Tag Archives: Radiohead

FMD — The Tourist

Has there ever been album written about more than Radiohead's Ok Computer?  Perhaps Sgt, Pepper's but not many more than that.  One of my favorite songs is the last one:  The Tourist.  It's a nice coda to the album: kinda lugubrious, druggy even.  A great song to listen to at 2:00a in the morning after filling you head with 45 minutes of Radiohead and other substances.  I really love the end: bluesy swirling guitars that give way to just a simple bass and drum beat and finally, the last note of the album, a single bell chime.

That chime just gets me (and it's foreshadowed early in the song).  It's such a cool ending to the album.  It is so simple yet that chime starkly announces the end; you can breath again and start thinking about what you just listened to.  It's like the woo in What's Going On referenced by Russell in Almost Famous.  It's a simple little thing but it makes the whole song (and album, I would argue).  It's what you put in... That's Rock and Roll.

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