@@chinyachinnu The line is “the best you can is good enough”, but it’s meant to be sarcastic and bitter. The song is about the brutality of an unfair capitalist world that devalues people in the name of profits, and justifies that behavior by saying “just try the best you can, that’s good enough”. The joke of the song is that it isn’t good enough, and no amount of optimism or pulling yourself up by your bootstraps will fix this broken system. It needs to be changed before it destroys us all, sending us back to the Stone Age. Hence the song’s apocalyptic mood and imagery and the final line “the dinosaurs roaming the earth”.
@@LongSinceDead1funnily enough I think it works both ways. The whole “You can try the best you can, the best you can is good enough.” is a rejection of the rugged individualistic mindset where “The best anyone will do is all that’s good.” It’s kind of a rejection of the subtle Darwinistic programming that the school system programs you with that makes you eternally feel like a failure because “The big fish eat the little ones” aka “Your peers are constantly outperforming you and you need to sacrifice yourself and your potential to them because they are benefitting society more.”. I think there is a brilliant double meaning here that supersedes the simple pessimistic interpretation Radiohead songs usually get.
It was the year 2000. I used to walk to work with this album playing in my earphones, feeling like I was in the future...…..and now it's 20 years later. Wow!
Listened to this album for the first time in its entirety while riding through the snow covered mountains of Washington state. Somehow the music fit perfectly against the snow, mountains, and pine. It’s a moment I’ll never forget.
Um im not a kid thanks I’m 30. And I know the album art has it on it. I just said that the moment moved me is all. I didn’t say it was profound. No need to be condescending.
I get what you mean. I used to go out for rides all the time w/ my GPS. I knew my GPS would always be able to find me a way home so I just went in any direction, sometimes until the sun went down. First thing I'd always do before going out for a car ride was build a playlist. Music + long car rides in rural parts of town, for me, is like a mini vacation. It's surprising how different things can seem only a few miles away from your hometown.
what transition? It just goes from one song to the other one. I love this album as much as the next guy but come on now; and the same goes for the Idioteque/Morning Bell transition. The only really good transition in this album is EIIRP/Kid A/The National Anthem.
I didnt think Progressive rock and Alternative rock could flow together so smoothly, but once again, Radiohead pulls off the impossible. Those Limeys are fuckin geniuses...now if only they could handle their government as well
Yeah, this is like prog rock 2.0 or something. However, even long before "Kid A" there were very progressive pieces in the realm of alt rock, where I use alt rock as an umbrella term punk and its every descendant. For example, 90's post-hardcore was a very interesting genre, it kept the agression and feel of punk or hardcore punk but it introduced a lot of very sophisticated dissonance. Kinda as if punk musicians went to a jazz school. It was very abrasive. Some songs were very long and progressive as well, like "Luau" or "Sinews" by Drive Like Jehu, "Relectrolux/Electroduh" by Hoover. And don't forget about post-rock, bands like Slint or GY!BE. Very cool shit 😎
When I first discovered "In Limbo" I listened to it every time I went hiking. It was at night in this nature preserve near San Pedro, CA. It was an abandoned missile site, and I was surrounded by creepy trees and plants. I would be the only one out there at 2AM sometimes with my headphones on. It's right next to cliffs and sounds of water crashing. The most beautiful place by day and haunting at night. I would listen to this over and over on repeat and walk forever.....the coolest haunting fantasy memory. Every time I hear this I feel like I'm on that trail.
The last part of Optimistic makes me imagine a person who’s starting to lose it. Drinking and throwing the bottles down while they smash and just having random split second encounters and when the chorus comes to a close and the outro plays the same person comes to a sense of realization. Love this feeling of something come into my mind through song. So glad i looked into Radiohead that’s not just Creep.
Kid A is a work of brilliance. 'Optimistic' gives you the haunting yet supernatural essence you need to embark on the wild sea storm that is 'In Limbo', one of Radiohead's most pivotal moments in their entire timeline (IMHO). You will find yourself stranded in the midst of wavy guitar work and Thom's voice cascading through the soundscape like a discarnate spirit taking a small boat captive in a chaotic ocean. When the storm washes out, Radiohead never returns to that aura ever again.
James, this is like the 20th time I've seen a comment of yours on a video. Do you comment on a lot of Queen videos too? I always see your comments there. Sorry if this comes across a little creepy lol, but it's crazy to me that I've seen the same youtube account comment on a video from a different channel.
I remember that video for Weird Fishes!!! It was so cool. They've been fiercely enforcing copyright since around 2015/2016, it seems. I can't find Punchdrunk Lovesick Singalong anywhere anymore. Guess I just gotta buy the EP.
Agreed. Optimistic genuinely has an empowering and encouraging quality to it when listening - I think especially because it also acknowledges the absurdity of it all at the same time.
When I'm at my strangest in life, something about In Limbo is really nice to listen to. Radiohead does confusion and disorientation better than any other band.
Try some Aphex Twin stuff if you like disorienting and confusing music, he was a huge influence on Thom while writing Kid A (Even stating in an interview “Aphex [Twin] opened up another world that didn’t involve my fucking electric guitar")
In rainbows.... such food for the soul. Been listening to Radiohead since 1994, they've NEVER had a disappointing album, mostly since they were sent been God himself!
Optimistic feels like it's all about someone trying to stay as positive as they possibly can, wishing they could help others but knowing they can barely help themselves. A song about hopeless hope, a delusion they're clinging to with every last breath. In Limbo calls that person out. It says that they both know how it ends, that the character of Optimistic is "Living in a fantasy". It's an adult bursting a child's bubble, their fragile protection of fantasy and imagination. It's a friend who believes themselves to be helping by forcing Optimistic to confront reality. In Limbo is, ultimately, Pessimistic. In the end we choose whether or not to let go of our fantasy and our hope.
thats a cool interpretation! i always figured that the ending of optimistic was highly sarcastic - it has an emotional crescendo right at the end (as my dad calls it, the oohs part) and then it all just leads up to this groovy little end coda that seems very mocking and sarcastic of all the emotions just displayed before.
That’s a great interpretation, and hope I don’t contradict myself here but is this one of those ‘take the artist out of the art for a sec,’ pieces? Because I know Thom was going through some mental challenges around this time, maybe still is, but he doesn’t come off as a pessimist or nihilist. Of course, it’s your interpretation but a spot on one I would say..
two years ago comment squad I think I wrote this from what I felt at 3 in the morning listening to the music, honestly. I love Radiohead's music, but I haven't really gone exploring the "iceberg" so to speak, so what I say about their stuff is what I see from a surface level. Also, you don't necessarily have to believe in a topic to give a commentary on that topic, right? Kid A was a very avant-garde album, and it explored a lot of emotional baggage, so who's to say the band didn't decide to explore it a bit? Regardless, two great songs that are wonderful to listen to together or apart, deeper meaning or no.
Optimistic is definitely a bitterly sarcastic screed against capitalism. Much of Kid A was inspired by the anti-capitalist literature that the band were reading at the time, and those sentiments are most obvious on Optimistic. The chorus is sarcastic. We’re taught that working hard and trying your best will get you far, but in an unjust system, it doesn’t truly work that way. There are people who spend their entire lives working as hard as they can, only to find themselves no better off than when they started. Trapped in a world where everyone is taught to value selfishness, where taking for yourself at the expense of others is an unquestioned good. That’s the landscape Optimistic depicts.
Flies are buzzing round my head Vultures circling the dead Picking up every last crumb The big fish eat the little ones The big fish eat the little ones Not my problem, give me some You can try the best you can You can try the best you can? The best you can is good enough If you try the best you can If you try the best you can The best you can is good enough This one's optimistic This one went to market This one just came out of the swamp This one dropped a payload Fodder for the animals Living on animal farm You can try the best you can You can try the best you can The best you can is good enough If you try the best you can If you try the best you can The best you can is good enough Oh oh oh Oh oh oh Ah ah ah Oh oh oh I'd really like to help you, man I'd really like to help you, man Nervous messed up marionettes Floating around on a prison ship You can try the best you can You can try the best you can The best you can is good enough You can try the best you can You can try the best you can Dinosaurs roaming the Earth Dinosaurs roaming the Earth Dinosaurs roaming the Earth Ah ah ah (oh oh oh) Ah ah ah (oh oh oh) Ah ah ah Oh oh oh
Lundy, Fastnet, Irish Sea I got a message I can’t read Another message I can’t read Being the first in the Irish Sea I got a message I can't read Another message I can't read I'm on your side Nowhere to hide Trapdoors that open I spiral down You're living in a fantasy world You're living in a fantasy world I'm lost at sea Don't bother me I've lost my way I've lost my way You're living in a fantasy world You're living in a fantasy world You're living in a fantasy world This beautiful world I got a message I can’t read, I got a message I can’t read? I got a message I can’t read, I got a message I can’t read Another message I can’t read I got a message I can’t read, I got a message I can’t read I got a message I can’t read, I got a message I can’t read
Radiohead are my favorite band ever. And Optimistic is my favorite all-time song from them. It's so claustrophobic, yet catchy. I always thought that main riff sounded so bluesy, almost like a grunge song. Fun to play on guitar/bass too.
@@k-dogg711 what? every radiohead album except the king of limbs has topped the charts both sides of the atlantic, they sell out stadiums in second. they're a pretty big band, even now, and from ok computer to in rainbows they were probably the biggest band on the planet
dont let it bring you down its only castles burning just find someone whos turning and you will come around you can try the best you can you can try the best you can the best you can is good enough
Bring it on 4:55 Flies are buzzing around my head Vultures circling the dead Picking up every last crumb The big fish eat the little ones The big fish eat the little ones Not my problem, give me some ... You can try the best you can You can try the best you can? The best you can is good enough If you try the best you can If you try the best you can The best you can is good enough This one's optimistic This one went to market This one just came out of the swamp This one dropped a payload Fodder for the animals Living on animal farm You can try the best you can You can try the best you can The best you can is good enough If you try the best you can If you try the best you can The best you can is good enough Oh oh oh Oh oh oh Ah ah ah Oh oh oh I'd really like to help you, man I'd really like to help you, man Nervous messed up marionettes Floating around on a prison ship You can try the best you can You can try the best you can The best you can is good enough You can try the best you can You can try the best you can Dinosaurs roaming the Earth Dinosaurs roaming the Earth Dinosaurs roaming the Earth Ah ah ah (oh oh oh) Ah ah ah (oh oh oh) Ah ah ah Oh oh oh
hey same! I had been listening to them for like a year now, but then last month I listened to the entirety of in rainbows followed by every other album by them, and now I can't stop listening!
i listened to this album in entirety on a vacation in isreal & egypt summer of 2019 on my way back home on the plain letting the trip sync in. since the flight was so long i actual listened to every radio head album from '92-'11.
classic & timeless=] I love the George Orwell reference. In BCN there are statues and squares dedicated to him for his role in the Civil War. I recommend that everyone reads "Homenaje @ Catalunya" for a look at the history that humanists have fought for. It actually tells you where you can still find bullet holes in BCN dating back to the Civil War. It's amazing that Catalunya still celebrates "Independence Day" on September 11th.
Optimistic: sailing on a prison barge, starving to insanity on barren, foggy, ashen waters. In Limbo: being tied to concrete(impacting the water at 5:23) and struggling to escape the depths that turn from grey to brilliant blue the moment you're submerged.
Heard this track a thousand times before, but i just needed it just now like a junkie needs a fix, first notes just felt like ointment quenching the burning sensation originating from my soul.. Music moves you beyond yourself.
A song about one of the first layers of hell, limbo. Described as a place where people who weren’t baptized or that where generally lost in direction went. It’s not a bad place, but it’s really somber, this song really feels like being there.
In limbo Lundy, Fastnet, Irish Sea I got a message I can't read Another message I can't read Being the first in the Irish Sea I got a message I can't read Another message I can't read I'm on your side Nowhere to hide Trapdoors that open I spiral down You're living in a fantasy world You're living in a fantasy world I'm lost at sea Don't bother me I've lost my way I've lost my way You're living in a fantasy world You're living in a fantasy world You're living in a fantasy world This beautiful world I got a message I can't read, I got a message I can't read? I got a message I can't read, I got a message I can't read Another message I can't read I got a message I can't read, I got a message I can't read I got a message I can't read, I got a message I can't read
You end up in a cold room, dark and empty. Closed windows, locked doors. Your eyes have adapted to the small light that seeps into the holes of your curtains. You stand in the middle of the room and you have finally become that "nothing" you had seen in a dream!
Pera Markovic - thank you. I was thinking the same thing about the hypnotic nature of the chorus and how the notes are brought home from where they started but didnt have the musical knowledge to express it 👏😊
In Limbo evokes images of scenes in Alice in Wonderland. Optimistic to me (while the lyrics are colossal), the tune itself reminds me of Status Quo - Pictures of Matchstick Men... and I can't hear anything else when played lol
