There There

Infobox Single
Name = There There


Cover size =
Caption =
Artist = Radiohead
Album = Hail to the Thief
A-side =
B-side = "Paperbag Writer" "Where Bluebirds Fly"
Released = 26 May 2003
Format = CD, 12"
Recorded =
Genre = Alternative rock, art rock
Length = 5:23
Label = Parlophone
Writer =
Producer = Nigel Godrich, Radiohead
Certification =
Last single = "Knives Out"
(2001)
This single = "There There"
(2003)
Next single = "Go to Sleep"
(2003)
Misc = Extra tracklisting
Album = Hail to the Thief
Type = studio
prev_track = "The Gloaming" ^{(Softly Open our Mouths in the Cold.)}
prev_no = 8
this_track = "There There" ^{(The Boney King of Nowhere.)}
track_no = 9
next_track = "I Will" ^{(No Man's Land)}
next_no = 10

"There There" is a song by the English rock band Radiohead, featured on their album "Hail to the Thief" (2003) and released prior to the album as its first single. "There There" reached #4 in the UK Singles Chart and #1 in Canada. It also received moderate airplay from US modern rock stations and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance, making it the band's most successful single on the radio since "Optimistic" in 2000. On "Hail to the Thief" the song, like others, is given a subtitle: "The Boney King of Nowhere".

Musical style

Like many Radiohead songs of the 2000s, "There There" is described by the band as heavily indebted to the band Can, whose songs Radiohead have also covered. Co-produced by Radiohead and Nigel Godrich, the track apparently made lead singer Thom Yorke well up with tears when he heard it in its completed, mixed and mastered state.Fact|date=June 2008 In the final studio recording found on "Hail to the Thief" and released as a single, the song begins with a synthetic rhythm. However, live performances of "There There" always begin with all members of Radiohead (except Yorke and bassist Colin Greenwood) on drums. The song has frequently been a concert opener since 2002, when it made its official debut as part of a tour of Portugal and Spain. A rough version of the song was premiered live during an Internet webcast by Radiohead in early February of 2000; a demo of a more complete, but still early arrangement of the song appeared as a b-side in 2003 on the single "2 + 2 = 5". The song has also been performed solo on acoustic guitar by Thom Yorke on several occasions, beginning at Neil Young's Bridge School Benefit in October 2002. This single has been released with the Copy Control protection system in some regions.

Themes and video

The alternate title for the song as listed on the track listing for the album is "The Boney King of Nowhere". This is apparently in reference to an episode of the British children's television show "Bagpuss", of which Yorke and his young son are professed fans. A "Bagpuss"-inspired music video was filmed for "There there." Directed by Chris Hopewell, the music video shows singer Thom Yorke enter a forest and find many creatures involved in human-like activities, like a pair of cats getting married, two squirrels sitting by a fireplace and smoking pipes, etc. He goes from one scene to another, each one increasing in luminosity. Finally, he arrives at a clearing where a golden jacket hangs from a tree. He puts the jacket on and also a pair of golden shoes hidden inside the tree. Doing so, he awakens the crows, who chase and attack him. The shoes appear to give him extra speed, but become tangled on the ground. When the shoes fall off his feet, they become tree roots, as the rest of his body turns into wood as well. Thom becomes a tree in which the crows rest on the branches. The video was filmed at one-quarter regular speed; it looks jumpy, as if some of the frames are missing. The video received an award for art direction at the 2003 MTV Video Awards.

Track listing

#"There There" - 5:23
#"Paperbag Writer" - 3:58
#"Where Bluebirds Fly" - 4:32

B-sides

The single for "There There" featured two b-sides: "Paperbag Writer" and "Where Bluebirds Fly." "Paperbag Writer" was created mostly by Yorke, with band member Colin Greenwood adding a bassline. "Where Bluebirds Fly," an electronic piece with wordless vocals, was originally heard as the band's entrance music for their 2002 tour. It has received one live performance: in March 2005, Yorke performed it in London at the UK Ether Festival with the Arab Orchestra of Nazareth, soloist Lubna Salame, the London Sinfonietta, and band member Jonny Greenwood playing the ondes martenot.

Release

External links

* [http://www.ateaseweb.com/songs/therethere.php At Ease Web song info entry]
* [http://www.ateaseweb.com/discography/therethere/index.php At Ease Web Discography entry]