Harry Patch (in memory of)

Radiohead have a new song, an epitaph to Harry Patch, the last survivor of WW1 who died on the 25th of July at the age of 111. I find it hard to imagine that we now live in a world which contains no-one with any first hand experience of the war, 'lest we forget'.

The song itself is a simple 5 minute series of rising strings, with Thom Yorke lamenting over the top; clearly Radiohead in the same mindset as they were when they wrote 'Last Flowers'. It's by no means a masterpiece; I find the juxtaposition between the sweeping string orchestra and Thom's arhythmic lyrics quite difficult to handle, but then I should be used to that sort of thing with Radiohead. Probably a grower, certainly a song written about a very important subject - lets hope its presence in millions of iPods will help to keep people reminded of the sacrifice these men made.

You can download the track from http://download.waste.uk.com/Store/did.html for £1, and all the proceeds go to the Royal British Legion.