All I Need

When I first heard All I Need, it struck such a serious chord within me that it shook me. First the music grabbed me and damn near suffocated me, that bassline rumbles unforgivingly and the beat is so crisp and sharp. Honestly it took me at least five listens before I even ever started paying attention to the lyrics. The music is SO emphatic that even if you aren't a Radiohead fan it's hard not to be a fan of this song.

This amazing song is on Radiohead's 2007 release In Rainbows and while the album is full of some material that borders on genius, this song IS. Musically this song builds on itself in such subtle ways that you almost don't realize it. The beat and bassline carry you through the first part of the song straight through to the chorus. Then it brightens a little with sound effects coming in and then suddenly cutting out when the chorus comes back around. Then the piano and the escalation to the crescendo, then the explosion with the voices.

And when it comes to the lyrics, when Thom Yorke sings I wanna stick with you/Because there are no others after singing lines like I am all the days/That you choose to ignore, you realize this song is the voice of that person who watched you from afar. That person who was so easily ignored by you but to them, you were their universe. This song is genius, pure and simple...at least in my opinion. Enjoy!