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Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood take NME through Hail to the Thief
first posted on Treefingers by Miro · rewritten for the archive
NME's issue of 10 May carries a track-by-track guide to Hail to the Thief from Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood. “2+2=5” was the first song finished, and quickly; Nigel Godrich would not let the band eat until it was done.
“Sit Down. Stand Up” was written about five years ago, in the period after OK Computer, with coverage of Rwanda on the television. “I Will” is from the same time, which Yorke offers as a warning against reading too much into its lyrics, with a laughing aside about spotting the new father.
Greenwood teases him that “Where I End and You Begin” is another love song; after a moment's thought, Yorke supposes it is. “Scatterbrain” is partly about old newspapers blowing in the wind.
The band, Yorke thinks, are loosening up. At last. Taken an Ex-Lax.
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