Street Spirit (Fade Out)

"Street Spirit (Fade Out)"
Single by Radiohead
from the album The Bends
Released 22 January 1996 (1996-01-22)
Format
Recorded 1994
Genre Alternative rock
Length 4:13
Label Parlophone
Songwriter(s) Radiohead
Producer(s) John Leckie
Radiohead singles chronology
"Just"
(1995)		 "Street Spirit (Fade Out)"
(1996)		 "Paranoid Android"
(1997)
Music video
"Street Spirit (Fade Out)" on YouTube

"Street Spirit (Fade Out)" is a song by the English alternative rock band Radiohead. It is the final track on their second album, The Bends, released in 1995. It was released as a single and reached number five on the UK Singles Chart, Radiohead's highest chart position up to that point. It has been covered by several artists. In 2008, the song was featured on Radiohead: The Best Of.

Background

Songwriter Thom Yorke said "Street Spirit" was inspired by the American band R.E.M. and the 1991 novel The Famished Road by Ben Okri.[1] The song is in A minor with an arpeggiated guitar part. It is one of the first Radiohead songs to feature keyboards prominently, which became a staple of their later music.[2] It had the working title "Three-Headed Street Spirit".[3]

Music video

The black-and-white music video for "Street Spirit" was filmed during two nights in a desert outside Los Angeles. It premiered in February 1996 and was directed by Jonathan Glazer, who said: "That was definitely a turning point in my own work. I knew when I finished that, because they found their own voices as an artist, at that point, I felt like I got close to whatever mine was, and I felt confident that I could do things that emoted, that had some kind of poetic as well as prosaic value. That for me was a key moment."[4] Glazer later directed the video for Radiohead's single "Karma Police" (1997).

Talk Show Host

One of the song's B-sides, "Talk Show Host", was featured in the soundtrack of the 1996 film Romeo + Juliet,[5] and has since become a fan favorite.

Track listing

CD 1

  1. "Street Spirit (Fade Out)" – 4:13
  2. "Talk Show Host" – 4:41
  3. "Bishop's Robes" – 3:25

CD 2

  1. "Street Spirit (Fade Out)" – 4:13
  2. "Banana Co." – 2:20
  3. "Molasses" – 2:27

Personnel

Weekly positions

Chart (1996) Peak
position
Ireland (IRMA)[6] 25
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[7] 26
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[8] 5

Covers

  • The Darkness have covered "Street Spirit" live. Their version is delivered in a faster tempo, with significantly heavier guitar, and with lead singer Justin Hawkins' falsetto. In 2012, the Darkness included their cover of the song on their third album, Hot Cakes.[9]
  • Stream of Passion have recorded this song on their 2009 album The Flame Within. It is sung by Marcela Bovio and adds a burst of heavy guitar playing.[10]
  • Romanian Alternative Rock band Luna Amară covers the song as a bonus track on their album Loc Lipsă. It is played at a slow pace with a background trumpet performed by Mihai Iordache.[11]
  • Joe Budden had this song sampled on the track "Never Again" off of the 2009 album Escape Route.[12]
  • The Eden House cover it on their 2010 EP The Looking Glass.[13]
  • Korea covered it on their 2010 album The Delirium Suite.[14]
  • Sasha Lazard and Shawna Stone cover this song on their collaboration album Siren.[15]
  • Courtnee Papastathis covers this song on her album Embodied: Live in Seattle.[16]
  • Enter the Haggis covered this song in Bethlehem, PA in November 2012. They later released it as part of their Valentine's Day EP which released on 14 February 2014.[17]
  • Peter Gabriel recorded a cover with minimal instrumentation for his Scratch My Back project in 2010.[18] Gabriel recorded the song with the expectation that Radiohead would return the compliment by recording a version of his 1982 song "Wallflower" for his And I'll Scratch Yours album as part of a song exchange.[19] Gabriel alleges that Radiohead ceased communication with him and backed out of the project after being sent the recording.[20] Gabriel has admitted that his version of the song is "pretty extreme" and he's "heard since that the band didn't like what I did with it". Radiohead's record company declined to comment.[21]
  • 2Cellos have included an instrumental version of the song in their Celloverse album in 2015.[22]

References

  1. ↑ Thom Yorke "Chipping Away - Brian Draper talks to Thom Yorke", Third Way Magazine', October 11, 2004.
  2. ↑ Osborn, Brad (2016). Everything in its Right Place: Analyzing Radiohead. Oxford University Press.
  3. ↑
  4. ↑ Anthony Kaufman (2001-06-12). "Shooting the "Beast"; Jonathan Glazer Tames the Gangster Genre". indieWIRE. Archived from the original on 13 December 2007. Retrieved 2008-01-08.
  5. ↑
  6. ↑ "placement". irishcharts.ie. Archived from the original on 18 October 2013. Note: Radiohead must be searched manually.
  7. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Radiohead – Steet Spirit (Fade Out)" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  8. ↑ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  9. ↑ Nelson, Michael."The Darkness - 'Street Spirit' (Radiohead Cover)", Stereogum.com, New York, 9 August 2012. Retrieved on 25 January 2015.
  10. ↑ "Allmusic Discography: The Flame Within", Retrieved on 25 January 2015.
  11. ↑ Admin."Luna Amara - "Loc Lipsa" (2006)", No. 3, 26 December 2008. Retrieved on 25 January 2015.
  12. ↑ Rennie, Andrew."Joe Budden", NOW, 18 November 2009. Retrieved on 25 January 2015.
  13. ↑ "Eden House, The - The Looking Glass DVD at Discogs", Discogs.com, Portland, OR. Retrieved on 25 January 2015.
  14. ↑ "The Delirium Suite by Korea", Rateyourmusic.com, Shumba, Egypt. Retrieved on 25 January 2015.
  15. ↑ "Sasha Lazard", Sashalazard.com. Retrieved on 25 January 2015.
  16. ↑ "Embodied: Live in Seattle | Courtnee Fallon Rex", Bandcamp.com, Sea Ranch, CA. Retrieved on 25 January 2015.
  17. ↑ "Valentine's Day EP - Enter The Haggis", Enterthehaggis.com, Toronto, Canada. Retrieved on 25 January 2015.
  18. ↑ "Peter Gabriel - Scratch My Back (CD, Album) at Discogs", Discogs.com, Portland, OR. Retrieved on 25 January 2015.
  19. ↑ Bassett, Jordan (12 February 2010). "Peter Gabriel: 'Thom Yorke won't respond to my cover of 'Street Spirit'". NME. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
  20. ↑ Young, Alex."Radiohead’s Thom Yorke “disses” Peter Gabriel, preps “something” in April", Consequenceofsound.net, Chicago, IL, 15 February 2010. Retrieved on 25 January 2015.
  21. ↑ Rogers, Jude (2 June 2010). "Peter Gabriel: 'It doesn't have anything to do with witchcraft!'". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
  22. ↑ Celloverse, official track list, /www.2cellos.com. Retrieved on 27 January 2015.
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