Old Composer REACTS to Radiohead Pyramid Song | Composer Reaction & Breakdown 

The strings were arranged by Johnny Greenwood who's one of the guitarists in the band. He's actually done some composing for film scores, including three Paul Thomas Anderson films.

Amnesiac is criminally underrated and deserves multiple listens.

I've always loved the way Phil's drumming sounds like it trips up into the song. Almost as if Phil can't quite find the timing either!

Radiohead has been like a fine wine for me. I had heard bits and pieces of their music years ago, but hadn't fully "gotten it" yet. Now, suddenly, everything I hear by them seems to grab me by the throat emotionally. Especially this song. I was already along for the ride at the very beginning, but by the time the drums and the strings came in, I was flat-out weeping. I also found myself wondering how I could have not understood Radiohead before.

Try “Reckoner,” “Nude” or “Weird Fishes” from the In Rainbows album

I'll never forget the first time I heard this song, still the same experience 4 billion times after.

This song is utterly unique....I still can't absorb it fully. It's crazy.

This particular song is made to cause a visceral emotional response... it's like magic. It is a masterpiece

You'll fully decompose before you cover every amazing Radiohead song. :P

You can't over-goober when a song reminds you of your late dad. 🖤

I’ve never seen Radiohead, but I knew Colin Greenwood, their bass player, and shared drummers with Colin’s band when I was at Cambridge in 1988-91. When our bands both played at a college ball, I remember watching Colin’s band. The other members of Radiohead weren’t at Cambridge and he was in a 3 piece with our drummer Andy, and a fantastic blues guitarist who I knew pretty well. This was Will Mazzarella (sp?) who was awesome. I’m a lead guitarist and I spent the whole time looking at Will, who sang and played like a virtuoso. I was sure if anyone I knew was going to “make it”, it’d be him. He was gorgeous, tall, charismatic, and cool as fuck. But there was a tune they did where Colin did this astonishing, really out-there bass line. Maybe a bit like the bass on the “dinosaurs roamed the earth” track. Super hook, but not what you were expecting either. Dan, my bass player, and I were slack jawed watching this. What the fuck, that isn’t a scale and I’ve no idea what he was playing. We approached him afterwards and I said, what… how do you … what was that… type of thing. Colin kind of said something, like, “I don’t know, you just find the note that is right. Play that one and then find the next note that wants to go there.” (Like that was going to help much!) Same with this pyramid song with lyrics about a dream and the piano chords from heaven and that strange paused rhythm, lilting emphasis that is so addictive and gently pulled back to the loop as you surface every few bars, but there aren’t even any bars as you drift through the pleasure of surrendering to death. And the drum beat that isn’t a beat, that restarts your own heart and brings you back to the surface of the river, with the black-eyed angel singing to me. Left university, didn’t keep in touch with Colin or Andy. (Pre social media so it wasn’t easy). For a couple of years since I’d come across them, Radiohead were this band I loved and I had completely eaten up “the bends” and “ok pc” and had no idea Colin was in the band. Then I bumped into Andy at a Neil Young gig. “Isn’t Colin doing well”, he goes… Only problem is, I am going to need about 20 of their songs to be on the playlist for my funeral. The next person’s going to have to wait a while before they get cremated.

My father passed away when I was fairly young and I discovered this song not long afterwards. My throat still closes up every time I hear it, Such a hauntingly beautiful track.

Watching this guy’s face as he listens to music is enchanting.

Please paranoid Android, it is a real journey of a track. Was never keen on pyramid song back in the day, but I have a new appreciation for it now

Radiohead lead singer Thom Yorke wrote this & he based Pyramid Song on a song by the Jazz player Charles Mingus called "Freedom." This track originally contained handclaps, but the group didn't like how they came out and erased them. Radiohead performed this at some of their shows before releasing it on the album. It was known as "Egyptian Song." Their albums Kid A and Amnesiac were recorded at the same time, but Amnesiac was released a few weeks later. In 2003, this was used in a public service announcement for forest fire prevention in the US. Radiohead never allows their music to be used for commercial purposes, but Thom Yorke thought this was a good cause so he let them use it for $1. This was written by Thom Yorke after a visit to an exhibition of Egyptian art, during a two-week sojourn in Copenhagen in 1999. He told MTV: "That song literally took five minutes to write, but yet it came from all these mad places. [It's] something I never thought I could actually get across in a song and lyrically. [But I] managed it and that was really, really tough. [Physicist] Stephen Hawking talks about the theory that time is another force. It's [a] fourth dimension and [he talks about] the idea that time is completely cyclical, it's always doing this [spins finger]. It's a factor, like gravity. It's something that I found in Buddhism as well. That's what Pyramid Song' is about, the fact that everything is going in circles." According to Colin Greenwood, it was the image of "people being ferried across the river of death" that most affected York. This is reflected in the song's many references to Dante's imaginary journey through Hell, Purgatory and Heaven, Divine Comedy. These include the black-eyed angels, a moon full of stars and jumping into the river. Yorke hammered out this track's chord progression on a baby grand piano that he had bought, in rejection of Radiohead's guitar-led past. The siren - like sonic undertow was produced by Jonny Greenwood's ondes Martenot, an unusual Theremin-like device invented in 1928.

17 years ago I heard this album alone in a hot tub in the middle of the night by the ocean and it’s been my favorite of all time ever since.

Amnesiac and Hail to the Thief are the most underrated Radiohead albums. Two of my favourites.

And now after the Tool rabbithole, welcome to he Radiohead rabbitehole.

The opening chords of this song never, ever fail to reduce me to tears. The most beautiful song ever written.

Radiohead is very good at creating an atmospheric vibe that instantly brings me back to very specific points in time. Like hitting a mark anywhere on a dartboard that’s attached to not just memories but feelings. Some random & fleeting and some much deeper & emotional. Glad to see it’s a shared experience.

Jonny Greenwood is as much a genius as Thom. His guitar tones and parts are perfect almost throughout his entire career, and his string arrangements are just gorgeous. He scored the movie “There Will Be Blood,” which is one of the greatest movie soundtracks of all time imo

I think you should consider doing "Everything in its right place." One of the most insane left turns in rock history.

This song makes me cry. It touches something very deep inside of me. The music is soul-crushing and then add the lyrics and I feel like I'm grieving. It breaks my heart for some reason.

It was cool to see how much you appreciated Jonny Greenwood's string arrangements. It's pretty rare for a band to have a member who writes their orchestral parts, and amazing ones at that.

Jonny Greenwood (the guitar player) does string arrangements for Radiohead. He is not the main songwriter in the band (vocalist Thom Yorke is) but he has written a lot of film scores, notably for The Phantom Thread which was nominated for Oscars. Also check out Daydreeming by Radiohead.

Hey there, classically trained musician and thus music theorist here! A few years ago I sat down and figured out this song, should you approach the tune with time signatures as opposed to just assuming syncopation and ignoring the weird time signature stuff going on. If you really sit down and just vocally say "1, 2, 3, 4" in time with the song, it just doesn't work out. It sounds like it does at first, but the further you get the further it falls apart. Granted, this was a few years ago and I lost my notes, but I'll try and sum up my findings on another listen with the information I recall. Following the piano at the start is really difficult, but once the time doubles and the drums kick in, it's a little more clear to dissect exactly what's happening. Basically, it's constantly changing time signatures throughout the song, and they're all whacky. After the pickup fill by the drums (about 6:48 in this vid), leading onto the downbeat of 1, we can count (more clearly now that it's in "double time" or rather, the /8 is more tangible)... 1 bar of 5/8 2 bars of 8/8 1 bar of 11/8 ~vocals come in here on 1~ As you might notice, 5+8+8+11=32, which would be divisible by 4 (in 8 measures) in the end, but simply counting in 4 doesn't properly land you on downbeats and 1's in every measure, so this would be a more accurate representation of that's happening. If you try and vocally count 8 bars of 4/8 during this time you will end up on 1 where I wrote the vocals come in, but it'll go a lot less smoothly than counting the time signatures I wrote above. It tends to maintain this structure for most of the rest of the song, though there are some oddballs in there if I recall correctly. The beginning is much more complex, but you have to kind of keep that tempo and groove in your mind of when the drums come in, when the time is doubled and we have that kind of jazzy swing going on, and keep counting it in /8 even though we don't have the drums to hold that beat for us. This way, you can go back and hear at the beginning that it's something like... 1 bar of 5/8 1 bar of 8/8 1 bar of 3/8 1 bar of 5/8 1 bar of 11/8 1 bar of 5/8 ~ooh's start here~ 2 bars of 8/8 1 bar of 11/8 ~lyrics come in here on 1~ Obviously this is all very subjective and you can interpret this song and it's time signatures/etc however you'd like, but I was able to count with the above pattern throughout most of it. Like I said, at one point I had this entire song written out to every last measure, though I don't have the time to do that in a single RU-vid comment. I hope this was interesting for someone out there to read, if you are another musician and disagree with my interpretation that's perfectly fine, like I said it can be very subjective from person to person. Let me know if you have any questions, or if this made perfect sense to you! Thanks if you made it this far~

When I read that title I actually thought the guy had a reaction and then breakdown after listening to the song. As a Radiohead fan, I was nodding my head thinking this outcome is plausible. 😂

Radiohead has been my constant for the past 23 years. Glad you're enjoying! Pyramid Song always makes me emotional. When I finally saw them live a few years ago I cried like a baby when they played it.

Ok, I have to make another comment now that I've finished the video. What a wonderful reaction to a truly beautiful and mysterious song. For this son to bring emotions and a connection to your dad is so nice. Love it. I'm still here. 🙏

it's great to see you becoming ONE OF US. Radiohead is endlessly interesting in their composition. 'Where I End and You Begin' is still my vote, Geebz!

Johnny Greenwood (the guitarist) is a genius, he has done the score for there will be blood and got an oscar nominee for Phantom Thread.. he has arranged everything with is band radiohead ;)

I'm still here. Some Björk would be amazing to see if it's not already been done. Pagan Poetry perhaps

Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead has scored a few movies (There Will Be Blood) and is an orchestral composer, you can definitely hear that :)

Reckoner & Videotape from In Rainbows are a must as well

Please do more Radiohead songs,All their songs are profusely unique and different from each other. RADIOHEAD IS A GENRE!!!

I was playing Cyberpunk and they have a mission called "pyramid song" where surprise...You dive to an underwater town and explore. First RH reference I've found in video games.

Reeeeeckoneeeeer next please :)

Glad you enjoyed this one! This is my favourite Radiohead song, it’s just glorious!

I was blessed enough to go to an acoustic set by Thom and Jonny in Italy a few years ago which was a fundraiser for the earthquake hit area in central Italy. When they played "Pyramid Song", I swear that I thought "if I die later tonight, at least I've witnessed this". It was astounding, if much more stripped down than this version.

Lead guitarist multi-instrumentalist 2nd in charge (a kind of loose but not altogether wrong description) Johnny Greenwood is a Grammy and Oscar nominated modern classical music Movie Music composer (best known for being film making genius Paul Thomas Anderson's go-to composer and his staggering work on "There Will Be Blood" - though Thom has followed his lead scoring the remake to horror classic "Suspiria" you haven't made it to any of their work from the 2010's on albums 8 and 9 to hear it manifesting even more gloriously into the DNA of the band). Johnny is now amongst the top tier of sought out film composers particularly in the Indie film world, his score on the recently released Jane Campion Netflix movie "The Power of the Dog" a dark powerful movie, is amazing. And when you get to any songs - "Burn the Witch" - from "A Moon Shaped Pool" their 2016 most recent full band Radiohead album#9, I just cannot wait to hear what you think and it is so cool to trace his development as this song was done in 2000, and his first film work was around 5 years later. You will begin to get the band complexion from a writing and production standpoint as you journey goes on - for a very long time I hope as I just love it to death - with Thom doing minimum 90% of the true song core writing and Johnny sort of acting as the arranger to put those tunes into the next level, then the other 3 band mates do their thing (and each has super significant and somewhat loosely clear cut roles themselves) until it makes its way into career spanning (minus first album an as sound engineer on 2nd with John Leckie of all people producing on "The Bends" before taking over on "Ok Computer" for a hell of a debut) Nigel Godrich (and Thom alongside him), himself a man with a pretty epic resume outside of being RH's "6th" member that spans a lot of music I suppose you'd place as in line with what you'd expect from Radiohead's producer, such as Beck (there is a guy for you to dive into - holy cow) and one of his 3 true master works, "Sea Change" to some other pretty different genres. Ha, there is no CHANCE anyone read all of that - so let it be my own joyful cathartic response :) .

Yes... still here! Radiohead & TOOL are kings! My all time favs!

I’m still here. Don’t burn yourself out, Geebz!

How do you know your a musician? You try and lock in the time signature when listening to pyramid song. This song travels from ear to brain to stomach and finally the heart. Timeless.

I think, of all the bands I've heard, Radiohead have the largest number that just resonate with my at a deep emotional level. Sometimes I find them too much to listen to because of that. I saw them live once, and the concert was so strange and beautiful - the crowd were so reverential, and the band humble and grateful for the reception they got, it was more like attending some kind of spiritual service. Amazing band.

One of my all time favorite Radiohead songs. So beautifully haunting. And it is in 4/4. The strings were recorded in the studio. The lead guitarist, Jonny Greenwood, composed the string section.

I'm still here. That was excellent. Pyramid Song is a portable transcendental experience. Do Daydreaming next!

I'm so happy to hear you speak so highly of this song and to see you react so positively to Radiohead in general. When I talk about radiohead's music to friends and family, they generally don't get it. I've always thought that Radiohead was doing more musically and technically than just about any other modern band.

I'm a decent musician, have listened to this song hundreds of times over the years, and *still* struggle to find the downbeat until the drums come in.

I listed this song on the last radiohead reaction so I feel heard for the first time in my life lol. Please continue what you do Geebz.

Check out Street Spirits (Fade Out) by Radiohaed. The Band says that the song wrote itself and they only play it as their last song live because they tear up in tears after they play it.

This track, codex and videotape are my Radiohead holy trinity. I go around in circles trying to decide which one takes the crown.

This is definitely one of my all-time favorites of theirs. That being said I think people failed to give enough credit to Nigel Goodrich and his producing ability, between his work with Radiohead and Beck, He's made some of the most spine tingling music I've ever heard that resonates like no other.

As well as being syncopated, it is also swung, so it feels even more floaty

There hasn’t been a time since I very first heard this song that it didn’t give me goosebumps. It’s possibly the only song that always makes my breath catch in my throat every single time I hear it.

Great reaction. Radiohead are one of the greatest bands of the last 30 years. Possibly, the greatest. You really need to dive further into their stuff. They have so many masterfully created songs. The compositions, musicianship, vocals, writing and lyrics all being master class. These guys are simply brilliant. Strings definitely make the most beautiful instruments by the way. Piano, guitar, violin, cello, etc. So many truly emotional instruments. I wonder if that's where the term heartstrings comes from. I'm still here by the way. 😁

I don't know if you know much about Thom Yorke's solo records, Twist and Dawn Chorus from his latest album are both mesmerising songs

There's two songs that made Radiohead click with me after many years of kind of hating them. One is a dark, disturbing nightmare hellscape called Climbing Up the Walls. The other is a beautiful, melancholic, almost poppy number called Let Down, which made me finally realize that Thom is a goddamn amazing vocalist. I think you'd have an interesting time with both of those. They're one of my top favorite bands of all time now, btw, rubbing up against others like The Cure, another group of absolute wizards who can do amazing things with simplicity.

I'm still here. I feel this way about much of there work, and find myself often alone in my connection to Radiohead and their efforts. Genius. THey ALWAYS take me somewhere, and I don't see how others don't "see"/ feel it... Good to hear you say it...

I love seeing people react to radiohead. I feel like I can tell people how amazing they are but they'll never understand until they listen and feel radiohead.

Soooo stoked you LOVED this song as much as I do. 😁🎶✌️🥳

One of my top 30 radiohead songs.

This is one of my top5 Radiohead songs... Goosebumps every time I listen to it...

I'm still here 🙂 Thank you for sharing your experience with us

Woohoo! You finally did Pyramid Song! Now you gotta check out Weird Fishes!

My friend, this is exactly why listening to Radiohead (and I have been for nearly 30 years) equates to me as an almost religious experience

One of their most beautiful and phenomenal songs! Seeing your first reaction was really touching. There is NOTHING in the world like hearing a Radiohead song like this for the first time. It was a treat to see your first time. There are MANY more like this. Thank you!!

The relationship you had with your father sounds very special, music has the power to heal. Thanks for the video.

New drinking game: Take a shot every time he says "I'm not a vocal coach, but..." in a video xD Loved this reaction nevertheless. I discovered you a couple weeks ago and it feels like I haven't even made a dent in watching all your content. You really provide for your fanbase and I think that's awesome of you.

Feeling it right there with you budd. This song holds so much emotional weight for me. Thank Om for mirror neurons. You gave me a connection tonight. Blessings. Peace. Love.

I'm still here. I'm totally jealous you get to discover Radiohead for the first time. As someone who is very familiar with them, the next best thing is watching others do through that process. Other thing I would say, is that Thom's writing is some of the most beautiful you'll read or hear. I know it's not the main point of this channel, but I hope on a personal note you get to connect also with his words. They are equal to the calibre of his voice, and the musicianship of the whole band. Enjoy!

This instantly became my favourite Radiohead song the moment I first heard it, absolutely beautiful. Thank you for the deconstruction, great video.

Radiohead’s one of those artists that 90% of their work will give you something unique to think about, outside their album work as well, but anything from Kid A and A Moon Shaped Pool should really hit you in specific with your type of musical background

How did I miss this song? I love radiohead, and I've never heard this song.......my god its beautiful.

His face fully sums up this record and it’s composition, it’s complex and it’s clever 🤔 no other band on this planet could have composed this, with the string arrangement, sonic layers, and syncopation 😬 long live Radiohead

Surprised you've not listened Radioheads albums... goosebumps most the way on most albums for me...that's why they are just great...great comments about your dad.

Oh man, I’m still here. This one is big for me. This album hit right before my stepdad passed away. This song is so special to me in a similar way that it hit you. The haunting piano. The dancing string countermelodies. The subtle but strange swing beat that’s all held together by a strong and smooth bass. I used to play this as loud as I could and lose myself in it when the emotions were too much for me to take. “All my friends were there with me. All my pasts and futures. And we all went to heaven in a little rowboat. There was nothing to fear, nothing to doubt.”

Listen to a Radiohead album itself is a transcendent experience like Kid A, OK Computer and In Rainbow etc.

"Simplicity is the finest form of sophistication" Leonardo Da Vinci

I've been waiting for a reaction to my favourite song for many years and with your knowledge of music you've made it so much better. Thank you :D

borrowed from a commentor on the original video, but thought you'd find this interesting; and kinda surprised it hasn't been mentioned yet. "each bar of this song has two dotted quavers, a crotchet, and two more dotted quavers. if you think about this in 16ths per bar, this equated to the notes equaling 3, 3, 4, 3, 3. a pyramid has four triangles and one square that make up the shape. this rhythm LITERALLY makes this song a pyramid"

Next i recommend, "Videotape" "Codex" or "Reckoner" by Radiohead

This has been my favorite band for a few years, and it's beautiful to listen to someone explain to me how the music is making me feel what I feel. Subbed! Pura vida!

Just discovered your RU-vid page and I am enjoying it. Good job!

I love when the drums come in and what it does do the rest of the track.

I just found ur channel u explain music in a way I never understood before its awesome... I always loved radio head but don't know about music thank for these videos

Still there. No wonder it brings out memorys from the dead. It is about exactly that. Best breakdown ever, in every word sense.

Those opening chords give me goosebumps every time

Just found and started watching you yesterday. Huge radiohead fan and this song is hugely important to me and its a joy to see that it had you break the idea of your channel and just sort of become a pure listener again. While us radiohead fans will suggest you songs til your blue in the face, I wanted to thank you for doing what you do. Seriously, music is powerful as im sure you dont have to be told, but when certain pieces mean so much it is only satisfying to see another human taking a look, especially when they're an expert. Thanks man.

I'm getting goosebumps watching you talking about getting goosebumps from the strings. You clearly know your stuff:)

FINALLY! I've been waiting, literally, since day one of your reactions for this one! As always, fantastic work!

Just got here, and I'm already loving your stuff. I'll be here!

I think you'd really really love Radiohead's song reworked with Hans Zimmer for blue planet 2; bloom. They use a technique called tidal orchestra to portray waves crashing on a shore in constant motion, there's a great vox interview and breakdown with the meeting of the minds.

I'm just laughing. I'm glad you take in Radiohead as many of us do. Great reaction as always.

Oh man, I've heard this song hundreds of times but you nearly damn brought me to tears with your descriptions and reactions. What a wonderful joy experiencing an artist respecting the pure heart and soul of another artist

I'm still here. New watcher, lifelong hardcore Radiohead fan. RU-vid suggested you and I'm glad I clicked. Came for the Radiohead but I'll stay for the rest too. Thanks for helping non-musician music-lovers like me explain why we love what we love so much.

Still here!🤙 I been wanting to get into Radiohead for a while, but never quite had anything pop up that caught my ear from just their "hits". This made me want to dive a little deeper.

"I'm still here". So glad you covered this song, and it looks like Radiohead is getting some pretty consistently emotional and impressed reactions from you. Hope to see more, like others have suggested: 'Nude', 'Videotape', 'All I Need'. Or for more of Thom's voice as a beautiful instrument, 'Bloom' Live from Electric Lady Studios. Really appreciate the personal stories/anecdotes like in this episode. It makes for a unique and intimate experience.

I’m still here...and ready for more! 🤘🏼Thank you for your wonderful reactions to the 3 Radiohead songs I just watched - with BONUS points for using cans to do it: the layers and nuances are bestest when they fully envelop you & take you on that Radiohead journey!! Can’t easily suggest other songs for reactions - there are far too, too many to narrow down. Welcome to the Radiohead club: we are a passionate group!! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

I love how you break the songs down. As very poor novice musician who is surrounded by very good musicians, my son, brother in law and wife, I appreciate music. I wish I had spent more time practicing music than shooting a basketball because now as an older man I cannot play ball like I did, but I can play music and could have been much better. In our family band I have been demoted from rhythm guitar to drums and now to bass. I guess next I’ll be on the kazoo, lol. I still play the others on certain songs. My son is a musical savant. He has never had a lesson and can play anything and is very accomplished. However, enjoy music so much. I love listening, hearing people as yourself break it down with some theory, analyzing the lyrics, getting the back story and attempting to play it. This is a powerful song that fills all of your senses, yet it is simple enough that I can play without pulling my hair out and when you can play a song you feel it even more. Radiohead is one of my favorites and Johnny Greenwood is a genius. He composed the sound track for “There will be blood” and many other movies. Thom Yorker’s voice is hypnotic. Thank you for having this channel.

You gotta do "There, There" off Hail to the Thief!