Harry Patch, the World War One veteran that inspired a beautiful Radiohead song
In 2009, Radiohead released one of their most moving songs, yet one that has gone relatively under-appreciated. ‘Harry Patch (In Memory Of)’ commemorates the life of supercentenarian Harry Patch, the last remaining trench combat soldier to have fought in World War One.
The band initially released the single on their website as a downloadable single which cost £1, with all proceeds going to the Royal British Legion. However, it was put on streaming platforms in 2016 for Remembrance Day, accompanied by new artwork by Stanley Donwood.
Patch died on July 25th. 2009, making him the third oldest man at the time of his death. Radiohead recorded the song a few weeks before the veteran passed away, setting up a studio in an abbey. In contrast with their usual mixture of rock instruments and electronics, the song features only Yorke’s vocals backed by a delicate and emotive string arrangement composed by guitarist Jonny Greenwood, who has composed several scores for films, such as There Will Be Blood.
Yorke noted that he was deeply moved and inspired by an interview with Patch broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2005. The singer stated: “The way he talked about war profoundly affected me. It became the inspiration for a song that we happened to record a few weeks before his death.”
Radiohead has famously expressed anti-war sentiments within their music, particularly in their 2003 album Hail to the Thief, written in response to the War on Terror and the state of affairs in a desolate post-9/11 world. In ‘Harry Patch (In Memory Of)’, Yorke modifies lines spoken by Patch criticising war and its effect on innocent people.
In 2004, Patch said: “To me, [War is] a licence to go out and murder. Why should the British government call me up and take me out to a battlefield to shoot a man I never knew, whose language I couldn’t speak? All those lives lost for a war finished over a table. Now, what is the sense in that?”
Yorke took powerful lines such as these and turned them into the lyrics, “Give your leaders each a gun and then let them/ Fight it out themselves/ I’ve seen devils coming up from the ground/ I’ve seen hell upon this earth/ The next will be chemical/ But they will never learn.”
The song is haunting – the searing strings contain the tragedies of war and linger with remembrance for those who were forced to kill and forced to die. Yorke’s voice is mellow and lamenting, with his lyrics drawing parallels to the war poetry of Wilfred Owen.
Listen to the track below.
