Radiohead As Interpreted By Fifth Graders
September 19, 2003 7:53 AM   Subscribe

Mitsi Kato's fifth-grade class at Roosevelt Elementary in San Leandro listened to Radiohead and drew pictures of what the music suggested to them.
posted by Atom12 (29 comments total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
They look earily similar to the sort of scribbles found on the inlay of OK Computer and the Airbag EP...
posted by salmacis at 7:58 AM on September 19, 2003


My mother retired from teaching the year two of her second-grade girls suggested lip-syncing Nirvana's "Heart-Shaped Box" for the Christmas talent show.
posted by stonerose at 8:01 AM on September 19, 2003


simply brilliant. shards of light in an otherwise grey morning. i believe some of the commentary although definitely funny, is misplaced. mommy come help me? yeah baby.
posted by randomnfactor at 8:03 AM on September 19, 2003


Folks at atease (in between laughing hysterically) are skeptical, but this is still one of the funniest things I've read this month.

Is this how Thom Yorke sees himself? A lonely figure sprawled across a piano bench as the faceless multitudes leer at and judge him? Does he want our love? Does he want us to leave him alone? Or does he want a thousand-foot ice cream cone?

Fine, Thom: Here's a thousand-foot-high ice cream cone.

posted by jokeefe at 8:07 AM on September 19, 2003


That's hysterical. :)
posted by dejah420 at 8:12 AM on September 19, 2003


Radiohead: It's about bummed-out dolphins.
posted by Shane at 8:15 AM on September 19, 2003


mommy come help me?

I love the ambiguity: What Radiohead is saying, or "get me out of this screwy social-science experiment, now!!!"?
posted by soyjoy at 8:30 AM on September 19, 2003


Nice, and definately very radioheadesque. Though the 'click on image for a larger view' text which is actually what you have to click to get a larger view annoys me no end.
posted by fvw at 8:33 AM on September 19, 2003


Awesome. Good to see schools actually challening kids to work with their brains.
posted by xmutex at 8:37 AM on September 19, 2003


challenging, that is. We don't want the kids challened.
posted by xmutex at 8:38 AM on September 19, 2003


Speak for yourself xmutex, kids these days could use a stout challening.
posted by aramaic at 9:04 AM on September 19, 2003


I'm surprised no one drew a picture of a turd.
posted by psmealey at 9:05 AM on September 19, 2003


aramaic: why should kids challenge a stoat? That seems dangerous to me. Unless they challenge a stoat to, say, checkers. But even then, I might let the stoat when, what with the teeth and all.

could use a stoat challenging indeed.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 9:13 AM on September 19, 2003


I'm surprised no one drew a picture of a turd.

Or a vacuum cleaner.
posted by majcher at 9:21 AM on September 19, 2003


Thom Yorke may want a thousand foot ice cream cone, but only Robert Smith can eat one and still have room left over for cake and vodka.

'cause he's a fat drunk. Hah.
posted by bunnytricks at 10:29 AM on September 19, 2003


Great FPP Atom12! Thanks!
posted by Argyle at 10:38 AM on September 19, 2003


The booth in the center reads "Free Suicides." Someone buy this kid a Coldplay CD.

Everyone reads dong resin.
posted by jpoulos at 10:49 AM on September 19, 2003


Why do the children have to keep negative ideas to themselves? That sounds like a really crunk-damn bad idea?
posted by jon_kill at 11:23 AM on September 19, 2003


Interesting what the kids came up with, but I'm one of those people who lives under a rock and have no clue what the songs they are talking about sound like. I've heard the name Radiohead before, but wouldn't recognize them if I heard them on the radio. Should I bother? Is it worth it? :D

And I'm with jon_kill ... teaching kids to keep their negative ideas to themselves is a bad idea. Whether or not an idea is negative is all a matter of perspective.
posted by Orb at 11:34 AM on September 19, 2003


I'm with orb, meaning that I agree with myself.
posted by jon_kill at 11:36 AM on September 19, 2003


Hopefully these were not the same children who were forced to listen to Guided by Voices...
posted by evilelf at 12:09 PM on September 19, 2003


I am glad they didn't play "how to dissapear completely," as most of the kids would have jumped out the window. Orb, I would advise against consuming alcohol or any other depressants before listening to radiohead.
posted by whatnot at 12:09 PM on September 19, 2003


They should've listened to Super Furry Animals instead.
posted by marzenie99 at 12:51 PM on September 19, 2003


Orb, I would advise against consuming alcohol or any other depressants before listening to radiohead.

You know, I just don't get why people think their stuff is so depressing.

She listens to the song currently playing, chorus of which goes "As the tanks roll into town/a little bit of knowledge will destroy you". Ah, the Amnesiac b-sides... What's not to like?

They've just got their eyes open. Plus it's got a great beat and you can dance to it.

"Once again, we are hungry for a lynching..."
posted by jokeefe at 1:22 PM on September 19, 2003


(Promises self to take musical obsessions to proper venue, and talk like a pirate for the rest of the day in appropriate Mefi style)
posted by jokeefe at 1:23 PM on September 19, 2003


wouldn't recognize them if I heard them on the radio. Should I bother? Is it worth it?

No, Orb, I'd say Little Fluffy Clouds is more appropriate for you.
posted by soyjoy at 1:44 PM on September 19, 2003


jon_kill: It's always good to agree with yourself. Just be sure to keep any negative ideas you may have entirely to yourself.

soyjoy: I had never even heard of Orb (the band) until people started coming to my web site and thinking it was about the band, and they seemed to be confused that it was just me babbling about my insane life.

So Radiohead is depressing. That probably explains why I haven't ever heard of them. My life is depressing enough without adding any extraneous input.

Funny, on preview, I realized that I had referred to my life as inane rather than insane ... though I suppose both would apply.
posted by Orb at 4:16 PM on September 19, 2003


I think this is great! (being a huge Radiohead fan myself) I always thought the Kid A era stuff is good for background thinking music.

Beyond the inclass thing maybe this will get a few of the kids to be more open to listening to non top40 music...

They do, however, immediately request that we play Sean Paul or 50 Cent instead.

Oi... too late... on to the 4th graders.
posted by asterisk at 9:45 PM on September 19, 2003


Okay, just one more comment and I'll call it a day. I don't think listening to Radiohead, or any kind of music more challenging than top 40 pop, would really be all that much of a stretch for 10/11 year olds. I grew up in a household where we listened to a lot of folk music and a lot of classical music; when I was about 11 years old my favourites were Joan Baez, Phil Ochs (especially Pleasures of the Harbour) and the Beethoven symphonies, all 1 to 9. The only thing I found difficult to listen to was jazz, because I liked melody, and I didn't hear any... I think the best thing one can do for children is to give them the chance to experience music and art and literature in all its complexity, without worrying about dumbing it down or whether or not they understand it. It doesn't matter if they "get it" the way an adult would; what matters is that they have the experience of knowing what is possible.
posted by jokeefe at 2:46 PM on September 20, 2003


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