Radiohead and Philosophy - Brandon W. Forbes [66]
This is precisely the confused, amoral wasteland projected by OK Computer, Kid A, and Amnesiac. Thus, the homonym is significant when Thom sings in “Subterranean Homesick Alien” of the “weird creatures / who lock up their spirits.” After the death of God and spiritually-based existence, people fail to take advantage of life’s opportunities and end up acting maliciously towards others out of a feeling of lonely resentment. We see this played out by the protagonists of “Karma Police,” who demand the arrest and punishment—a moral claim—of others for selfish reasons. They do not enjoy those who they see as talking in maths or buzzing like a fridge. The hopeful politician on the campaign trail in “Electioneering” acknowledges the subjectivity of moralities, but with a slick talking-head-on-a-stick smile, promises that a compromise is possible: “When I go forwards you go backwards, and somewhere we will meet.”
Perhaps the reason that the protagonist of “Everything in Its Right Place” is “sucking a lemon” (making a sour face) is that he is holding onto an outdated belief in objective morality in a world whose other inhabitants have largely acknowledged the death of God. “There are two colors in my head,” he says, in reference to black and white, right and wrong. Any resistance he finds in logically contradicting truths provokes the fingers-in-the-ears response of “What? What was that you tried to say?” Somewhat differently, the frantic lyrics of “Idiotheque” depict an acknowledgment of good-versus-evil moral questions (“Let me hear both sides”) that inevitably give way to the self-interested, decadent decision to “Take the money and run.” The leading character of “Optimistic,” on the other hand, realizes his saturation in hateful, isolated, nihilistic resentment: “The big fish eat the little ones. Not my problem, give me some,” he says, before adding sarcastically, “I’d really like to help you, man.” “Knives Out” presents this scowling mockery of sincerity, as well: “Look into my eyes, it’s the only way you’ll know I’m telling the truth.” But the most biting example, perhaps, is “Paranoid Android,” in which “God loves his children . . . yeah . . .” These characters reveal the list of moral tropes in “Life In a Glass House” (don’t throw stones, you should turn the other cheek) to be stunningly ironic. After the death of God and the descent into passive nihilism, these social niceties are very nearly the only things we think about doing.
The true Nietzschean dilemma of these Last Humans is not, however, that they create a world of self-interested active competition. Instead, filled with resentment, they become passive and lifeless. Inside their heads, they make hateful promises: “When I am king, you will be first against the wall / with your opinion which is of no consequence at all.” The tragedy is that they can never become king. Trapped in a nihilistic inward rage, saying no to life, these Last Humans will never take risks or seek greatness.
Pull the Last Humans Out of the Aircrash
Yet this doesn’t have to be the way. Admittedly, most of the Last Humans are stagnant, consuming narcotic after narcotic to try and make life tolerable. Yet, to balance every protagonist like the sad singer of “Motion Picture Soundtrack” (“red wine and sleeping pills help me get back to your arms / cheap sex and sad films help me get where I belong”) is a glimmer of hope for Nietzsche’s alternative. Nietzsche wants us to overcome the intractable conditions and surroundings of our lives, fully develop our talents, and affirm life by saying “Yes” rather than “No” to its challenges.45 This will be an extremely difficult task within the amoral wasteland of the paranoid android, the purported “reasonable man”, and the pig in a cage on antibiotics. Pathways to higher living are treacherous and it seems such a major shift in morality would be irreversible. Thus, the protagonist of “Lucky” foreshadows Nietzsche’s answer to