

The mayor urges the inspector to climb into it, whereupon he is locked inside as a human sacrifice and the wicker man is set on fire.
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An inspector is greeted by a town mayor and shown a series of unsettling sights, culminating in the unveiling of a wicker man. The story homages the 1973 horror film The Wicker Man and depicts mob rule in a rural community. The video was conceived and finished in 14 days and released on YouTube one week later on. According to the son-in-law of Trumptonshire creator Gordon Murray, the family was not asked permission to use the style and saw it as a "tarnishing of the brand". It uses stop-motion animation in the style of the Trumptonshire trilogy, a series of 1960s English children's television programmes. The "Burn the Witch" music video was directed by Chris Hopewell, who previously directed the animated video for Radiohead's 2003 single " There There". Video Props from the "Burn the Witch" music video on display in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019 Yorke said the lyrics were inspired by the News of the World newspaper publishing the names and addresses of sex offenders in 2000. The lyrics direct the listener to "abandon all reason / avoid all eye contact / do not react / shoot the messengers / burn the witch". The song also features electronic percussion. In the second half, the strings "gradually disintegrate" while the cellos and basses adhere to a conventional chord progression, the higher strings become "deathly" and "horrid".

The Atlantic critic Spencer Kornhaber likened the strings to heavy metal, "chugga-chugga-chugga-ing the entire time". According to Pitchfork, the string section "alternates between sumptuous flourishes and the darkest corners of The Shining's score". "Burn the Witch" was described by The Atlantic as an orchestral pop song and by The Guardian as an art rock song. He was a string player as well so it was one of those things where it felt like he would want me to go and just do this." Music and lyrics And it was a very, very emotional day for me. According to Godrich, "I literally left him on a fucking table in my house and went and recorded. Godrich's father died on the day of the recording. Rather than bowing the strings, the orchestra players used guitar plectrums, creating a percussive effect.

They were performed by the London Contemporary Orchestra and conducted by Hugh Brunt Greenwood had worked with both before on his score for the 2012 film The Master. The strings were recorded at RAK Studios in London. Usually the strings are the icing on top." He said: "We left it unfinished on purpose and left lots of room for the strings and we never do that usually. Recording Īccording to the guitarist Jonny Greenwood, who arranges Radiohead's string sections, "Burn the Witch" was written with strings in mind. and so it will eventually get there, I'm sure." He cited the song " Nude", released in 2007 but written 12 years prior, as an example of a song that took several years to complete.

Īsked in 2013 about "Burn the Witch" and Radiohead's other unreleased songs, Radiohead's producer Nigel Godrich responded: "Everything will surface one day. He briefly played chords from the song in performances in 20, but told the audience that Radiohead would perform it "when we get the orchestra". The singer, Thom Yorke, mentioned the song in a 2005 post on Radiohead's blog and posted lyrics in 2007. The title appears in the Hail to the Thief album artwork. Radiohead worked on "Burn the Witch" during the sessions for their albums Kid A (2000), Hail to the Thief (2003) and In Rainbows (2007). It was one of the bestselling UK vinyl singles of 2016. "Burn the Witch" was named one of the best songs of the year by Rolling Stone, Billboard and the Village Voice, and was nominated for Best Rock Song at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards. Critics interpreted the lyrics and video as a warning against groupthink and authoritarianism. It was accompanied by a stop-motion animated music video that pays homage to the Trumptonshire series of 1960s British children's television programmes and the 1973 horror film The Wicker Man.
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"Burn the Witch" was released as a download on on Radiohead's website, followed by 7-inch single released exclusively in independent record stores. Radiohead first worked on the song during the sessions for their fourth album, Kid A (2000), and developed it for over a decade. It features a string section playing with guitar plectrums, producing a percussive sound. " Burn the Witch" is a song by the English rock band Radiohead, the lead single from their ninth studio album, A Moon Shaped Pool (2016).
