Pyramid Song

"Pyramid Song" is a song by the English rock band Radiohead, released as the lead single from their fifth studio album Amnesiac (2001). It reached the top 10 on seven national charts and was ranked one of the best tracks of the decade by Rolling Stone, the NME and Pitchfork.

This article is about the Radiohead song. For the Charice Pempengco song, see Pyramid (song). For the Frank Ocean song, see Pyramids (song).

"Pyramid Song"
Single by Radiohead
from the album Amnesiac
Released16 May 2001
Recorded1999–2000
Length4:51
Label
Songwriter(s)Radiohead
Producer(s)
Radiohead singles chronology
"No Surprises"
(1998)		 "Pyramid Song"
(2001)		 "I Might Be Wrong"
(2001)

Recording

Following the tour for Radiohead's third album, OK Computer (1997), songwriter Thom Yorke bought a piano and wrote "Pyramid Song" and "Everything In Its Right Place" in the same week.[1] For "Everything In Its Right Place", he programmed his playing into a synthesiser, but found that "Pyramid Song" sounded better untreated.[1] He said of the composition: "The chords I'm playing involve lots of black notes. You think you're being really clever playing them but they're really simple."[1] According to journalist Alex Ross, Yorke's piano chords are "laced with suspended tones" and "hang mysteriously in the air, somewhere between serenity and sadness".[2]

Yorke said the song came from being "totally obsessed" with the song "Freedom" by jazz musician Charles Mingus, first released on the album The Complete Town Hall Concert. One version of "Pyramid Song" included similar handclaps, but, according to Yorke, "our claps sounded really naff, so I quickly erased them".[1] The lyrics were inspired by an exhibition of ancient Egyptian underworld art Yorke attended while Radiohead were recording in Copenhagen,[3] and ideas of cyclical time in Buddhism and discussed by Stephen Hawking.[3]

The string section, arranged by Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood, was performed by the Orchestra of St John's in Dorchester Abbey, a 12th-century church about five miles from Radiohead's studio in Oxfordshire.[4] Greenwood instructed the players to swing in the style of jazz musicians.[5]

Drummer Philip Selway said the song "ran counter to what had come before in Radiohead in lots of ways ... The constituent parts are all quite simple, but I think the way that they then blend gives real depth to the song."[6] In a 2001 Rolling Stone interview, guitarist Ed O'Brien said he felt "Pyramid Song" was Radiohead's best work.[4]

Commercial performance

"Pyramid Song" was Radiohead's first single in four years, after none were released from their previous studio album Kid A (2000).[7][4] It peaked at number five on the UK Singles Chart,[8] and NME named it their "single of the week".[9] Outside the UK, it reached number one in Portugal,[10] number two in Canada,[11] number three in Norway,[12] number six in Finland[13] and Italy,[14] and number 10 in Ireland.[15] The song also charted well in Australia,[16] France,[17] and the Netherlands.[18] On the Eurochart Hot 100, "Pyramid Song" debuted and peaked at number 13.[19]

Reception

Guardian critic Alexis Petridis described "Pyramid Song" as "a beautiful, intricately wrought mesh of complex time signatures, keening vocals, elegiac strings and subtly disturbing audio effects".[20] Rolling Stone placed it at number 94 on their list of the "100 Best Songs of the Decade", writing that it "might be [Yorke's] most blissful recorded moment".[21] In October 2011, NME placed the song at number 131 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years", calling it a "ghostly hymn of stunning beauty".[22] Pitchfork named it the 59th best track of the 2000s, describing it as "an absolutely singular track in a catalog with no shortage of standouts".[23] In 2020, the Guardian named it the 4th best Radiohead song, writing: "Lyrics alluding to Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha, piano seemingly exhumed from ancient civilisation and a newly spiritual Yorke, swimming with 'black-eyed angels' and a shoal of exes towards some nebulous afterlife. Torture for some; otherwise, cult-making."[24]

Track listing
UK CD1
  1. "Pyramid Song" – 4:51
  2. "The Amazing Sounds of Orgy" – 3:38
  3. "Trans-Atlantic Drawl" – 3:02
UK CD2
  1. "Pyramid Song" – 4:51
  2. "Fast-Track" – 3:17
  3. "Kinetic" – 4:06
UK 12"
  1. "Pyramid Song" – 4:51
  2. "Fast-Track" – 3:17
  3. "The Amazing Sounds of Orgy" – 3:38
Europe CD
  1. "Pyramid Song" – 4:51
  2. "The Amazing Sounds of Orgy" – 3:38
  3. "Trans-Atlantic Drawl" – 3:02
  4. "Kinetic" – 4:06
Japan CD
  1. "Pyramid Song" – 4:51
  2. "Fast-Track" – 3:19
  3. "The Amazing Sounds of Orgy" – 3:38
  4. "Trans-Atlantic Drawl" – 3:03
  5. "Kinetic" – 4:05

Personnel

Adapted from the Amnesiac liner notes.[25]

Radiohead

Additional musicians

Technical personnel

  • Nigel Godrich – production, engineering
  • Radiohead – production
  • Gerard Navarro – engineering assistance
  • Graeme Stewart – engineering assistance
  • Bob Ludwig – mastering

Artwork

Charts
gollark: Wow, 819 pages of thing.
gollark: These axes make no sense!
gollark: Consequentialism doesn't imply revenge, what even, who designed this.
gollark: Why does it put me on the *deontologist* end of this axis? What?
gollark: Well, I can if I read the code.

References
  1. Kent, Nick (June 2001). "Happy now?". MOJO. Bauer. Archived from the original on 6 February 2012. Retrieved 27 March 2012.
  2. Ross, Alex (21 August 2001). "The Searchers: Radiohead's unquiet revolution". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on 25 May 2007. Retrieved 14 June 2007.
  3. Greenwood, Colin; O'Brien, Ed (25 January 2001). "Interview with Ed & Colin". Ground Zero (Interview). Interviewed by Chris Douridas. KCRW.
  4. "Radiohead Warm Up with Amnesiac". Rolling Stone. 21 May 2001. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  5. "Radiohead Revealed: The Inside Story of the Year's Most Important Album". Melody Maker. 29 March 2000. Archived from the original on 11 July 2007. Retrieved 18 March 2007.
  6. Langham, Matt (4 February 2015). "DiS Meets Radiohead's Philip Selway: "If it means something to some people then that is success"". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved 4 February 2015.
  7. "CD of the week: Radiohead: Amnesiac". the Guardian. 1 June 2001. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  8. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  9. Kessler, Ted. "Radiohead: Pyramid Song: This is our favourite Radiohead single in recent memory..." NME.com. Retrieved 22 April 2007.
  10. "Top National Sellers" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 19 no. 25. 16 June 2001. p. 9. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  11. "Radiohead Chart History (Canadian Digital Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  12. "Norwegiancharts.com – Radiohead – Pyramid Song". VG-lista. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  13. "Radiohead: Pyramid Song" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  14. "Italiancharts.com – Radiohead – Pyramid Song". Top Digital Download. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  15. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Pyramid Song". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  16. "Australian-charts.com – Radiohead – Pyramid Song". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  17. "Lescharts.com – Radiohead – Pyramid Song" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  18. "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 24, 2001" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40 Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  19. "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 19 no. 24. 9 June 2001. p. 9. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
  20. Petridis, Alexis (1 July 2001). "CD of the week: Radiohead: Amnesiac". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  21. "Mary J. Blige, 'Family Affair' - 100 Best Songs of the 2000s". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  22. "NME's 150 Top Tracks of the 2000s". NME. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
  23. "The Top 500 Tracks of the 2000s: 100-51". Pitchfork. 19 August 2009. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
  24. Monroe, Jazz (23 January 2020). "Radiohead's 40 greatest songs – ranked!". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  25. Amnesiac (booklet). Radiohead. Parlophone. 2001.CS1 maint: others (link)
  26. "Austriancharts.at – Radiohead – Pyramid Song" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  27. "Ultratop.be – Radiohead – Pyramid Song" (in Dutch). Ultratip. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  28. "Ultratop.be – Radiohead – Pyramid Song" (in French). Ultratip. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  29. "Offiziellecharts.de – Radiohead – Pyramid Song". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  30. "Dutchcharts.nl – Radiohead – Pyramid Song" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  31. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  32. "Swedishcharts.com – Radiohead – Pyramid Song". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  33. "Swisscharts.com – Radiohead – Pyramid Song". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  34. "The Official UK Singles Chart 2001" (PDF). UKChartsPlus. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
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