The Radiohead song that pays tribute to a British horror classic
When a song undergoes more than a decade of refinement, it naturally acquires a depth that’s challenging to replicate. Over time, the song evolves, and with a title like ‘Burn The Witch’, it’s evident that there’s a substantial foundation of source material. This certainly held true for the Radiohead art-rock masterpiece, a track that fans anticipated would be a multifaceted endeavour from the moment it was first hinted at on the album cover of Hail to the Thief.
Hinted at since the mid-2000s, the band’s vocalist and songwriter Thom Yorke first gave audiences a glimpse of ‘Burn The Witch’ during concerts in 2006 and 2008. The missing piece of the puzzle at the time was the band’s plan to incorporate an orchestra, a crucial element in the song’s creation. The suspense kept growing, even in 2013, when producer Nigel Godrich responded to a question about its release, saying: “Everything will surface one day… it all exists… and so it will eventually get there, I’m sure.”
Even after ‘Burn The Witch’ dropped, its enigmatic themes continued to captivate listeners, particularly its exploration of witch trials in the context of contemporary groupthink and authoritarian concerns, an exploration also present in Radiohead’s ‘2+2=5’ and ‘Myxomatosis’. The song also draws inspiration from literature, such as The Crucible, and incorporates elements of the 1960s children’s television trilogy, Trumptonshire, as depicted in the accompanying music video.
The video also pays tribute to the 1973 horror film The Wicker Man, and portrays a scenario of mob rule within a rural community. An inspector arrives and is guided by the town mayor through a series of disturbing scenes, leading to the revelation of a wicker man. The mayor then persuades the inspector to enter the structure, after which he is confined inside for a ritualistic human sacrifice, and the wicker man is set ablaze.
Beyond its evident themes, there has been considerable speculation regarding the various criticisms presented within ‘Burn The Witch’. Notably, the song directly confronts the prevalent ‘shoot first, ask questions later’ mentality at the core of modern society while also addressing issues like the impact of social media and the inclination of the public to figuratively “burn” individuals at the metaphorical stake, which is central to contemporary cancel culture.
At the same time, many have cited right-wing politicians like Donald Trump as weighty sources, which Yorke also pointed towards when he tweeted lyrics from the song and linked to its music video after Trump was elected US president in 2016. In the song, Yorke instructs listeners to “Abandon all reason /Avoid all eye contact /Do not react /Shoot the messengers”, evidently inciting the arrival of a strictly dystopian society ruled by Republican figures.
Numerous Radiohead songs are rooted in a cynical worldview, and when paired with the band’s frequently sombre musical tone, they become fitting anthems for critiques of totalitarianism. Their catalogue often delves into themes of fear and paranoia, and ‘Burn The Witch’ stands as another timeless classic, certain to continue resonating with audiences in distinct yet similarly significant manners for years to come.
