We weren't listening to guitar bands, we were thoroughly ashamed of being a guitar band. So we bought loads of keyboards and learned how to use them, and when we got bored we went back to guitars.
Thom YorkeRead
We're at a time when we are being presented with undeniable changes in the global climate and fundamental issues that affect every single one of us, and it's the time we're listening to the most hokey shite on the radio and watching vacuous bullshit celebrities being vacuous bullshit celebrities and desperately trying to forget about everything. Which is fine, you know, but personally speaking, I can't do that.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights the contrast between important global issues and distractions in popular culture.
Thom Yorke emphasizes the urgent need to acknowledge significant changes in the global climate and societal issues that impact everyone, while simultaneously pointing out the prevalent distractions of mainstream entertainment. He expresses a personal conviction to engage with these serious matters rather than succumb to the allure of superficiality, urging a collective awareness of the pressing challenges we face.
Themes
ClimateChangeDistractionAwarenessSuperficiality
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about climate awareness, this quote could be used to illustrate the need for focus on pressing issues.
More from Thom Yorke
All quotes →I'm achingly aware of my own limitations as both part of the human race and as an individual. I'm just, casting this out that, maybe, I'm not so perfect as is the affront I oft put on. After all, the lyric is 'I wish I was special'. I truly just want to be loved and accepted, I think, like all humans.
Thom YorkeRead
There's a pervading sense of loneliness I've had since the day I was born. Maybe a lot of other people feel the same way, but I'm not about to run up and down the street asking everybody if they're as lonely as I am. I'd probably get locked up.
Thom YorkeRead
People in bands don't have the kind of conversations people might think they have. The best things about being in a band are the things that are unsaid.
Thom YorkeRead
I don't think young people are as demoralized as the media and government would like us to think. The obvious sign of that is how strong and how close personal connections are and how much people are able to build a life for themselves, despite all this stuff that's been thrown at them.
Thom YorkeRead
I tell you what's really ridiculous--going into a bookstore and there's all these books about yourself. In a way, it feels like you're already dead.
Thom YorkeRead
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