Thom Yorke Actually Doesn't Have Time for the Head of State

According to SPIN.com, Thom Yorke, in a post yesterday to Radiohead's deadairspace blog, denounced British Prime Minister Tony Blair, saying among other things, "We must throw Tony Blair out of office NOW." He concludes, "a vote of no confidence. or something. anything.." You can find the full text here.

Long ago, Yorke declared on the OK Computer track, "Lucky", that he didn't have time for the Head of State, even if that person were to come to Yorke in a moment of need. Fittingly enough, the Head of State (Tony Blair) did call for Yorke's help (or consultation) just several months ago ("Thom Yorke turns Tony Blair down"), yet was predictably shut down by the "freaked out" Yorke. Our lazy-eyed antihero "came out of that whole period just thinking, I don't want to get involved directly, it's poison. I'll just shout my mouth off from the sidelines."

It's a lot harder for me to lambast Yorke than it is for our humble editor, Pico (see his review of The Eraser, which ranked lower than horror flick The Descent), which is probably the reason why he asked me to write this piece. Basically, Yorke is all talk. Does his own concession to this effect really make the accusation any less biting? He would tell us that he is a musician first and foremost and that the music contains elements of paranoid fantasy, etc. etc. It is not a model for political revolution, etc. etc. etc.

Has Yorke forgotten the reason why he and everyone before him started writing politically relevant songs in the first place? It was all about the dream; it is all about the dream, that one day your opinions will leave the fairytale stage of rock 'n' roll and gain acceptance or support in the mainstream of political thought; that you might be able to influence the course of politics in your country or even the world. Of course, it's a pipedream for most and the political discourse contained within these rock songs is usually dismissed as 'youthful angst'. But when the call comes, when the people have spoken, when they have determined that "this is really happening", you step in and you do your best to divert the coming Ice Age. You don't write political songs to sell records or to 'get things off your chest'. You write political songs to achieve some purpose; to change minds. Clearly Yorke acknowledges the effect his words have on the public, however, he is unwilling to offer anymore guidance than that. Rather than become the figurehead of a movement (he is probably sure will fail), he sits on the sidelines and talks shit.

Okay, I get it, Yorke doesn't want to wind up like 1980's John Lennon; confused, angry, frustrated, and somewhat powerless. But as bad as things may have been for 1980's John Lennon, he was never afraid to not only "talk politics" but to "throw stones" as well.

I'm sorry Thom. And I'm sorry to you, the reader, for my excessive usage of Radiohead-related puns.

Perhaps the bigger story here is that after SPIN.com posted a report of Thom's blog entry, it was REMOVED! By who, I don't know, but has the mainstream finally tamed Thommy?