A Boy Named Sue by Johnny Cash

“A Boy Named Sue” live performance

You know Shel Silverstein? He’s the guy who wrote those beloved children’s books full of poems and drawings. His most famous books “A Light In The Attic,” “Where the Sidewalk Ends” and “The Giving Tree” continue to be some of the most popular children books.

Before Silverstein broke it big writing poems for children, he was a songwriter and his most famous song was “A Boy Named Sue.” Silverstein was inspired to write this song by a close friend named Jean who was often taunted for his feminine sounding name. During an informal gathering, Silverstein performed “A Boy Named Sue,” and Johnny Cash’s wife, June Carter happened to be there and she thought it was a great song. Johnny Cash had recently released At Folsom Prison, a live album recorded at a prison. Critics consider this album one of the most important albums in popular music and is one of Cash’s best-selling albums. As a follow up to this album, Cash went to another prison to do a live album and this time June Carter brought along, “A Boy Named Sue.”

June suggested that Johnny bring the sheet of paper that had “A Boy Named Sue” onto to stage with him at San Quentin Prison. Cash brought it with him and decided to perform it for the first time ever, never having rehearsed the song. Cash can be clearly seen looking down at the paper throughout the performance but if you were just listening to the song you would have never guessed that this was one of the first time he was encountering this song.

“A Boy Named Sue,” tells the story of a boy who struggles through life because of the fact that his father gave him a girl's name. Sue isn’t angry that his father left him, he’s just frustrated about the name his father gave him. Because of this name, Sue became a mean and hard. He vows search for his dad and “kill that man who gave that awful name.”

One day, Sue walks into a bar and recognizes his dad. They get into a fight and it builds to a standstill with Sue and his father pointing their guns at each other. Sue’s father explains:

Son, this world is rough
And if a man's gonna make it, he's gotta be tough
And I knew I wouldn't be there to help ya along.
So I give ya that name and I said goodbye
I knew you'd have to get tough or die
And it's the name that helped to make you strong.

Sue gets all chocked up and he embraces his dad. He sees the point of view that his dad was coming from and feels grateful for what his dad did. Sue lovingly thinks about his dad and promises, “And if I ever have a son, I think I'm gonna name him. . . . Bill or George! Anything damn name but Sue! I still hate that name!”

We think for a second that maybe because of Sue’s reconciliation with his dad, that he would name his son Sue as well, but then the bitter feelings of having a name like Sue come rumbling back.

As silly as this song is, it deals with some powerful themes about fathers and sons. The lack of anger at the dad walking out in an interesting commentary on the time and society’s double standard in which many seems to forgive fathers for leaving their family and not mothers It’s hard to know if Sue’s life is as hard as it is because of the name or because his father wasn’t around.

Sue’s dad provides Sue with what he needed to hear his whole life, that his dad cared about him and did something to help Sue. This intention and thought is enough for Sue to forgive him. Son’s often misunderstand what father’s try to do for them and many people including myself come to points in our lives when we realize that our dads were not there to make our lives more difficult but to help us grow. However, like Sue, just because our dads did something to try to help us, doesn’t mean we want to repeat their actions.

Silverstein’s humorous story in the hands of Cash becomes one of the funniest songs that I know. Cash’s dark baritone and earnest delivery expresses the pain and frustration of a boy who feels cursed by his father. The vocal delivery by Cash is a stylized half-singing which like rapping adds a melodic phrase to the words while exaggerating the natural rhythm in the lyrics. At certain points in the song at the ends of phrase, Cash slows balancing the pace of the lyrics and emphasizing certain lyrics. The way that the melody is shaped and the words are paced is a reflection of Cash’s musical instincts and story-telling ability from years of performing and composing.

As Silverstein grew older and became a father himself he decided to tell the story of Sue from the father’s perspective. He wrote a sequel to “A Boy Named Sue” called “The Father of a Boy Named Sue.”

So according to the father, he hated the kid, named him Sue in spite. When the bar fight happened Sue was cross-dressing and started the fight hitting him with his purse. The father admits that made up the stuff about naming him Sue to toughen him up. The father tells how they now live together and Sue takes care of him “better than a daughter can do.” And um . . . the punch-line at the end of this song, well, let’s just um . . . I can’t really . . . eh. . . eww . . . just listen to it yourself.

Trapped by Jimmy Cliff/Bruce Springsteen

"Trapped" Jimmy Cliff live performance
“Trapped” Bruce Springsteen 2008 live performance
"Trapped" Bruce Springsteen Born In the U.S. A. tour live performance

You never know what you are going to get at a Bruce Springsteen concert. With over two hundred songs in their repertoire, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band have a remarkable amount of songs that they can perform. In the earlier days, Springsteen would throw out random songs to his band to play on stage that they often had never rehearsed just for the fun of it.

At age 59, an age when most people decided to play it safe, Springsteen has started taking request. Since the beginning of the Working On A Dream tour, Springsteen has taken time during each show to collect signs from the audience that have requests on them. Some of these signs request old Springsteen favorites while other signs ask Springsteen and the E Street Band to play songs that they have never played before. These performances have a garage band-like energy as the band rocks out to songs from “Wild Thing” by the Troggs to the Clash’s “London Calling.”


During last Tuesday night’s performance at the United Center, Springsteen again took requests. He played “Candy’s Room” responding to birthday wish on a sign and rocked out to “Mony, Mony.”

Any doubt that I had whether Springsteen and the E Street Band was actually playing some of these request for the first time ever were blown away as I watched Springsteen try to figure out what key to play the song. He asked Steve Van Zandt, one of the guitarists in the E Street Band to find the starting chord from a snarled tone that Springsteen kept repeating. Once they settled on the key, he warned that the song may “have a weird part in the middle.” If you ask anyone who saw the E Street Band on Tuesday, they will tell you the performance of “Mony, Mony” was awesome and that the rocking bridge was one of the highlights of the evening.

Out of all the songs that request that Springsteen played there was only one that I didn’t know. Now listening to songs that you don’t know at a Springsteen concert in the United Center can be challenging. It is be difficult to know what Bruce is singing with the speed that he moves through lyrics in some songs and the mediocre acoustics of the United Center. Because of this, I highly recommend that if someone is not familiar with Springsteen’s music and is going to one of his concerts, that they prep themselves and get to know a couple of his more regularly performed songs to enhance the experiences.

So when Springsteen pulled out a sign from his stack that he had collected that had the word “trapped” on it and the crowd went berserk, I was baffled.

Honestly, when I heard the chorus with the word “trapped” being repeated, I thought it was lame. Bruce usually has more subtle and creative ways to describe the feeling of entrapment. I thought the rise through the chorus was powerful and the sudden drop into the verses was effective but overall, the song did not feel significant.

When I woke up Thursday, two days after the concert, one line from “Trapped” kept rolling around in my head: “And it seemed the game I played made you strong.” On the way out the door to go to work, I hesitated and went to my computer to see if by some chance I had a recording of “Trapped.” I did have a live performance of it that I never got around to listening to. After a quick internet search, I found out to my surprise that Bruce did not compose the song and that it was originally written and performed Jimmy Cliff. I downloaded the song from itunes, loaded it on my ipod and ran out to my car.

For Springsteen, a man that rarely performs music that he does not compose, it seemed odd that “Trapped” which he featured in his Born In U.S.A. tour would play such a prominent role in his catalog. Well, after listening to Jimmy Cliff’s recording of the song it made perfect sense.

Jimmy Cliff is a reggae artists and one of most revered Jamaican musicians. He is best known for his cover of “I Can See Clearly Now.” Jimmy Cliff’s composed and recorded “Trapped” for his 1989 album, Images.

Listening to Cliff’s performance the optimism of the song seems to shine through the song. The relaxed reggae beat and Cliff’s gentle soulful voice expresses a sense of calm reflection. Springsteen’s voice on the other hand seems to dwell on the darkness of the situation and feelings of regret which permeate his interpretation.

Cliff is able to express similar feelings to Springsteen but with fewer words. Maybe that is what attracting Springsteen to this song. With all that is going on in the world, sometimes Springsteen’s metaphors are not as powerful as a man singing the word “trapped.”

It’s funny how it took listening to the original recording of “Trapped” to fall in love with Springsteen’s recording. Sometimes people you meet simply make sense when you get to know their parents. In a similar way sometimes it takes getting to know the original recording of a song to find meaning in a different version.

Part of me wishes I had known “Trapped” before I heard Springsteen perform it live, but I’m glad I came to love this song as I did. As great as it is to fall in love at first sight, it’s even more rewarding to change how we feel about things in our lives, giving us confidence in our lives that no matter what how we feel in life we are never trapped in our emotions.

The Wrestler by Bruce Springsteen

“The Wrestler” music video
“The Wrestler” live performance clip

The stage lights suddenly shut off and I heard a wash of synthesized strings, slowly moving through a four-chords pattern drifting over the audience. Standing up on the third level of the United Center, I looked out over the audience and felt a sense of relaxation fill the arena.

The synthesized strings surrounded me like a summer breeze, comforting in its warmth but fleeting in its presence. Slowly a spot light slowly opened up to reveal Bruce Springsteen standing behind a microphone, head down in contemplation. He rose his head up slowly looking out at the audience with as if he was looking into a mirror deep into his own eyes. He approached the microphone and slowly counted, “1, 2, 3, 4.”

Springsteen’s voice cut through the wash of sound like reality pushing its way into a dream. As he counted to four, a single acoustic guitar entered strumming solemnly bringing us into ourselves, changing our glances from the heavens above to the earth below.

Up until this point in the concert, Springsteen was throwing a party. The most optimistic of the five times I’ve seen Springsteen live, this concert was a celebration of hope, optimism and the American dream. Springsteen and The E Street Band started the concert with “Badlands,” a tribute to resilience. He worked his way through songs that spanned his entire career, it was after “The Promised Land,” one of my favorite Springsteen songs that the lights shut off, and the introduction to “The Wrestler” began.

Springsteen has spent his career composing and performing songs about people who have difficult lives. However, there is something different about “The Wrestler.” It’s not a song like “Promised Land” which describes a person in bad situation but is resilient in facing challenges. Describing “The Wrestler” as a song about a man who is depressed isn’t really what this song is about either.

Springsteen wrote “The Wrestler,” for the critically acclaimed film of the same title, which was touted as the “resurrection of Mickey Rourke.” The Wrestler is as good as everyone says it is. I have only seen a couple films in which the actors become their characters so convincingly and so completely. The plot of the film follows Randy “The Ram” Robinson, a washed out professional wrestler. The character of Randy has fallen on hard times and because of injuries has to stop wrestling. Randy feels drawn to go back to wrestling as his only human connection. It’s a place where he feels alive in a world that seems to keep pushing him.

Springsteen utilizes questions to expresses the feeling of the narrator. Like Bob Dylan’s use of questions in “Blowing in the Wind,” Springsteen asks us if we’ve seen things that most of us can only imagine. This draws us deeper within ourselves as our own imagination takes us into the depths of our hearts.

The opening line “have you ever seen a one trick pony in a field so happy and free?” takes the phrase “one trick pony” which is used to describe a person who can only do one thing well and combines it with the literal meaning of a pony. Within this line, we understand the sadness but also the feeling of bliss that animals get when they are free.

The chorus enforces the response in the verses stating that if you’ve seen that, then we have seen the narrator. Each line “then you’ve seen me” is followed by a declaration. He is a man who stands at every door, always leaves with less and can make you smile, but only through his pain. When he wonders, “can you ask for anything more?” he asking us if there is anything more in life that is important. In a way, it is these consistencies that bring him solace with is true in all of our lives.

He takes full responsibility his life in the bridge. He pushes away what he the comforts, the people, in his life, which he accepts That is what is so poignant about these statements. His words touches us as we all struggle to accept ourselves throughout our lives.

Faith is something that we have in things that are beyond understanding, inspired by intangibles that touch our souls. The wrestler’s faith in his body which reflects a darkness.

Springsteen invites us to questions the choices in our lives, the constants that bring us comfort and the faith that brings us hope. To call “The Wrestler” depressing would oversimplify what is meaningful about this song. This song is is indescribably, spiritual and personal.

As Springsteen sang through “The Wrestler,” last night and reached the climax of the bridge, I was overcome by a sense of belief. And for a moment, my soul was overcome by truth, faith, hope and love.

Tell me, friend can you ask for anything more?

The Best Day by Taylor Swift

"The Best Day" by Taylor Swift music video

Dear Mom,

Occasionally at school, one of my students will get upset because something his or her mom did. It’s usually small stuff, like forgetting to sign a permission slip or forgetting to pack a snack. Other times it’s bigger stuff like not waking up in the morning to help their child get ready for school.

Talking to kids who have been let down by their moms is one of the hardest things I do. I don’t get how a mom can’t take 2 minutes to put some crackers in zip-lock back and. I don’t understand how a mom can’t sacrifice a little sleep to make sure her son has a good start to his day. Most of all, I have a hard time emphasizing with a students because I have no idea what it feels like to be let down by my mom. However, I do know exactly how Taylor Swift feels in her song “The Best Day.”

“The Best Day” is the second to last song on her album Fearless. It’s a beautiful ode to her mother and ever time I hear this song I think about you.

While Taylor Swift thinks about tractor rides, I remember being in first grade and helping you cook chicken legs. You’d get out my stool so I could reach the stove and you’d let me season the chicken and stir it around. Later at dinner, you would proceed to rave about how great the chicken was that I cooked. I remember feeling so proud.

Back then things were simpler and Swift reflects this feeling.

I don’t know why all the trees change in the fall.
But I know you’re not scared of anything at all,
Don’t know if Snow White’s house is near or far away
But I know I had the best day with you today.

There is so much that we don’t understand when we are children but it doesn’t seem so bad if we know that our mom isn’t scared of anything. All of the things that kids wonder about just don’t matter as much if they have a good day because what makes a “best day” for a kid is simply feeling loved.

Now that I’m older, I know why the all the trees change in the fall. Nothing lasts forever. Things withers and things die and like the harshness of winter, life is difficult. However, I have the strength though to push through and I have the faith that in there is always a light after the darkness.

My strength and faith don’t come from the fact that that nothing scares you. I know that’s not true. I know that you are on my side and that I’m never alone which gives me the strength to face anything. I know that you believe in me and that faith inspires my faith in the world, the people in the life and most of all, myself.

There was one day in elementary when you asked Ed and me if we wanted to go for a walk. Often my mom and I took walks around the neighborhood so I said sure; Ed didn’t feel like going for a walk because of a book he was into. As we walked out of the house, you asked me with a mischievous smile asked me if I wanted to go to the mall. My brother and I loved going to mall back then, so I jumped at the your invitation. At the mall we looked around at my favorite shops and it was great time.

When we got home it was obvious to my brother that we had been to the mall because of our shopping bags and annoyed Ed asked, “You went to the mall?!? I thought you were going for a walk,” and you responded “we did go for a walk, we took a walk at the mall” as we both giggled to each other.

I had the best day with you that day.

Happy Mother’s day

love you,

-Kings

Don't Look Back In Anger by Oasis

"Don't Look Back in Anger" music video
"Don't Look Back in Anger" live performance

Reasons that people give for hating Oasis’ music:

- Liam and Noel Gallagher have abrasive personalities
- They rip-off the Beatles
- Gallagher brothers act like spoiled brats
- The band members have massive egos
- The music is lame
- They haven’t done anything interesting since their first album
- They want people to die of AIDs

These are all direct quotes I found online. Now people do have a way of saying things in the seemingly anonymous world of the internet that are exaggerated, however these comments do reflect a general disdain for the Oasis' that many people express.

People really don't like Noel and Liam Gallagher, the brothers who are at the core of the band. These brothers have made controversial comments and consistently act in ways that many people find distasteful and irritating. I doubt that the Gallagher brothers actually want people to die of AIDs but I wouldn't be surprised if they made a comment that could be interpreted with that meaning.

Most of the criticism I have read of Oasis is inconsequential to the music that they produce. I’m fine supporting an artist who may be a jerk. I’m interested in the music. There are times when it’s difficult to separate the art from the artists but unless the artist is a serial rapist I don’t really care all that much about artist's personality.

It is a great feeling to support and artist who you believe is doing good things with their lives and works hard to use their celebrity to make the world a better place. I see this more as the exception than the norm. When a musician does great things the music endears itself to me because I know there is something positive behind it. When there is something negative behind a song, it does change the context of the song but at the same time it doesn’t change the song itself.

At the same time I was discovering the Beatles in high school Oasis released their break out album (What’s The Story) Morning Glory? and their first single “Wonderwall” catapulted Oasis up the charts. I bought the CD single for “Wonderwall” but wasn’t too interesting in buying the album until I heard an MTV news report (MTV used to have news reports ten minutes before every hour) discussing the controversy around Oasis' new single. The song they cited was “Don’t Look Back In Anger” and the controversy had to do with its similarity to John Lennon’s “Imagine.” After hearing "Don't Look Back in Anger," I was hooked and bought Oasis' album immediately.

The MTV news report compared the piano introduction of “Don’t Look Back in Anger” to the piano line in “Imagine.” They are similar in the fact that they are both eighth note patterns punctuated every two measures by an upward line. Noel Gallagher commented on this similarity saying, "In the case of Don't Look Back in Anger - I mean, the opening piano riff's Imagine. 50% of it's put in there to wind people up, and the other 50% is saying 'look, this is how songs like Don't Look Back In Anger come about - because they're inspired by songs like Imagine'. And no matter what people might think, there will be some 13 year old kid out there who'll read an interview and think 'Imagine? I've never heard that song' and he might go and buy the album, you know what I mean?"

Oasis came out in a time when rap music was freely sampling from all types of music so it seems strange that anyone would be annoyed by this similarity, but people looked down on Oasis' nods to the Beatles. It was because Noel would say stuff like, “50% of it’s put in there to wind people up.” He’s saying he put it there just to annoy and aggravate people which is a horrible reason to make a musical choice. Even though Noel makes a good point that his song might bring attention to “Imagine," his comment is self-defeated because of the way he responds to the criticism.

Is this enough reason to bring on the Oasis hate? Not really, so they’re a little cocky. That doesn't change the fact that “Don’t Look Back in Anger” is still a great pop song. The beginning of the verses starts with a energized high note that draws in the listener and the reflective chorus expresses a sense of sentimentality, regret and hope. Gallagher admits he has doing drugs when writing the song and has no idea what it means, but the song itself brings a powerful sense of expression despite it’s author’s intentions.

The piano line is taken from John Lennon’s “Imagine.” The structure of the song is a basic rock form that the Beatles helped define and the guitar solo is reminiscent of solos by George Harrison featured in Beatles' songs. However, Oasis is not copying the Beatles. The melody has dynamic contours and the even though the lyrics quote John Lennon (“I’m going to start a revolution form my bed”), they have different lilt than Beatles' songs do.

Is Oasis' voice similar to the Beatles’ voice? Yes, but is it their voice? No.

Having listened to almost all of their recorded work, I can say that the more that you listen to Oasis less they sound like Beatles.

I can’t really say if Oasis “deserves” the scorn that they get, but I really love “Don’t Look Back in Anger” and if you don’t, that’s fine. The “hate” is silly. It’s a waste life to focus on how much we dislike things. If you spend time focusing on things that annoy you then you will spend most of your life being annoyed, however if you spend your time with things that you will love then you will have a positive and joyful life.

If you think fondly of Oasis, revel in it, if not move on with your life focus on things that bring you happiness and don’t look back in anger.

I Want to Hold Your Hand by T.V. Carpio (from Across The Universe

"I Want To Hold Your Hand" film clip (from Across The Universe)
"I Want to Hold Your Hand" Beatles recording

One of the worst films I’ve ever seen is Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. This disaster of a film starred the Bee Gees, Peter Frampton and a host of other music and film stars including Steve Martin, Aerosmith and George Burns. The filmmakers attempted to link together Beatles' songs to create a musical and the results were both musically and dramatically disastrous (well except maybe for the Earth, Wind & Fire and Aerosmith performances).

I’m not trying to be sarcastic or funny, this film is just painful.

So when I heard that there was a film being made that was going to link Beatles songs into a musical, I was dreading the result. Even though the director was Julie Taymor one of my favorite artist who directing The Lion King on Broadway and Titus, one of my favorite Shakespeare films I was still nervous about the venture.

The Beatles catalogue is amazing. They recorded music that represents every single genre of music of the 1960s and beyond including Motown, Rock, Folk, and Punk. Many songs the Beatles recorded told great stories from the lonely life of "Eleanor Rigby" to the silly romp of "Maxwell’s Silver Hammer." However there are no linear stories across songs even in the concept album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, which is one reason that the previous attempt to make the Beatles’ songs a musical failed so completely.

Then I saw the trailer for Across The Universe and I was floored. I saw the film a couple months and it didn’t disappoint. The visuals are original, sometimes shocking but always sublime. The music sounded fresh and the film as a whole worked.

For most of the songs Julie Taymor brought out what musically characteristic about the songs. Taymor with “Let It Be” brought out it’s spiritual overtones and set it as a gospel song. This approach was effective because it brought out the meaning of the songs and put them in a musical context that came within the song itself. However one song was shockingly different.

Roger Ebert in his review of Across the Universe observed: “When Prudence sings "I Want To Hold Your Hand," for example, I realized how wrong I was to ever think that was a happy song. It's not happy if it's a hand you are never, never, never going to hold. The love that dare not express its name turns in sadness to song.”

“I Want to Hold Your Hand” introduced America to the Beatles. It was the Beatles first number one hit in America and started what is known as the British Invasion, a period of time when British rock groups dominated the American pop charts. ”

The songs mix of emotions from the exuberant opening to the reflective bridge combined with innovative chord changes revolutionized and defined the pop song for generations to come. The songs message of wanting to hold a girl’s hand because of the happiness it brings is both innocent and genuine. The energy of the instruments and the infectious melody add to the song resulting in one of the most loved songs in popular music.

In Across The Universe, the character of Prudence played by T.V. Carpio sings “I Want to Hold Your Hand” as a love to song to a fellow female cheerleader. This lesbian fantasy (“the love that dare not express its name") because of the slower tempo and mournful performance by Carpio comes across as a longing that will never be fulfilled.

The slower tempo brings attention to the lyrics. In the original Beatles version, they go by so quickly in the verse that many people who have listened to this song for years still don’t know them. It becomes clear in Carpio’s performance that she first thinks that the other girl will understand but then proceeds to plead “oh please, you’ll let me hold your hand.”

When the Beatles sing “I can’t hide,” we think of a teenager who is so in love with someone that they can’t help but tell everyone about their excitement. When Carpio sings this line she is expressing how much she yearns for this connection. The sad truth is that because of the time and place she has to hide what she feels she cannot.

At the end of both songs, the feeling of joy and bliss from the idea of holding someone’s hands shines through. The context of this feeling coming from a teenage simplicity with the Beatles and a tortured yearning of Carpio’s performance are both part of the magic of “I Want to Hold Your Hand.”

It’s pretty amazing that without changing the lyrics, melody or chords Julie Taymor could bring a new light to “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” It’s as much a credit to her artistry as well as the song itself that this was possible.

What the Beatles understood about popular music is that it needs to be specific emotionally but open enough to apply to different people’s lives. That is the beauty of “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” We all know how magical it is to hold someone’s hand and want this feeling in our own individual and equally valid way: from my excitement when my wife comes home to work to a teenage girl dreaming of a day when she no longer has to hide the love she feels in her heart.

Karma Police by Radiohead

“Karma Police” music video
“Karma Police” live performance

The Beatles recorded some weird stuff.

There’s “Revolution 9” made up of sound clips, tape loops and reverse sound effects and the Indian-inspired “Tomorrow Never Knows.” Both of these songs represent the musical experimentation that was prevalent throughout the Beatles’ career.

The musical legacy of the Beatles is as much in songs like “Yesterday” as it is in their more progressive work. The Beatles continue to influences musicians combining musical ideas from the Beatles with their unique perspectives. While most bands draw their inspiration from songs like “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” Radiohead’s music grew out of the less popular and more progressive songs like Happiness is a Warm Gun.

Radiohead is not a mainstream band in the sense that you hear their music played on most radio stations. However, they have an enormous fan base and receive great admiration from critics and other musicians who recognize the high level of musical invention in their music. Many of their songs feature complex meters, adventurous harmonies and song forms that are both inventive and original. Radiohead continue the Beatles musical experimentation for future generations pushing popular music to new creative heights.

For many people, including myself it was “Karma Police” that introduced me to Radiohead. In 1997, I was a freshmen in high school and my daily dose of music videos from and MTV provided entertainment but didn’t musically challenge my ears. So when I saw the music video for “Karma Police” for the first time I was stunned.

First off the music video plays like a David Lynch film. The video starts with someone getting in a car and chasing a person down a road. The lead singer Thom Yorke is in the back seat, barely mouthing the words of the music as the car continues to chase this man. After a while, the man falls down, turns around and like a scared child the car backs up revealing a trail of gas from the car's broken gas tank. The man lights the trail of gas on fire, the car speeds backwards and we are in the car as it is engulfed in flames.

Yeah, that made for some messed up dreams for about a week.

The song itself is similar in form to later Beatles’ songs like “Hey Jude." In “Hey Jude” there are two distinct sections, the “Hey Jude” part and the “Na, Na, Na, nanana Na” section. There is some transition between these sections but it’s pretty abrupt and unlike a verse chorus form the music from the first section never comes back. "Karma Police" does the same thing building up slowly to the second section providing a sense of arrival and release.

“Karma Police” is a dark song. The bare piano, the plodding guitar and Thom Yorke’s vocal performance all create a feeling of despair. This song feels like walking into an abandoned apartment building and it’s within this feeling that Yorke sings with devilishly sarcastic tone accusing others of crimes that are never revealed.

The first section of the song is a call to the “karma police” to arrest a man and a girl for messing with the narrator. His descriptive of the man who “buzzes like a fridge” and the girl with “her Hitler hairdo” are slightly demented, a little funny and depict our narrator as being psychologically unbalanced.

“This is what you get, when you mess with us” builds into the second section, which features one line that is repeated: “and for a minute there, I lost myself.” This man realizes how caught up he was in revenge that he wasn’t acting like himself.

I don’t really like dark music, but there is revelatory about “Karma Police” and much of Radiohead's music. Through the bleakness there is true human emotion that wallows in the depths but often reaches grand heights. The music takes us somewhere and even though you may not want to go to the place the music leads, being part of the journey is amazing experience.

Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy, The Vampire Slayer in this interview talked about how he never really liked “reset” television. Shows that end exactly in the same place where they start every week. A lot of music is similar where nothing changes within the narrator from the beginning to the end of the song. Often the same sections in the beginning of the song return and are exactly same. Sometimes this is great but other times our soul thirsts for more.

Like the Beatles' more experimental work, Radiohead does not always create the most accessible music, but I encourage you to give this band a try. If you dive into Radiohead and let them take you away, you may hear sounds that aren't pretty and you may hear words that are disturbing but I promise you that it will be an unforgettable journey and you will be amazed at the places that you will go.