Pyramid Song

{{Short description|2001 single by Radiohead}}

{{About|the Radiohead song|the Jake Zyrus song|Pyramid (song)|the Frank Ocean song|Pyramids (song)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2023}}

{{Infobox song

| name = Pyramid Song

| cover = Radiohead pyramidsong.jpg

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = Radiohead

| album = Amnesiac

| released = {{start date|2001|5|16|df=y}}

| studio = Medley Studios, Copenhagen

| venue =

| genre = * Art rock

  • jazz-rock{{Cite web |date=4 June 2001 |title=Radiohead: Amnesiac |url=https://www.avclub.com/radiohead-amnesiac-1798192676 |access-date=21 July 2023 |website=The A.V. Club |language=en}}

| length = 4:51

| label = * Parlophone

| writer = Radiohead

| producer = * Nigel Godrich

  • Radiohead

| prev_title = No Surprises

| prev_year = 1998

| next_title = Knives Out

| next_year = 2001

| misc = {{External music video|{{YouTube|3M_Gg1xAHE4|"Pyramid Song"}}}}

}}

"Pyramid Song" is a song by the English rock band Radiohead, released as the lead single from their fifth studio album, Amnesiac (2001), in May 2001. It features piano, strings, an unusual rhythm, and lyrics inspired by the Egyptian underworld and ideas of cyclical time.

After no singles were released from their previous album, Kid A (2000), "Pyramid Song" was Radiohead's first single since "No Surprises" (1998). It reached the top 10 on seven national charts, and was named one of the best tracks of the decade by Rolling Stone, NME and Pitchfork. The animated music video, depicting an undersea world, won the 2002 NME Carling Award for best music video.

"Pyramid Song" received acclaim, with several critics citing it as among Radiohead's best work. In 2011, Rolling Stone named it the 94th-best song of the decade.

Writing

Following the tour for Radiohead's third album, OK Computer (1997), the songwriter, Thom Yorke, bought a house in Cornwall. He spent his time walking the cliffs and drawing, restricting his musical activity to playing his new grand piano.{{cite web|last=Naokes|first=Tim|date=12 February 2012|title=Splitting atoms with Thom Yorke|url=http://www.dazeddigital.com/music/article/15601/1/splitting-atoms-thom-yorke|access-date=4 January 2019|website=Dazed}} He wrote "Pyramid Song" and "Everything In Its Right Place" in the same week.{{cite web|last=Kent|first=Nick|date=June 2001|title=Happy now?|url=http://www.followmearound.com/presscuttings.php?year=2001&cutting=121|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120206154836/https://www.followmearound.com/presscuttings.php?year=2001&cutting=121|archive-date=6 February 2012|access-date=27 March 2012|website=Mojo|publisher=Bauer}} He said: "The chords I'm playing involve lots of black notes. You think you're being really clever playing them but they're really simple."

"Pyramid Song" was inspired by the song "Freedom" by the jazz musician Charles Mingus, released on the 1962 album The Complete Town Hall Concert. One version of "Pyramid Song" included similar handclaps, but Yorke was unhappy with the sound and erased them. The lyrics were inspired by an exhibition of ancient Egyptian underworld art Yorke attended while Radiohead were recording in Copenhagen,{{cite interview|last=Greenwood|first=Colin|subject-link1=Colin Greenwood|last2=O'Brien|first2=Ed|subject-link2=Ed O'Brien|interviewer=Chris Douridas|title=Interview with Ed & Colin|work=Ground Zero|publisher=KCRW|date=25 January 2001}} and ideas of cyclical time found in Buddhism and discussed by Stephen Hawking.

The guitarist Jonny Greenwood cited "Pyramid Song" as an example of the challenge of arranging Radiohead songs: "How do we not make it worse, how do we make it better than [Thom] just playing it by himself, which is already usually quite great?"{{Cite web |title=All Songs +1: A Conversation With Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/allsongs/2016/08/04/488531531/all-songs-1-a-conversation-with-radioheads-jonny-greenwood |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160805181720/http://www.npr.org/sections/allsongs/2016/08/04/488531531/all-songs-1-a-conversation-with-radioheads-jonny-greenwood |archive-date=5 August 2016 |access-date=4 August 2016 |website=NPR}}

Recording

File:Dorchester_Abbey,_interior_01.jpg, a church in Oxfordshire.]]

Yorke first performed "Pyramid Song", which had the working title of "Nothing to Fear", at the 1999 Tibetan Freedom Concert in Amsterdam.{{cite book |last=Randall |first=Mac |title=Exit Music: The Radiohead Story |date=12 September 2000 |publisher=Delta |isbn=0-385-33393-5}} The basic track was recorded in Copenhagen early in the sessions for Kid A and Amnesiac. Whereas Yorke programmed his piano playing into a synthesiser for "Everything In Its Right Place", he found "Pyramid Song" sounded better untreated.

The drummer, Philip Selway, initially found it difficult to follow the rhythm and felt the recording session was going badly. However, the drum part "fell into place" when he stopped trying to analyse the rhythm and instead responded to the inflections in Yorke's piano and vocals.{{Cite web |last=Reed |first=Ryan |date=6 January 2023 |title=Radiohead's Philip Selway on atmospheric solo LP, Radiohead's future |url=https://www.spin.com/2023/01/radiohead-philip-selway-interview/ |access-date=7 January 2023 |website=Spin |language=en-US}}

The strings were performed by the Orchestra of St John's in Dorchester Abbey, a 12th-century church about five miles from Radiohead's studio in Oxfordshire, where Radiohead also recorded strings for another song, "How to Disappear Completely".{{cite magazine |last=Fricke |first=David |author-link=David Fricke |date=21 May 2001 |title=Radiohead warm up with Amnesiac |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/radiohead-warm-up-with-amnesiac-20010524 |magazine=Rolling Stone |access-date=25 July 2015}} Greenwood instructed the players to swing in the style of jazz musicians.{{cite web |date=29 March 2000 |title=Radiohead Revealed: The Inside Story of the Year's Most Important Album |url=http://www.followmearound.com/presscuttings.php?year=2000&cutting=66 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070711130337/http://www.followmearound.com/presscuttings.php?year=2000&cutting=66 |archive-date=11 July 2007 |access-date=18 March 2007 |website=Melody Maker}} The isolated string part was included on the 2021 reissue Kid A Mnesia.{{cite journal|last=Eccleston|first=Danny|date=December 2021|title=Twin Peaks|journal=Mojo|publisher=Bauer Media Group|volume=337|pages=102}}

Composition

{{Listen

| filename = Radiohead - Pyramid Song (sample).ogg

| title = "Pyramid Song"

| pos = right

| description = "Pyramid Song" features strings and an irregular rhythm.

}}

"Pyramid Song" is an art rock song,{{cite web|date=28 November 2020|title=The 35 Greatest Concerts of the Last 35 Years|url=https://www.spin.com/featured/the-35-greatest-concerts-of-the-last-35-years/|access-date=2 February 2021|website=Spin}} with elements of jazz, classical and krautrock.{{cite web|last=Gallucci|first=Michael|date=20 March 2019|title=The Best Song From Every Radiohead Album|url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/best-radiohead-songs/|access-date=2 February 2021|website=Ultimate Classic Rock}} According to the journalist Alex Ross, Yorke's piano chords are "laced with suspended tones" and "hang mysteriously in the air, somewhere between serenity and sadness".{{cite magazine|last=Ross|first=Alex|author-link=Alex Rossi (journalist)|date=21 August 2001|title=The Searchers: Radiohead's unquiet revolution|magazine=The New Yorker|url=https://www.therestisnoise.com/2004/04/mahler_1.html|url-status=dead|access-date=14 June 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070525102645/http://www.therestisnoise.com/2004/04/mahler_1.html|archive-date=25 May 2007}} It features a string section playing glissando harmonics. The rhythm and time signature have been the subject of debate; Selway interpreted it as swung {{music|time|4|4}}.

In a 2001 Rolling Stone interview, O'Brien said he felt "Pyramid Song" was Radiohead's best work. Selway said it "ran counter to what had come before in Radiohead in lots of ways ... The constituent parts are all quite simple, but I think the way that they then blend gives real depth to the song."{{Cite web |last=Langham |first=Matt |date=4 February 2015 |title=DiS Meets Radiohead's Philip Selway: "If it means something to some people then that is success" |url=http://drownedinsound.com/in_depth/4148661-dis-meets-radioheads-philip-selway--if-it-means-something-to-some-people-then-that-is-success |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150204143203/http://drownedinsound.com/in_depth/4148661-dis-meets-radioheads-philip-selway--if-it-means-something-to-some-people-then-that-is-success |archive-date=4 February 2015 |access-date=4 February 2015 |website=Drowned in Sound |publisher=}}

Music video

The music video for "Pyramid Song" was created by the animation studio Shynola.{{Cite web |last=Schumacher-Rasmussen |first=Eric |date=5 June 2001 |title=Radiohead broadcast US tour dates |url=https://www.mtv.com/news/1444277/radiohead-broadcast-us-tour-dates/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210911124448/https://www.mtv.com/news/1444277/radiohead-broadcast-us-tour-dates/ |archive-date=11 September 2021 |access-date=11 September 2021 |website=MTV News |language=en}} In the video, inspired by a dream Yorke had, a scuba diver explores an undersea world and enters a submerged house.{{Cite journal |last=Sherburne |first=Philip |date=May 2003 |title=Sound and vision: Radiohead reinvents the music video |url=https://citizeninsane.eu/media/usa/etc/06/pt_2003-05_res.htm |journal=RES |publisher=RES Media Group |pages=53 |archive-date=11 September 2021 |access-date=11 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210911124450/https://citizeninsane.eu/media/usa/etc/06/pt_2003-05_res.htm |url-status=dead }} The video won the 2002 NME Carling Award for best music video.{{Cite web |last= |date=25 February 2002 |title=NME Carling awards — all the winners |url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/kylie-minogue-128-1373567 |access-date=12 April 2023 |website=NME |language=en-GB}}

Reception

NME named "Pyramid Song" their "single of the week", describing it as "malevolent, moving, epic".{{cite web |last=Kessler, Ted |date=12 September 2005 |title=Radiohead: 'Pyramid Song': This is our favourite Radiohead single in recent memory... |url=http://www.nme.com/reviews/5064 |access-date=22 April 2007 |website=NME}} The Guardian critic Alexis Petridis described it as "a beautiful, intricately wrought mesh of complex time signatures, keening vocals, elegiac strings and subtly disturbing audio effects".{{Cite web |last=Petridis |first=Alexis |author-link=Alexis Petridis |date=1 July 2001 |title=Relax: it's nothing like Kid A |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2001/jun/01/shopping.artsfeatures1 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181111180513/https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2001/jun/01/shopping.artsfeatures1 |archive-date=11 November 2018 |access-date=11 November 2018 |website=The Guardian}}

In 2011, Rolling Stone named "Pyramid Song" the 94th-best song of the decade, writing that it "might be [Yorke's] most blissful recorded moment".{{Cite magazine |date=2011-06-17 |title=100 best songs of the 2000s |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/100-best-songs-of-the-2000s-153056/radiohead-pyramid-song-160672/ |access-date=2024-08-30 |magazine=Rolling Stone |language=en-US}} Pitchfork named it the 59th-best, describing it as "an absolutely singular track in a catalog with no shortage of standouts".{{cite web |date=19 August 2009 |title=The Top 500 Tracks of the 2000s: 100-51 |url=https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/7693-the-top-500-tracks-of-the-2000s-20-1/?page=8 |access-date=11 August 2012 |website=Pitchfork}} In the same year, NME named it the 131st-best track of the preceding 15 years, calling it a "ghostly hymn of stunning beauty".{{cite web |last=Schiller |first=Rebecca |date=6 October 2011 |title=NME's 150 Top Tracks of the 2000s |url=http://www.nme.com/list/150-best-tracks-of-the-past-15-years/248648/page/2 |access-date=11 August 2012 |website=NME |publisher=}}

In 2020, the Guardian named "Pyramid Song" the fourth-best Radiohead song, writing: "Lyrics alluding to Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha, piano seemingly exhumed from ancient civilisation and a newly spiritual Yorke, swimming with 'black-eyed angels' and a shoal of exes towards some nebulous afterlife. Torture for some; otherwise, cult-making."{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/jan/23/radioheads-40-greatest-songs-ranked|title=Radiohead's 40 greatest songs – ranked!|last=Monroe|first=Jazz|date=23 January 2020|work=The Guardian|access-date=24 January 2020|issn=0261-3077}} In 2025, GQ wrote that "Pyramid Song" was "a very plausible contender for Radiohead's best-ever piece of music".{{Cite web |last=Gogarty |first=Josiah |date=2025-03-20 |title=Every Radiohead album, ranked |url=https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/radiohead-albums-ranked |access-date=2025-03-28 |website=British GQ |language=en-GB}}

Sales

"Pyramid Song" was Radiohead's first single after releasing none from their previous album, Kid A (2000). It reached number five on the UK singles chart, number one in Portugal, number two in Canada, number three in Norway, number six in Finland and Italy and number 10 in Ireland. It also reached the top 25 in Australia, France and the Netherlands. On the Eurochart Hot 100, it reached number 13.

Track listings

{{col-begin}}

{{col-2}}

UK CD1{{cite AV media notes|title=Pyramid Song|others=Radiohead|year=2001|type=UK CD1 liner notes|publisher=Parlophone|id=CDSFHEIT 45102}}

  1. "Pyramid Song" – 4:51
  2. "The Amazing Sounds of Orgy" – 3:38
  3. "Trans-Atlantic Drawl" – 3:02

UK CD2{{cite AV media notes|title=Pyramid Song|others=Radiohead|year=2001|type=UK CD2 liner notes|publisher=Parlophone|id=CDFHEIT 45102}}

  1. "Pyramid Song" – 4:51
  2. "Fast-Track" – 3:17
  3. "Kinetic" – 4:06

UK and French 12-inch single{{cite AV media notes|title=Pyramid Song|others=Radiohead|year=2001|type=UK & French 12-inch single vinyl disc|publisher=Parlophone|id=12FHEIT 45102}}

:A1. "Pyramid Song" – 4:51

:B1. "Fast-Track" – 3:17

:B2. "The Amazing Sounds of Orgy" – 3:38

{{col-2}}

European maxi-CD single{{cite AV media notes|title=Pyramid Song|others=Radiohead|year=2001|type=European maxi-CD single liner notes|publisher=Parlophone|id=ICPN 7243 879357 2 3}}

  1. "Pyramid Song" – 4:51
  2. "The Amazing Sounds of Orgy" – 3:38
  3. "Trans-Atlantic Drawl" – 3:02
  4. "Kinetic" – 4:06

Japanese CD single{{cite AV media notes|title=Pyramid Song|others=Radiohead|year=2001|type=Japanese CD single liner notes|publisher=Parlophone, EMI|id=TOCP-61053}}

  1. "Pyramid Song" – 4:51
  2. "Fast-Track" – 3:19
  3. "The Amazing Sounds of Orgy" – 3:38
  4. "Trans-Atlantic Drawl" – 3:03
  5. "Kinetic" – 4:05

{{col-end}}

Personnel

Adapted from the Amnesiac liner notes.{{cite AV media notes|title=Amnesiac|others=Radiohead|year=2001|publisher=Parlophone|type=booklet}}

{{div col}}

Radiohead

Additional musicians

Technical personnel

  • Nigel Godrich – production, engineering
  • Radiohead – production
  • Gerard Navarro – engineering assistance
  • Graeme Stewart – engineering assistance
  • Bob Ludwig – mastering

Artwork

{{div col end}}

Charts

{{col-begin}}

{{col-2}}

= Weekly charts =

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|+Weekly chart performance for "Pyramid Song"

!scope="col"|Chart (2001)

!scope="col"|Peak
position

{{single chart|Australia|25|artist=Radiohead|song=Pyramid Song|rowheader=true|access-date=29 July 2018|refname="aus"}}
{{single chart|Austria|57|artist=Radiohead|song=Pyramid Song|rowheader=true|access-date=29 July 2018}}
{{single chart|Flanders Tip|17|artist=Radiohead|song=Pyramid Song|rowheader=true|access-date=29 July 2018}}
{{single chart|Wallonia Tip|12|artist=Radiohead|song=Pyramid Song|rowheader=true|access-date=29 July 2018}}
scope="row"|Canada (Nielsen SoundScan){{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/radiohead/chart-history/cns/|title=Radiohead Chart History (Canadian Digital Songs)|magazine=Billboard|access-date=29 July 2018}}

|2

scope="row"|Europe (Eurochart Hot 100){{cite magazine|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-and-Media/00s/2001/MM-2001-06-09.pdf|title=Eurochart Hot 100 Singles|magazine=Music & Media|volume=19|issue=24|page=9|date=9 June 2001|access-date=19 February 2020}}

|13

{{single chart|Finland|6|artist=Radiohead|song=Pyramid Song|rowheader=true|access-date=29 July 2018|refname="fin"}}
{{single chart|France|19|artist=Radiohead|song=Pyramid Song|rowheader=true|access-date=29 July 2018|refname="fra"}}
{{single chart|Germany|98|songid=4735|artist=Radiohead|song=Pyramid Song|rowheader=true|access-date=29 July 2018}}
{{single chart|Ireland2|10|song=Pyramid Song|rowheader=true|access-date=29 July 2018|refname="ire"}}
{{single chart|Italy|6|artist=Radiohead|song=Pyramid Song|rowheader=true|access-date=29 July 2018|refname="ita"}}
{{single chart|Dutch40|21|year=2001|week=24|rowheader=true|access-date=29 July 2018|refname="d40"}}
{{single chart|Dutch100|23|artist=Radiohead|song=Pyramid Song|rowheader=true|access-date=29 July 2018}}
{{single chart|Norway|3|artist=Radiohead|song=Pyramid Song|rowheader=true|access-date=29 July 2018|refname="nor"}}
scope=row|Portugal (AFP){{cite magazine|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-and-Media/00s/2001/MM-2001-06-16.pdf|title=Top National Sellers|magazine=Music & Media|volume=19|issue=25|page=9|date=16 June 2001|access-date=24 May 2020}}

|1

{{single chart|Scotland|6|date=20010602|rowheader=true|access-date=29 July 2018|refname="scot"}}
{{single chart|Sweden|59|artist=Radiohead|song=Pyramid Song|rowheader=true|access-date=29 July 2018}}
{{single chart|Switzerland|99|artist=Radiohead|song=Pyramid Song|rowheader=true|access-date=29 July 2018}}
{{single chart|UK|5|date=20010602|rowheader=true|access-date=29 July 2018|refname="UK"}}

{{col-2}}

= Year-end charts =

class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|+Year-end chart performance for "Pyramid Song"

!scope="col"|Chart (2001)

!scope="col"|Position

scope="row"|Canada (Nielsen SoundScan){{cite web|url=http://jamshowbiz.com/JamMusicCharts/2001_singles.html|title=Canada's Top 200 Singles of 2001|publisher=Jam!|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030126204339/http://jamshowbiz.com/JamMusicCharts/2001_singles.html|archive-date=26 January 2003|access-date=26 March 2022}}

|5

scope="row"|UK Singles (OCC){{cite web|url=http://www.ukchartsplus.co.uk/ChartsPlusYE2001.pdf|title=The Official UK Singles Chart 2001|website=UKChartsPlus|access-date=29 July 2018}}

|179

Chart (2002)

!Position

scope="row"|Canada (Nielsen SoundScan){{cite web|url=http://www.jamshowbiz.com/JamMusicCharts/2002_singles.html|title=Canada's Top 200 Singles of 2002|publisher=Jam!|date=14 January 2003|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040906184715/http://www.jamshowbiz.com/JamMusicCharts/2002_singles.html|archive-date=6 September 2004|access-date=22 March 2022}}

|89

{{col-end}}

Release history

class="wikitable plainrowheaders"

|+Release dates and formats for "Pyramid Song"

!scope="col"|Region

!scope="col"|Date

!scope="col"|Format(s)

!scope="col"|Label(s)

!scope="col"|{{abbr|Ref.|Reference(s)}}

scope="row"|Japan

|16 May 2001

|rowspan="3"|CD

|{{hlist|Parlophone|EMI}}

|align="center"|{{cite web|url=http://toshiba-emi.co.jp/|title=What's New|publisher=Toshiba EMI|language=ja|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010516005734/http://toshiba-emi.co.jp/|archive-date=16 May 2001|access-date=2 September 2023}}{{cite web|url=https://www.oricon.co.jp/prof/184257/products/439492/1/|title=ピラミッド・ソング {{!}} レディオヘッド|trans-title=Pyramid Song {{!}} Radiohead|publisher=Oricon|language=ja|access-date=2 September 2023}}

scope="row"|United Kingdom

|21 May 2001

|rowspan="2"|Parlophone

|align="center"|{{cite magazine|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/2001/Music-Week-2001-05-19.pdf|title=New Releases – For Week Starting May 21, 2001: Singles|magazine=Music Week|page=25|date=19 May 2001|access-date=14 August 2021}}

scope="row"|Australia

|28 May 2001

|align="center"|{{cite web|url=http://www.aria.com.au/issue587.pdf|title=The ARIA Report: New Releases Singles – Week Commencing 28th May 2001|publisher=ARIA|page=24|date=28 May 2001|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20020220130000/http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/23790/20020221-0000/www.aria.com.au/issue587.pdf|archive-date=20 February 2002|access-date=14 August 2021}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}

References