Street Spirit (Fade Out)
Encyclopedia
"Street Spirit" (commonly referred to as "Street Spirit") is a song by English alternative rock
band Radiohead
, featured on their second studio album The Bends
, which was released in 1995. Noted by singer-songwriter and guitarist Thom Yorke
as "one of [the band's] saddest songs" and describing it as "the dark tunnel without the light at the end", "Street Spirit" was released as the band's ninth single and reached number five on the UK Singles Chart
, the highest chart position the band achieved until "Paranoid Android
" from OK Computer
, which reached number three in 1997.
Yorke has suggested that the song was inspired by the 1991 novel The Famished Road
, written by Ben Okri
, and that its music was inspired by R.E.M.
The track is built around a soft melody in A minor
with an arpeggio (broken chord) guitar part. The single is also acclaimed for the quality of its B-side
s; for example, "Talk Show Host" rose to prominence after it was remixed by Nellee Hooper
for the 1996 film Romeo + Juliet, since becoming a regular at Radiohead concerts.
apparently attribute a great deal of depth to "Street Spirit", beyond the level typically perceived by their audience. Lead singer Thom Yorke
is alleged to have said,
No direct source of this quote, however, is available.
music video for "Street Spirit" was filmed during two nights in a desert just outside Los Angeles
. It premiered in February 1996 and was directed by Jonathan Glazer
, who said, "That was definitely a turning point in my own work. I knew when I finished that, because they found their own voices as an artist, at that point, I felt like I got close to whatever mine was, and I felt confident that I could do things that emoted, that had some kind of poetic as well as prosaic value. That for me was a key moment."
Glazer would later direct the video for "Karma Police
".
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band Radiohead
Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke , Jonny Greenwood , Ed O'Brien , Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway .Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992...
, featured on their second studio album The Bends
The Bends
The Bends is the second studio album by the English alternative rock band Radiohead, released on 13 March 1995 by Parlophone. The Bends was produced by John Leckie at EMI's studios in London, and engineered by Nigel Godrich, who would go on to produce all future albums by the band...
, which was released in 1995. Noted by singer-songwriter and guitarist Thom Yorke
Thom Yorke
Thomas "Thom" Edward Yorke is an English musician who is the lead vocalist and principal songwriter for Radiohead. He mainly plays guitar and piano, but he has also played drums and bass guitar...
as "one of [the band's] saddest songs" and describing it as "the dark tunnel without the light at the end", "Street Spirit" was released as the band's ninth single and reached number five on the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
, the highest chart position the band achieved until "Paranoid Android
Paranoid Android
"Paranoid Android" is a song by English alternative rock band Radiohead, featured on their 1997 third studio album OK Computer. The lyrics of the darkly humorous song were written primarily by singer Thom Yorke, following an unpleasant experience in a Los Angeles bar...
" from OK Computer
OK Computer
OK Computer is the third studio album by the English alternative rock band Radiohead, released on 16 June 1997 on Parlophone in the UK and 1 July 1997 by Capitol Records in the US. It marks a deliberate attempt by the band to move away from the introspective guitar-oriented sound of their previous...
, which reached number three in 1997.
Yorke has suggested that the song was inspired by the 1991 novel The Famished Road
The Famished Road
The Famished Road is the Booker Prize-winning novel written by Nigerian author Ben Okri. The novel, published in 1991, follows Azaro, an abiku or spirit child, living in an unnamed most likely Nigerian city. The novel employs a unique narrative style incorporating the spirit world with the "real"...
, written by Ben Okri
Ben Okri
Ben Okri OBE FRSL is a Nigerian poet and novelist. Okri has become the leading figure of his generation of Nigerian writers who have largely abandoned the social and historical themes of Chinua Achebe, and brought together modernist narrative strategies and Nigerian oral and literary...
, and that its music was inspired by R.E.M.
R.E.M.
R.E.M. was an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry. One of the first popular alternative rock bands, R.E.M. gained early attention due to Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style and Stipe's...
The track is built around a soft melody in A minor
A minor
A minor is a minor scale based on A, consisting of the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. The harmonic minor scale raises the G to G...
with an arpeggio (broken chord) guitar part. The single is also acclaimed for the quality of its B-side
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
s; for example, "Talk Show Host" rose to prominence after it was remixed by Nellee Hooper
Nellee Hooper
Nellee Hooper is a British producer/remixer/composer best known for his work with Björk, No Doubt/Gwen Stefani, Madonna, Sinéad O'Connor, Garbage, Andrea Corr, U2, Sneaker Pimps, Soul II Soul and Massive Attack...
for the 1996 film Romeo + Juliet, since becoming a regular at Radiohead concerts.
Interpretation
RadioheadRadiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke , Jonny Greenwood , Ed O'Brien , Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway .Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992...
apparently attribute a great deal of depth to "Street Spirit", beyond the level typically perceived by their audience. Lead singer Thom Yorke
Thom Yorke
Thomas "Thom" Edward Yorke is an English musician who is the lead vocalist and principal songwriter for Radiohead. He mainly plays guitar and piano, but he has also played drums and bass guitar...
is alleged to have said,
No direct source of this quote, however, is available.
Music video
The black-and-whiteBlack-and-white
Black-and-white, often abbreviated B/W or B&W, is a term referring to a number of monochrome forms in visual arts.Black-and-white as a description is also something of a misnomer, for in addition to black and white, most of these media included varying shades of gray...
music video for "Street Spirit" was filmed during two nights in a desert just outside Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. It premiered in February 1996 and was directed by Jonathan Glazer
Jonathan Glazer
Jonathan Glazer is an English director of films, commercials and music videos.-Biography:After studying theatre design at Nottingham Trent University, Glazer started out directing theatre and making film and television trailers, including award-winning work for the BBC...
, who said, "That was definitely a turning point in my own work. I knew when I finished that, because they found their own voices as an artist, at that point, I felt like I got close to whatever mine was, and I felt confident that I could do things that emoted, that had some kind of poetic as well as prosaic value. That for me was a key moment."
Glazer would later direct the video for "Karma Police
Karma Police
"Karma Police" is a song by English alternative rock band Radiohead from their 1997 third studio album OK Computer. The song's title and lyrics derive from an in-joke among the band, referring to the Hindu theory of retributive enforcement, known as karma....
".
Covers
- The Darkness often cover this song live. Their version is delivered in a faster tempo, with significantly heavier guitar, and with lead singer Justin HawkinsJustin HawkinsJustin David Hawkins is an English musician and singer-songwriter, best known for being the lead singer and lead guitarist of The Darkness, alongside his brother, guitarist Dan Hawkins...
' signature falsettoFalsettoFalsetto is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ligamentous edges of the vocal folds, in whole or in part...
. - Stream of PassionStream of PassionStream of Passion is a progressive metal band with symphonic metal and gothic metal influences founded by Arjen Anthony Lucassen and Marcela Bovio. Because the musicians in the band lived thousands of miles apart, Lucassen composed the group's debut album, Embrace the Storm, over the Internet...
have recorded this song on their 2009 album The Flame WithinThe Flame WithinThe Flame Within is Stream of Passion's second studio album released on May 27 2009, by Napalm Records. It is the follow-up to their debut album, Embrace the Storm and their first without the original creator Arjen Lucassen.-Track listing:...
. It is sung by Marcela BovioMarcela BovioMarcela Alejandra Bovio García is a Mexican singer and violinist. She was one of the founding members of the Mexican band Elfonía, she responded to a "casting call" of sorts for relatively unknown singers to be featured on Arjen Lucassen's Ayreon album The Human Equation where she landed the part...
and adds a burst of heavy guitar playing.* - Romanian Alternative Rock band Luna AmarăLuna AmaraLuna Amară is a Romanian alternative rock/grunge band. The name means "Bitter Moon" in Romanian, and is borrowed from the Roman Polanski movie of the same name, inspired by the eponymous novel written by Pascal Bruckner.-History:...
covers the song as a bonus track on their album Loc lipsă. It is played at a slow pace with a background trumpet performed by Mihai Iordache. - Joe BuddenJoe Budden-Early life:Budden was born in Spanish Harlem, but lived in Queens until he was 12 and from there moved to Jersey City, New Jersey. He is one of five boys...
had this song sampled on the track "Never Again" off of the 2009 album Escape RouteEscape RouteEscape Route is a digital album by Joe Budden which was released exclusively on Amalgam Digital on August 11, 2009. As of October 6, 2009, the album was made available in stores.-Background:...
. - Peter GabrielPeter GabrielPeter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...
's album Scratch My BackScratch My Back-Singles:Gabriel originally intended to release Scratch My Back and I'll Scratch Yours simultaneously. However, as completion of the latter dragged out, it was instead decided to release a series of double A-sided singles with one song from each album every new full moon during 2010 on iTunes...
features a cover of the song. - The Eden HouseThe Eden HouseThe Eden House is a collaborative musical project, initiated by Stephen Carey and involving a collection of guest musicians and vocalists; then later joined by Tony Pettitt .Their debut album Smoke & Mirrors was released on April 6, 2009 in the United States and...
cover it on the 2010 album The Looking Glass. - Korea cover it on the 2010 album The Delirium Suite.
- Sasha LazardSasha LazardDominique "Sasha" Lazard is an American classical crossover singer.Lazard was born in New York and grew up in Paris. She attended Bennington College and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, studying opera, but after graduation pursued a more electronic-influenced sound inspired by the local...
and Shawna Stone cover this song on their collaboration album Siren.
External links
- Article from The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
with Jonathan GlazerJonathan GlazerJonathan Glazer is an English director of films, commercials and music videos.-Biography:After studying theatre design at Nottingham Trent University, Glazer started out directing theatre and making film and television trailers, including award-winning work for the BBC...
talking about the video