Feb 10
Unreleased track performed by Thom Yorke dubbed onto live footage of the same song. I like the way the combination of the two create the effect of Thom singing over the top of the noise of people eating and drinking – some are not listening but some are. Which has always been Radiohead to me, “how can we say what we trying to say without directly saying it?” and then putting it to an incredible soundtrack.
“…if you take me there you’ll get relief.”
Via YouTube.
February 11th, 2007 at 3:51 am
Hey everyone, can you share your interpretation of the song? I’m not decided yet… :-)
February 11th, 2007 at 8:04 am
I don’t think this is dubbed– this is the video recording of Thom’s short acoustic set at the Trade Justice rally in April of 2005. There really were people talking and eating while he was playing. This recording of Last Flowers is the first and only time it has been played in public, though the title had been referenced on their website a number of years previously.
February 24th, 2007 at 7:54 pm
Juliet: I was led to call this footage dubbed after I read this in the comments for the YouTube video:
“Last Flowers Till the Hospital” performed by Thom Yorke at the Wake Up to Trade Justice vigil, Central Methodist Hall, London, April 16, 2005. I synched this amateur/fan-shot video with a better audio source.
– fakeplasticradiohead
I can see why this track is said to have been written about the time of OK Computer, that feeling of a dystopian future fulled with technology and knowledge that doesn’t make us any happier or wiser.
I actually don’t think track says too much specifically, all I can add is that it does fit the OK Computer era.
How I like to interpret it (and this is getting into obsessive fan territory) starts with the name of the track ‘Last Flowers Till The Hospital’ which I prefer a lot more to the rumored new title ‘Cogs’. I love the idea of going to the hospital to visit someone who is sick and taking dying organic material as a sign of sympathy, these horrible traditions and cliches we are stuck with. The idea I have is to imagine going to the hospital to visit someone and seeing a sign saying that and thinking internally “well, I should probably get flowers from there because if I get them from the hospital it might be more obvious that they are a token gesture I just nipped into the Hospital Gift Shop to buy”. Which, of course, is hilarious. It is all token, love and time mean far more than some orchids.
So I enjoy taking the interpretation I’ve mentioned above and applying it to the lyrics. Exploring the idea of living with someone who is sick, taking them to hospital and then visiting them until they get better or pass away. Where is it better to pass away – at home or in a hospital? Is it in the interest of healthcare to keep its patients alive as long as possible? (when is it time to let someone die?). So I apply the lyrics in the following way:
“And I can’t face the evening straight
And you can offer me escape
Houses live and houses speak
If you take me there you’ll get relief
Believe, relief, believe”
– This verse could talk about living with someone who is suffering from a disease or illness who really needs to be cared for in a hospital. By taking them to hospital hopefully they’ll be better off and you won’t have to put up with their suffering in the same proximity anymore.
“And if I’m gonna talk
I just want to talk
Please don’t interrupt
Just sit back and listen”
– Visiting at the hospital. Perhaps it is best just to listen.
It’s too much, too bright, too powerful
Too much, too bright, too powerful
Too much, too bright, too powerful
Too much
– Contemplating what happens after death.