Even if Radiohead songs are generally sad, there is still a ray of hope in some of them.
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The Bends
- After the overbearing nihilism on "Street Spirit (Fade Out)", a seriously depressing ending on "The Bends", an already upsetting album, the album concludes on the final lines:
OK Computer OK NOTOK
OK Computer
- "Airbag" is another one of those rarely optimistic Radiohead's songs about a man who manages to survive a car accident, leaving him feeling he has a second chance in life:"In an interstellar burst
I am back to save the universe" - "Subterranean Homesick Alien":"I'd tell all my friends but they'd never believe me
They'd think that I'd finally lost it completely
I'd show them the stars and the meaning of life
They'd shove me away...
*pause* But I'd be alright..." - Despite the sad and heartbroken tone of "Let Down", it's also rather uplifting in some ways, especially this line:"One day I am going to grow wings"
- A possibly ironic example, considering how depressing the context is, from "No Surprises":"Such a pretty house, and such a pretty garden..."
- "Lucky", an uplifting track about superheroes on an otherwise bleak album."It's gonna be a glorious day..."
- After a long album about how modern capitalism is killing us, "The Tourist" is a very sweet ending reminding us to slow down and enjoy the world around us.
OK NOTOK
- "Lift" stands out as one of Radiohead's most genuinely uplifting songs ever written, displaying Thom using his indirect, yet powerful songwriting — more famously used for describing anguish and paranoia — to explore hope and recovery in the most genuine, anthemic way they can.
Kid A Mnesia
Kid A
- The first ever live performance of "Treefingers", in memory of Scott Johnson (their drum technician, killed during a stage collapse.)
- "Motion Picture Soundtrack" is both heartbreaking and uplifting, providing a bright light at the end of a very ominous album:
- The Hidden Track "Untitled". Oh boy, "Untitled"
Amnesiac
- "Pyramid Song". Some lines manage to warm the heart, others manage to break it:"And we all went to heaven in a little row boat
There was nothing to fear and nothing to doubt..."- The music video fits perfectly. A CGI stick figure is the sole survivor of a huge flood that wiped out his city and possibly the world. He suits up and swims to what seems to be his family's house. He sits down and unplugs the oxygen cord, all in the name of rejoining his loved ones, suggested very bluntly at the ending.
- "I Might Be Wrong" is one of Radiohead's most optimistic and uplifting:"Think about the good times and never look back
[...] Have ourselves a good time, it's nothing at all"
Amnesiac singles
- From "Worrywort":"It's such a beautiful day
Go up to the mic
Go on and get some rest"
In Rainbows
- There's just something about the sound of "15 Step" that encapsulates pure warmth and joy.
- The last minute of the music video for "Nude", where we see slow-mo shots of the band members reacting to being pelted with pillow feathers (especially Thom and Phil, who are both laughing). Not only is it sweet to see a video where all the band are featured equally (the last before In Rainbows was "Street Spirit (Fade Out)"), it's also a rare moment of the band being able to break from their 'gloomy, moody, angsty' reputation.
- Faust Arp:"You've got a head full of feathers
—>You got melted to butter" - From "Videotape":"Whatever happens now
You shouldn't be afraid
Because I know
Today has been
The most perfect day
I've ever seen"
The King of Limbs
- "Codex":"No one gets hurt
You've done nothing wrong" - "Give Up the Ghost". All of it.
- "Separator", which is genuinely uplifting (albeit in a darkenly twisted way- this is Radiohead, after all).
- "Staircase" is just a really sweet, nice-sounding song.
A Moon Shaped Pool
- "True Love Waits" may be a sad song overall, but the lyrics will definitely have you feel soaring with happiness at the same time.
Other
- Stopping an entire show to help a fan who had passed out.
- "Atoms for Peace" from Thom Yorke's solo album."Hey... it'll be okay"
- From Thom Yorke's solo work, you have his cover of "All for the Best" by Mark Mulcahy. Mark Mulcahy was a major influence for Thom when he was growing up, and he recorded this cover as part of a project to raise money for Mulcahy after the death of his wife so he that could continue to make music while raising his children.
- To make it even more heartwarming, Thom's younger brother, Andy, provides backing vocals on the song. The two brothers used to listen to Mark Mulcahy's music together as teenagers, and this is the only recording you can find with them both singing together.