Burn the Witch (Radiohead song)

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"Burn the Witch"
File:BURN THE WITCH.png
Single by Radiohead
from the album A Moon Shaped Pool
B-side "Spectre" (7")
Released 3 May 2016
Format
Genre
Length 3:40
Label XL
Writer(s) Radiohead
Producer(s)
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 the English rock band Radiohead, released as download on 3 May 2016 as the first single from their ninth studio album A Moon Shaped Pool. The song features a string section playing col legno battuto, producing a percussive sound. It was 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. The song's lyrics and video have been interpreted as a warning against groupthink and authoritarianism.

Background

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][3]

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."[4] 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.[4]

Music and lyrics

"Burn the Witch" was described by The Atlantic as a orchestral pop song[5] and by the Guardian as art rock.[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] The Guardian described the song as "a burst of taut, tense music".[6] The Atlantic critic Spencer Kornhaber likened the strings to heavy metal, "chugga-chugga-chugga-ing the entire time".[5] 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] Animator Virpi Kettu, who worked on the "Burn the Witch" music video, interpreted the lyrics as a comment on the European migrant crisis and scapegoating of Muslims.[9] The Guardian felt the song might address mass surveillance or the threat to open discussion posed by the self-policing users of social media.[6]

Music video

File:Radiohead Burn the Witch music video still.jpg
A collage of stills from the "Burn the Witch" music video

The "Burn the Witch" music 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 Camberwick Green, Trumpton and Chigley series of 1960s English children's television programmes (also known as the Trumpton Trilogy).[11] The video was released on YouTube on 3 May 2016.[12]

The plot homages the 1973 horror film The Wicker Man.[10][13] An inspector is greeted by a town mayor and invited to see a series of unsettling sights, culminating in the unveiling of a wicker man. The mayor urges the inspector to climb into the wicker man, whereupon he is locked inside and the wicker man is set on fire. As the flames gather, the townspeople turn their backs and wave goodbye to the camera. After the song ends, the inspector escapes among the trees.

Pitchfork writer Marc Hogan suggested that the use of the Trumpton Trilogy style, which portrays an idyllic, crime-free rural Britain, 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]

According to the son-in-law of Trumpton creator Gordon Murray, the family had not been asked permission to use the style for the video, and saw it as a "tarnishing of the brand." He stated that the family would not have allowed the video, considered it a breach of copyright, and were "deciding what to do next."[14][15]

Promotion and release

The leaflet sent to fans, featuring lyrics to "Burn the Witch"

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."[16] "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.[17][18] A 7-inch release, with Radiohead's 2015 song "Spectre" as the B-side, was released on 13 May 2016 exclusively to Bull Moose stores in the New England area.[19]

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."[20] 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

Download

Digital release[17]
No. Title Length
1. "Burn the Witch"   3:40

7"

Side A
No. Title Length
1. "Burn the Witch"   3:40
Side B
No. Title Length
1. "Spectre"   3:19

Charts

Chart (2016) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[22] 63
Canada Rock (Billboard)[23] 30
Belgium (Ultratip Flanders)[24] 16
Belgium (Ultratip Wallonia)[25] 18
France (SNEP)[26] 51
Ireland (IRMA)[27] 51
Italy (FIMI)[28] 92
Japan (Japan Hot 100)[29] 62
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[30] 40
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[31] 74
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[32] 64
US Adult Alternative Songs (Billboard)[33] 27
US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (Billboard)[34] 21
US Alternative Songs (Billboard)[35] 31
US Hot Rock Songs (Billboard)[36] 9
US Rock Airplay (Billboard)[37] 44

Release history

Region Date Label Format Catalogue no.
Worldwide 3 May 2016 XL Download XLDS791[18]
 United States 16 May 2016 7" 407917[21]

References

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  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Youtube Link, Music Video.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Radiohead – Burn the Witch" (in Dutch). Ultratip. Retrieved 28 May 2016.
  25. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Radiohead – Burn the Witch" (in French). Ultratip. Retrieved 28 May 2016.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ "Chart Track: Week 19, 2016". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ "Radiohead – Chart history" Japan Hot 100 for Radiohead. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
  30. ↑ "Spanishcharts.com – Radiohead – Burn the Witch" Canciones Top 50. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
  31. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Radiohead – Burn the Witch". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
  32. ↑ "Archive Chart: 2016-05-19" UK Singles Chart. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
  33. ↑ "Radiohead – Chart history" Billboard Adult Alternative Songs for Radiohead. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  34. ↑ "Radiohead – Chart history" Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 for Radiohead. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
  35. ↑ "Radiohead – Chart history" Billboard Alternative Songs for Radiohead. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
  36. ↑ "Radiohead – Chart history" Billboard Hot Rock Songs for Radiohead. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
  37. ↑ "Radiohead – Chart history" Billboard Rock Airplay for Radiohead. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
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