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(Credits: Far Out \/ Raph Pour-Hashemi \/ Tom Waits)<\/p>\n
Tue 20 January 2026 15:55, UK <\/p>\n
Radiohead\u2019s Thom Yorke<\/a> is an unapologetic fan of Tom Waits and not just the music.\u00a0<\/p>\n The wisdom that the gravel-voiced Waits has managed to conjure up throughout his wild career has gifted him with more life experience than most, and there\u2019s one piece of advice that Waits once told artists that helped Yorke when he severely needed it.<\/p>\n The words helped Yorke at his darkest hour from a professional standpoint, following the release of OK! Computer in 1997. The album was lauded by just about everyone on the planet, who were overawed by Radiohead\u2019s<\/a> greatness for the stellar album. All eyes were on Yorke to follow it up immediately with another faultless effort. The pressure got to him; he struggled to cope with what direction to take next and found himself at a loose end.<\/p>\n Yorke would eventually end up coming up clutch with Kid A, the album that arrived as a staggering left-turn from their previous effort and saw Radiohead prove that they were as versatile as they come. Rather than attempt to replicate OK! Computer, Yorke and the band instead decided to switch it up and keep their creative spirit alive completely. Creating Kid A was the definition of bold, but, it only made Radiohead more of an enigma, and the words of Tom Waits dragged Yorke out of writer\u2019s block to produce the masterful piece of work.<\/p>\n Speaking to Rolling Stone<\/a> in 2000 about writer\u2019s block, Yorke revealed: \u201cThe worst thing was thinking, \u2018Is this it? Is this all I\u2019ve got?\u2019 But there will be times when you won\u2019t be able to deal with things, won\u2019t be able to get them out. These things go in cycles. There\u2019s bad times and good times. Things never really die \u2013 they just go around.\u201d<\/p>\n He then explained how he wrote \u2018Everything In Its Right Place\u2019, and everything else started to fall into place after writing that track. \u201cI bought a piano for my house, a proper nice one \u2013 a baby grand. And that was the first thing I wrote on it. And I\u2019m such a shit piano player.\u201d<\/p>\n But that was part of the charm. As he proudly continued, \u201cI remember this Tom Waits quote from years ago, that what keeps him going as a strong songwriter is his complete ignorance of the instruments he\u2019s using. So everything\u2019s a novelty. That\u2019s one of the reasons I wanted to get into computers and synths because I didn\u2019t understand how the fuck they worked,\u201d Yorke honestly stated.<\/p>\n While this is a sentiment that Waits as roughly espoused on a number of occasions, the closest he came to defining the very outlook that Yorke speaks of, is when he commented, \u201cWhen somebody is playing music on an instrument they\u2019re unfamiliar with, you always get interesting results.\u201d <\/p>\n He continued, \u201cThe fingers always want to go where they\u2019ve been before, so the entire discovery process comes by \u2018unfamiliarising\u2019 yourself with the new keys or surfaces or strings. Sometimes the things you haven\u2019t played on before sound the best.\u201d<\/p>\n Yet, in another quip, he also injected a comic note of ethos to this outlook. \u201cA gentleman is someone who can play the accordion,\u201d he said, \u201cbut doesn\u2019t.\u201d So, you also have to be careful when you\u2019re choosing your unfamiliar foil. This proved truly inspiring to Yorke when he was in a low moment, re-inspiring him to go back to the roots of art.<\/p>\n Once Yorke\u2019s creative juices were back in full flow, there was no stopping him; less than a year on from\u00a0Kid A\u2019s\u00a0release, Radiohead released\u00a0Amnesiac,\u00a0which was another unequivocal success for the band. The lead single from the record was, \u2018Pyramid Song\u2019, which features a nod and a wink to Tom Waits\u2019 genius<\/a> as a way of saying thanks for pulling Yorke out of his rut. The song features the line, \u201cWe all went to heaven in a little rowboat,\u201d which initially features on Waits\u2019 track \u2018Clap Hands\u2019 from Rain Dogs.<\/p>\n