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What’s a Radiohead song where the bass is the best part?
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Where I end and you begin
I will eat you alive…
Colin dominates that part of the song
This is it
It’s the national anthem
Best chance for beginning bass players to play along with an awesome tune.
To repetitive as a bass riff, in my opinion
I think that’s part of what makes it good, just how relentless it is
I mean, Thom did write it when he was 16
By far.
W
100000%
Myxomatosis
There are some good songs above in this thread but clearly Myxomatosis has by far the most captivating base in Radiohead’s oeuvre.
I’m gonna disagree with this one, purely because one of the guitar parts (Ed’s) doubles up on the bass line. So it’s hard to say the bass is the best part.
yessir
I thought it was a synth
Ed, Colin and Jonny are basically playing the same riff. Colin and Jonny play the same individual notes and Ed plays chords.
So there is no synth doubling the bass line?
Ed doesn’t play the chords his guitar is in drop A he’s playing the riff
Decks Dark
This!
Nude and All I Need, just somber shit
Nude is what I thought of immediately.
For sure. My knee-jerk reaction was Nude. There might be better answers but when I read the question I swear I started hearing the opening bass line for Nude playing in my head.
Exactly the same!
The national anthem
/thread
Johnny created that bass line when he was in 6th grade. Insane.
Actually it was Thom who wrote it when he was 16. He’s also the one who plays the bassline on the studio recording.
So he was in 6th grade when he was 16 years old?
Close! Timing is right but it was Thom.
Thom traveled back in time after the Colbert Report appearance and showed Johnny the video of their performance. Johnny showed him some ideas for Burn the Witch. Thom forgot to write it down.
I feel like you have to be trolling because
Thom wrote it, not Jonny
He was 16 so that wouldn’t be 6th grade
British people don’t have 6th grade, they have forms
That’s not how you spell Jonny
3. They’re not called forms, they’re called years: year 1, year 2 etc. idk the conversion from grades to years
Checks out. It's pretty basic and dumb in a good way
yeah it’s not the most impressive baseline ever, it’s just four notes lol, but it is simple and catchy, and a little bit weird, which is usually better than making it too complicated.
Don't just look at the notes; look at the rhythm. It's actually not easy to play (and actually make it sound right).
So he was in year 7?
That's crazy. It's the first time i hear that.
Airbag
It reminds me of Morse code in a way. It's just fantastic.
Why did I have to scroll this far?!?!
The space between the notes is just as impactful as the notes.
Correct
100% - interesting song made epic by that spacious syncopated bass line
Dollars and Cents, duh....
That snare crack is MVP
this one is insane how good the bass sounds
I might be wrong 💪
You're not wrong.
😂😂😂 nice
Was about to say that
YES!
How to Disappear Completely I think. I love that bass line. That or Weird Fishes.
Thom is the best part of HTDC imo
This is what I came to post! I was in a band years ago and we did a cover and I got to play bass. After the show I was told I started the bass line at the wrong time so I was a bar off the whole song. That’s how I learned two things: music isn’t my strong suit and that bass line is so good it doesn’t matter if it’s off a bar. Still sounded great.
It's just so wistful. It adds so much to the soul of that song. It's my favourite Colin line.
15 step
Those fills are so great. Honestly a lot of In Rainbows could count if the other parts weren’t so great too
That's exactly what came to mind when I read the title of this post.
Commented this as well. Just learned how to play it. Played it like 10 times in a row because it’s so fun.
Exit music
Ful Stop
yesss!!!
Punchup at a wedding
This one I think. That bass is so slithery and sick.
This is the correct response. Easily.
Seperator
I like playing lucky on my bass
Bloom. Lotus Flower. Feral. Airbag. There, There. Nude.
Bloom!!!!
Lotus Flower and THERE THERE!!!
Karma Police's bass line made me fall in love with the instrument
Myxomatosis, Exit Music, 15-Step, Where I End and You Begin, National Anthem
Idk if it's better than the guitar but the bass on Jigsaw is pretty killer
Bones
Climbing Up The Walls
There's simple but really effective and catchy bass lines all over The Bends. When I first started playing bass I learned a good chunk of that album.
Yes! I love when it first comes in on Planet Telex
All I Need.
The bit in Identikit where it repeats “broken hearts make it rain…” has a cool bassline
Colin is pretty damn good on most everything. Impeccable taste and timing. But for my money, it’s 15 Step
Exactly, he's such a tasteful player. He never dominates the mix (except where intended like The National Anthem and Decks Dark), but his lines are always really interesting and complementary to the other parts.
I Promise
Myxomotosis for sure and National Anthem…. and Decks Dark…. and Dollars and Cents.. and Weird Fishes I might Be Wrong. Did I leave some out. I’m sure I did. I’m finding that there’s a lot of ‘best’. Can you repeat the question?
My Iron Lung slap bass
the gloaming
Yes! Maybe not musically, but hearing this live was particularly memorable because the bass was cranked up so high that it actually affected the air pressure. I remember inhaling during the intro and feeling how weird it felt to breathe with those sound pressure waves bearing down on my lungs.
I was at the smile show and yelled the gloaming and Thom goes what? and I said it again and he said I have a job to do and moved on to the next song lol