Electioneering

A direct political attack wrapped in a cowbell groove. Radiohead's Thom Yorke wrote 'Electioneering' with the Poll Tax Riots in mind, channelling the fury of those scenes into lyrics that collapse the distance between touring musicians and campaigning politicians. Both shake hands, both work a crowd, both ask for your trust. The song's cynicism cuts sharp: "Say the right things when electioneering", "Trust I can rely on your vote". Voodoo economics, cattle prods, the IMF. It's all business, all theatre, all the same backwards-forwards dance. The track sits among Radiohead's most overtly political work, a return to the directness of their earlier material. A cowbell keeps time as the band locks into a groove that feels almost too clean for such jagged subject matter, which is precisely the point. The contradiction between the song's propulsive rhythm and its contempt for the machinery of power gives 'Electioneering' its sting.