of them in your video!

[@rokko4047]

this was the first radiohhead song i ever heard, it was so perfect, and truly got me into music. This entire album is heavily underrated

[@laziofreppe2138]

Amazing guy so interesting, could listen to him all day

[@DavidBennettPiano]

@@laziofreppe2138 cheers 😊

[@MilesWilliams88]

This has always been of my favorite songs by them. It's just beautiful.

[@EPMTUNES]

Very good video! I could understand despite my lack of music knowledge

[@pkelly206]

always been my favourite, only tied with probably ful stop

[@tubinonyou]

It took me half the video to realize this was a cover. That says a lot considering how intimately I know the song.

[@jackthesmoltangerine]

i think we can all agree that we all need Thom Yorke’s voice in our lives

[@maryk6780]

Totally agree. I was think just that, about Radiohead in general.

[@jackthesmoltangerine]

@@maryk6780 yes

[@royalex21]

I really enjoyed this analysis of “Sail To The Moon”, David. It’s always been one of my favourite Radiohead songs of all time. I’ve always loved its complexities; and despite them, it still sounds beautiful and calming. It’s also worth noting that Thom Yorke wrote this song for his son, Noah Yorke.

[@luciabee]

my god, i never scratched the surface of truly hearing this song. it sounds completely different now with this perspective. thank you so much for opening my eyes to its complexity!!

[@TheMarquistador]

I find it extremely cool and unique that a band sponsored your video. And they sound great. It worked on me!

[@GlennErikMathisen]

I absolutely LOVE how Radiohead uses mediants. This is probably my favourite example. I always new there were time changes in this song too, but this is really something else. Beautiful song, and very well analyzed! Thanks David :)

[@lounirs]

Radiohead is probably my favorite band because of that. They play with rythme so much, it's one of the thing that make them unique. Many bands don't try new things like them, but their influence have probably already changed the musical landscape

[@kkupsky6321]

I saw the time signatures and knew this was it. This is my favourite of their songs. It was handed me burnt on a cd on 2003. Soundtrack to sooooo much Omg. So much.

[@Landon_c]

I love this song so much!! And yes joe edelmann is AMAZING!

[@mountainman8775]

Fantastic and really useful theory breakdown, thanks for your work

[@mikenicholson7465]

I love Radiohead's complex stuff like Sail to the Moon and their simple stuff like the Pablo Honey and Bends LPs. It's all good.

[@ChristianVazquez12]

@Jesus From The Hood. The Bends is simple when it comes to like, instrumentation. Classic rock band arrangement most of the time. As far as the actual compositions go, it's far from it.

[@SirBenjiful]

@Jesus From The Hood. The bends has a mixture of adventurous and forward-thinking compositions (like Planet Telex, Just, and Nice Dream) and pretty simple straightforward arena rock (like The Bends, Bones, and Sulk). Not that it's bad - they executed that style excellently - but they weren't pushing the envelope with *every* track on that album.

[@jorriffhdhtrsegg]

Pablo Honey even has odd time signatures though. I think 'You' is harder to play in that respect, and STTM is kind of easy to get your head around, just count down. But 'You' literally skips a beat every 4 so its 6665 AND a heavy animated song where there's less time to think.

[@andrewpappas9311]

I’ve never heard this song before but I’ll definitely have to check it out for myself now, Radiohead really knows how to make songs that always throw you through a loop and it’s great. Fantastic video as always, David, this was great

[@Bronco541]

Tape Runs Out sound pretty good. Def gonna check them out!

[@trombonejuggle]

Gotta love that chromatic mediant party at the end!

[@madnessbydesignVria]

I always loved this song. Of course it's the most complex thing ever. Thank you for breaking it down! :)

[@brettmccollum1]

I honestly thought this was just a live recording of Radiohead until the end

[@AlystrZelland]

That is so cool. God, subtle time signature hopscotching giving songs this disjointed, otherwordly feel to them (besides the more obvious bells and whistles of synth and similar timbres) is one of my favorite song hacks. I always feel it, but I never quite put my finger on it until I'm getting analytical, like this or just in closer listening. I really need to put a bit of that into my own work. Thank you, David.

[@iawnlad]

Genuinely didn’t even notice it was cover until it was mentioned. Wow !!

[@matcoffidis1135]

I like it's dream-like, yet somewhat unsettling quality of those major 7 chords. Add in that #9 chords at the end and...wow! Love Tape Runs Out too. As always, thanks for the video....

[@StevenMichels]

This makes me never want to pick up an instrument again. All hail, Thom and Radiohead.

[@jonathanchavez9009]

One of my favorites of Radiohead. Very complex, yet simple sounding, and powerful. It doesn’t ever sound complex for the sake of complexity

[@thegothaunt]

Fantastic video. I've never deep-dived into Radiohead's discography before but I love watching all your videos about them. So intricate. I suspect someday I'll sit down and explore their music... I just prefer it alongside a score. 😂 Loved the band at the end too, definitely going to listen to them during my commute today!

[@stephenbarber6533]

One of my favourite Radiohead songs, it's so haunting yet beautiful at the same time

[@mfmorag1]

I've always loved this song. I know nothing about musical theory or composition, it's just emotionally riveting with really cool dreamy lyrics. Thanks for the great video!

[@markwebb7576]

My favourite song ever. Thank you David, I now better understand why I like it so.

[@700LISH]

you sir are a golden child showing and teaching me this !!!!

[@DavidBennettPiano]

😀😀

[@eleanorelliott]

I played a piano arrangement of STTM for my 8th grade recital. It was so fun to learn with all the time signature changes and the jazzy chords. Definitely one of my favorite songs

[@thaddeusecheverria7733]

Love that you found a clever way to keep the whole song in the video, well done! Also fun way to be sponsored

[@libelle156]

Holy shit that cover was good

[@gregfunston774]

Actua;;y I am a fan of music and your music. Your musical analysis helps me to understand why I enjoy many of these complex renditions including the contemporary masters.

[@mdhazeldine]

Wow, that was a freaking good cover. Had me fooled until the end!

[@mbcarlson]

Wow, I thought that was the Radiohead recording! Amazingly accurate cover.

[@Tom-Lahaye]

This IS complicated, but it is a beautiful song, Radiohead always managed to get such interesting structures into their music. But I bet they needed one of the band members, the drummer most likely, to count along with when rehearsing the song. That Abmaj7 chord was a genius resolvent of the 2 bars before. The cover by Joe Edelman struck all the buttons, especially when taking on such a complicated song.

[@composer7325]

Brilliant, David your site is fantastic, thank you..

[@DavidBennettPiano]

Thanks Peter 😊

[@composer7325]

@@DavidBennettPiano David, I keep returning to your old videos the content on your site is incredible. Each time I learn more. I was blown away by the 4 inventive keys and knew this video would keep growing because of the content. I don't think I have ever missed a video by you. Thank you again, Peter.

[@Nclovedme]

Tape runs out sounds really good. Definitely gonna check them out after this.

[@lucianopazos286]

Excellent stuff, as usual! Thanks David

[@dijjidog]

I appreciate this video I would normally try to avoid sounding like a typical Radiohead fan but sail to the moon is often overlooked; I'm going to listen to it a lot more now.

[@erika33648]

❤By far my favourite Radiohead album, if not overall favourite!

[@Spazmatronicmonkey]

Genuinely one of my favourite songs ever

[@akeithing1841]

This song is so dreamy. The chords are easier than I thought!

[@dimitrifyodorovickaramazov]

This is one of their best. The fact that it was about Noah, Thom’s son, and the arc sailing to the Moon. The message he sends his son, magnificent poetry.

[@livejay9062]

Wow! This is a great song, and a fun analysis. This is exactly why I love this channel!

[@jeremiahlyleseditor437]

i wasn't a Radiohead fan before this video but now I'll have to listen to more of their music. Excellent song and use of time and key changes to follow the theme of the song. Another great video David. Thanks

[@SaltPyramids]

they are incredible! listen to Amnesiac

[@ranica47]

Listen to everything! Well, maybe not the first album....

[@jameshannagan4256]

I truly envy you I hope they bring as much joy to you as it did for me.

[@kkupsky6321]

They did a awesome cover.

[@tom_4615]

Shit idk why but I really wasn't expecting the bands music at the end to be that good... that was a jam haha

[@matt.coburn]

This is mind blowing...

[@stephenbarber6533]

Cool that you're promoting bands now too

[@alexparker3277]

holy crap, burying the lead of how sweet that cover was. I was fooled, for sure.

[@dylanaguilar6545]

Damn thats impressive, i thought i was listening to the original song the whole time

[@_-_-_-Prof.BoskoBiathi-_-_-_]

One if my fav songs,..really a gem in my cd rack,.

[@knivesout33]

Woah, I actually noticed that it was @JoeEdelmann3 before reading the credits.

[@thankyou329]

Really dig the idea of bands sponsoring content like this. Smart cross promotion. Great vid

[@jjhaya]

Yep, nice to see that sponsors are related to the content of the channels. Upcoming artists can promote music through music-related channels and writers can promote their new book through a literature niche channel.

[@benwilliams5760]

Thanks for this. I have no idea how to read music and don't really understand how it's made but I loved your study regardless! It's always been one of my favourite Radiohead songs. It's just so beautiful. There's me thinking it was one of their more simple songs!

[@meagan4605]

This is one of my favorite Radiohead songs ever made. It's so beautiful.

[@davis267]

was expecting Weird Fishes, Pyramid Song, or perhaps Videotape but quite chuffed to see one of favorites and a relatively deep cut

[@toomanypelican]

This is my favorite song 😊 thank you for making a video on it

[@yamashitacoversbyjulianroel]

Absolutely loved this crossover ❤

[@PopcornMax179]

Always could tell this song was something out of this world. But never understood why.

[@Franlu95]

Is that a Joe Edelman's cover? Edit: Oh, it is, just saw the credits lol Now that's a crossover I was hoping for so much!

[@tylerhackner9731]

One of my favorite bands

[@y0n1n1x]

bro really got sponsored by a band to plug their music

[@taperunsout]

Hey man, it’s tough out there!

[@jjhaya]

It's kind of an awesome way to promote yourself, and the channel is also helpful to musicians in the community instead of being sponsored by BetterHelp or Raycon 😅.

[@eyeofbeholder1]

This song has always been one of my favorites.