What up Radiohead heads, I’m halfway through my fifteenth re-listen of the entire discography, and I just discovered a new way to seriously enhance the sonic experience: climbing to the top of a 9 story building and gazing longingly at the beckoning ground below.
Any serious fan is no stranger to the fact that you can’t just listen to OK Computer while strolling through the park or chilling at home with a friend—in other words, while enjoying your life. In my now tested experience, the best and only way to absorb the full meaning of a Yorkeian ballad is by standing motionless on the rooftop of a 9-story building and pulling a Kendall Roy-style full-body lean against the glass.
They say set and setting are important when consuming a piece of art, and I can attest that is very true. Whenever a Radiohead song shuffles to the front of my liked songs, in which it was admittedly quite recklessly interspersed, I immediately mount the nearest office or hotel building, shove my earpods deep inside my sockets, and inch my feet as close to the edge as the pesky barrier will allow. Instantly I am plunged into the full emotional depths of “Codex” and its lyrical mysteries. You’d be amazed at the new significance taken on by “Jump off the end, no one’s around” when that is a very real possibility created by your physical circumstances.
If you decide to try this method, just be warned that distractions may disrupt your meditative state. For instance, on my last 2 excursions, I had to calmly explain to the firemen sent by the crowd of people frantically waving their hands below that this is nothing to be concerned about and merely a classic listening ritual for Radiohead fans. People listen to smooth jazz while swirling wine and imagining caressing a lover, and people listen to Radiohead while staring out at the abyss and imagining ending it all so sweetly.
I’m not gonna do it. The fact that I’m standing atop a 9-story building overlooking the interstate highway doesn’t mean I’m gonna do it, nor does the fact that I’m shouting “I’m gonna fucking do it. Would any of you even care?” Like I said, this is merely part of the all-immersive experience I have created for myself as a Radiohead fan. Come to think of it, my entire life has been a series of enrichments I’ve made to get the full experience of the band’s masterworks. From failing to find a lasting and significant romantic relationship to working a soul-numbing job for two and a half decades to having an undiagnosed mood disorder since I was 16, I have been doing everything in my power to make the music sound fucking out-of-this-world, soul-wrenchingly incredible when it hits my eardrums. I like to think I am Thom Yorke’s palette and my excruciatingly painful life is his paintbrush. What’s next? Discovering I’m impotent? My dog dying? Who gives a shit! “High and Dry” is gonna slap.