Kudos to Radiohead for releasing “Harry Patch (In memory of)”, a tribute track in honour of the last known British World War I veteran who died on 25th July at the age of 111. And extra kudos to them for donating the proceeds of the downloadable track to the British Legion (go to the Radiohead website to download it for £1).The British have developed a nasty habit of apologising for our heroes rather than giving them the recognition and support that they deserve, so it’s about time we felt proud of ourselves for once. And it’s unusual for a rock group to ‘put themselves out there’ on this. Most popular artists prefer to back f**king pointless third-world charities for the sake of shallow appearances rather than a genuine commitment to a cause. And if you’re elderly and UK-based then you are effectively invisible. So ‘Bravo!’, Thom Yorke, good on you.
NB: Shame about the actual track, though. Radiohead have produced some fantastic music and the lyrics certainly lend themselves to the ‘desolate and bleak’ approach, but I’m pretty sure that the music at Harry’s funeral tomorrow will be much more inspiring…and much less whiny and repetitive. 10/10 for sentiment and effort, but 3/10 for harmony and tunefulness…still, it’s the thought that counts…
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