Radiohead's most complex song

Radiohead are no strangers to odd time signatures, modes and unusual song structure, but there is one song in their back catalogue that pushed the bands musicality to the limit, Sail To The Moon 🌙

SOURCES:

And, an extra special thanks goes to Douglas Lind, Vidad Flowers, Ivan Pang, Waylon Fairbanks, Jon Dye, Austin Russell, Christopher Ryan, Toot & Paul Peijzel, the channel’s Patreon saints! 😇

[UpliftedCapybara]

Hail to the Thief is definitely the dark horse of their discography. It’s surrounded by more well-known albums and often gets overlooked for it.

[therealshmorg]

As soon as I saw the title, I knew it was definitely going to be Sail to the Moon. It's such a beautiful song, and one of their best in my opinion

[JoeEdelmann]

Really appreciate the kind words David! Your channel is a fantastic resource and I love this video (and the song ☺️).

[radiolocke]

I never anything weird about this song and used to listen to it all the time back when the album was new.
It’s funny that this can sound so “normal” but have the sheet music look so strange, while Pyramid Song sounds so weird but ends up just being in 4/4.

[Labyrinth]

I’m not surprised it’s from Hail to the Thief.

The album is a masterpiece.

[stenyxx]

That wasn't the original recording?? That is absurdly accurate

[MaquiladoraIII]

This song is an absolute pleasure, from Thom's slightly diffuse vocals, to the crisp guitar from Jonny, to that mournful, almost funereal piano throughout.

[AKAtAGG]

I have no idea, as a musician for almost 40 years, how you can be *this* creative and still come up with an almost perfect sounding song. It's insane to me.

[elbowfanpeteg]

I can't believe that was a cover of the song. Massive respect to the band who did it. I'm a massive fan of Radiohead and I love this song and the album as a whole and I didn't even realise it was a cover until you said at the end. Really impressive

[dustmighte]

The way this song ends is one of my favorite musical moments, just in general

[voidxleech]

this is the first time i’ve seen a band sponsor a youtube video, that’s pretty cool.

[computrhead]

I didn’t expect that this song was that complex. I’m intrigued.

[chupacavraz]

It's such a breath of fresh air to see someone cover a song from Hail to the Thief. It's always OK Computer, Kid A, In Rainbows. HTTT is my favorite of their albums and this is probably my favorite song of theirs. So thanks for covering it

[alexneill]

I've played this and many other Radiohead songs dozens of times on acoustic guitar, and I have to admit that I never consciously think about time signatures, I just play the song exactly as it sounds. Discovering how complex it is is actually very eye-opening!

[tubinonyou]

It took me half the video to realize this was a cover. That says a lot considering how intimately I know the song.

[danpro]

This was strangely one of the first Radiohead songs that made me fall in love with them. I was on a bus trip through Costa Rica with headphones on and the song plus the scenery drifting by was almost an out of body experience.

[Lotschi]

After you covered this song I completely fell in love with this!

[dashdrum-again]

Thanks for recommending Tape Runs Out. I'm enjoying their new album, and starting on the back catalog.

[dimitrifyodorovickaramazov]

This is one of their best. The fact that it was about Noah, Thom’s son, and the arc sailing to the Moon. The message he sends his son, magnificent poetry.

[colosalblack]

I always heard this as a beautiful piano ballad. I had no idea it was this complex. Truly a testament to Radioheads musicianship.