Stay in the shadows
Cheer at the gallows
This is a round up
This is a low flying panic attack
Sing a song on the jukebox that goes
Burn the witch
Burn the witch
We know where you live
This dark, menacing song comes from Radiohead's ninth studio album, A Moon Shaped Pool from 2016, and had originally been forming through previous studio sessions since 2000. It is marked by a string section playing in the style known as col legno battuto – striking the strings with the stick of the bow in a sharp percussive sound, and was arranged by their guitarist Jonny Greenwood, and of course, Thom Yorke's haunting voice.
What is it about? The connection with the last two Trumpton-related songs is obvious - the video, made by animator Virpi Kettu, uses characters from stop-motion children's series Trumpton, Camberwick Green and Chidgey, and turns it into a nightmare, also drawing on the plot of 1973's The Wicker Man, a song from which we have also featured on Song of The Day on 1 May 2017. But here a town inspector is shown around by the mayor, and yet the sinister signs are already there, of a backward, small-minded community, who even have a town gallows and hanging rope. Ultimately though, human sacrifice is on the cards. It seems to come in the shadow of the migration crisis of rightwing press pushing for anti-immigration, and the xenophobia of Ukip and Donald Trump. Whatever the interpretation, it is certainly a brilliantly disturbing piece of work.
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