Burn the Witch (Radiohead song)

"Burn the Witch"
Single by Radiohead
Released 3 May 2016
Format Download
Genre
Length 3:40
Label XL
Radiohead singles chronology
"Spectre"
(2015)		 "Burn the Witch"
(2016)		 "Daydreaming"
(2016)
Music video
"Burn the Witch" on YouTube

"Burn the Witch" is a song by English rock band Radiohead. Following a long recording history, it was released as a download on 3 May 2016, accompanied by a stop-motion animated music video that pays homage to the 1960s British children's television programme Camberwick Green and the 1973 British horror film The Wicker Man.

History

According to long-time Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich, Radiohead worked on "Burn the Witch" during the sessions for their albums Kid A (2000), Hail to the Thief (2003), and In Rainbows (2007); the phrase "burn the witch" appears in the Hail to the Thief album artwork. The song was mentioned by frontman Thom Yorke in a 2005 blog entry on Radiohead's website and was briefly teased in performances in 2006 and 2008, but it was never played in full. In 2007, Yorke posted lyrics on the band's website.[1][2]

Asked in 2013 about the status of Radiohead's unreleased songs, including "Burn the Witch", Godrich responded, "Everything will surface one day... it all exists... and so [they] will eventually get there, I'm sure."[3] He cited the song "Nude", released on Radiohead's 2007 album In Rainbows but written 12 years prior, as an example of a song that took several years to complete.[3]

Music and lyrics

"Burn the Witch" is an orchestral pop[4] and art rock[5] song. Michael Hann of the Guardian described it as "a burst of taut, tense music, driven by pizzicato strings".[6] It features a string section playing col legno, meaning that the players strike their strings with the stick of the bow rather than bowing them. According to Pitchfork, this "transforms the orchestra into another form of percussion, another beat adding to a vaguely electronic undercurrent pummelling the song forward ... [the string section] alternates between sumptuous flourishes and the darkest corners of The Shining’s score."[7] In the second half of the song, the strings "gradually disintegrate"; while the cellos and basses adhere to the conventional F#, E, B chord progression of the chorus, the higher strings become "deathly, Herrmann-esque and quite horrid".[8]

The lyrics direct the listener to "abandon all reason / avoid all eye contact / do not react / shoot the messengers / burn the witch". Pitchfork interpreted the song as a criticism of authority and a warning against groupthink, expressing a "deep sense of dread and skepticism".[7] The Guardian felt the lyrics might address mass surveillance or "the difficulties of open discussion in an age where thought is scrutinised and policed by the public itself on social media".[6] Animator Virpi Kettu, who worked on the "Burn the Witch" music video, interpreted them as a comment on the European migrant crisis and scapegoating of Muslims.[9]

Music video

The "Burn the Witch" video was directed by Chris Hopewell, who previously directed the animated video for Radiohead's 2003 single "There There". It was conceived and finished in 14 days, one week before its release.[10] The video uses stop-motion animation in the style of the Bob Bura and John Hardwick, creators of the Trumpton, Chigley, and Camberwick Green series of 1960s English children's television programmes known as the Trumpton Trilogy.[11] The video was released on YouTube on 3 May 2016, receiving over 6 million views within 48 hours.[12]

The plot homages the 1973 horror film The Wicker Man.[10][13] An inspector is greeted by the mayor of a town and is invited to see a series of strange and unsettling sights, culminating in his unveiling of a wicker man. The inspector is urged to climb up and into the effigy, whereupon it is set on fire; as the wicker man burns, the townspeople turn their backs and wave goodbye to camera. After the songs ends, the inspector is seen to have survived this ordeal.

Pitchfork writer Marc Hogan suggested that the use of the "Trumpton Trilogy" style, which portray an idyllic, crime-free British village life, reflects the rhetoric of family values used by right-wing politicians such as Donald Trump, Marine Le Pen, and members of the UK Independence Party.[11] Animator Virpi Kettu said the video was deliberately lighter in tone than the music, as Radiohead "wanted the video to contrast with what they're playing and to wake people up a bit."[9]

Promotion and release

In April 2016, fans who had previously made orders from Radiohead received embossed cards in the post with lyrics from the song: "Sing a song of sixpence that goes / burn the witch / we know where you live."[14] "Burn the Witch" was released as a download single on 3 May 2016 on the band's site and on streaming and digital media services.[15][16]

Reception

Pitchfork named "Burn the Witch" the week's "Best New Track", with senior editor Jillian Mapes writing: "It's not since Kid A standout 'How to Disappear Completely' that Radiohead have created a song this simultaneously unsettling and gorgeous."[7] Michael Hann of The Guardian called it "thrilling... certainly the kind of return – bold and expansive, as well as dark and claustrophobic – that the world might have hoped for".[6] Larry Bartleet of NME wrote: "A Radiohead melody has rarely sounded this joyful or indulgent, which puts the disturbing lyrics into especially sharp relief."[17] Daniel Ross, analysing the song for Classic FM, wrote that "while Radiohead are often held up as denizens of doing it differently ... 'Burn The Witch' is them working smart rather than working hard. They’ve set up simple confines, but within them they’ve experimented heavily and made something exceptionally strange, tonally speaking, and inventive to boot. Approved."[8]

Track listing

Digital download[15]
No. Title Length
1. "Burn the Witch"   3:40

Charts

Chart (2016) Peak
position
Ireland (IRMA)[18] 96
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[19] 85

Release history

Region Date Label Format Ref.
Worldwide 3 May 2016 XL Download [15]

References

  1. ↑ Yoo, Noah; Monroe, Jazz (3 May 2016). "Watch Radiohead's Video for New Song 'Burn the Witch'". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  2. ↑ Kreps, Daniel (3 May 2016). "Watch Radiohead's Sinister 'Burn the Witch' Video". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  3. 1 2 Kreps, Daniel (18 February 2013). "Thom Yorke Talks 'Amok' Leak, Photobombing in Reddit Q&A". Spin. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  4. ↑ Kornhaber, Spencer (3 May 2016). "‘Burn the Witch’: Radiohead’s Gorgeous and Scary Comeback Song". The Atlantic. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  5. ↑ Hann, Michael. "Radiohead: Burn the Witch review – a return the world might have hoped for". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  6. 1 2 3 Hann, Michael (3 May 2016). "Radiohead: 'Burn the Witch' review – a return the world might have hoped for". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  7. 1 2 3 Mapes, Jillian (3 May 2016). "Reviews - Tracks: Radiohead - 'Burn the Witch'". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  8. 1 2 "A music theory breakdown of Radiohead’s ‘Burn The Witch’". Classic FM. Retrieved 2016-05-06.
  9. 1 2 "Radiohead 'Burn the Witch' Animator on the Sleepless Nights Behind New Video". Billboard. Retrieved 2016-05-06.
  10. 1 2 Strauss, Matthew (3 May 2016). "Radiohead Artist Stanley Donwood Shares 'Burn the Witch' Behind-the-Scenes Shots". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  11. 1 2 "Decoding the Politics in Radiohead’s “Burn the Witch” Video | Pitchfork". pitchfork.com. Retrieved 2016-05-06.
  12. ↑ Youtube Link, Music Video.
  13. ↑ "Watch Radiohead's Sinister 'Burn the Witch' Video". Rolling Stone. 2016-05-03. Retrieved 2016-05-04.
  14. ↑ Peters, Mitchell (30 April 2016). "Radiohead Fans Receive Mysterious 'Burn the Witch' Leaflets Ahead of New Album". Billboard. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  15. 1 2 3 "Burn the Witch – Single by Radiohead". iTunes US. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  16. ↑ "Radiohead – Burn the Witch – XL". Bleep. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  17. ↑ Bartleet, Larry (3 May 2016). "Radiohead – 'Burn The Witch' Track Review: A Disturbingly Joyful Return". NME. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  18. ↑ "Chart Track: Week 18, 2016". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
  19. ↑ "Archive Chart: 2016-05-12" UK Singles Chart. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
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