Inside My Head

## Description

Inside My Head is easily one of the most manic songs ever recorded by the band. A driving, coked-up rock song with a dark edge, Inside My Head is probably the most well-known Pablo Honey-era b-side purely on account of how unique it sounds. Phil's tom-driven groove and Colin's simple three-note bassline have a very post-punk edge to them, a side which is made even more apparent by the incredibly cathartic chorus. Even though it's unmistakably a very early Radiohead song, it's impossible not to like Inside My Head.

## Live history

Inside My Head never fully emerged as a setlist regular during the years it was played. First debuted in 1992, the song received the bulk of its outings during various legs of the Pablo Honey tour. It was then played infrequently during 1994, even less frequently during 1995, and only once during 1996! Regardless, there's no denying that Inside My Head was deliciously fun as a live song during its (relatively) short career.

### 1992

Only a single recording of Inside My Head exists from 1992, and it's not a great one! While 1992, Unknown venue is in great soundboard quality, it is a remarkably barebones performance with some rough playing (Phil sounds like he's on the verge of losing the groove altogether at times.) If you crave that 70s punk feel, however, you'll definitely find it here.

### 1993

Inside My Head was played with reasonable regularity during 1993. The bulk of its performances lay around the middle of the year. It typically was located somewhere towards the end of the set. Notable and/or recommended performances include:

* 1993-06-15, Cine 3000, Nancy, France - gone are the problems with the 1992 performance; here the song sounds silky, smooth, slinking and assured.
* 1993-06-30, The Metro, Chicago, IL, USA - the most famous 1993 performance of this song, the most manic 1993 performance of this song, the best 1993 performance of this song - and probably the best performance of that particular show. Plus, it's excellently filmed. What more could you want?
* 1993-07-13, The Palladium, Los Angeles, CA, USA - an ear-destroying, energy-filled take.

### 1994

Out of absolutely nowhere, Inside My Head snuck up in the band's setlists in 1994 and returned with an absolute *vengeance* in the second half of the year, leading to a series of performances that I consider their best purely on account of how *wild* the song becomes. They raised the tempo significantly for 1994 renditions, giving the song an adrenaline shot that makes it even more chaotic and twitchy than it ever was before. No bones about it: these performances are *incredible.* Notable and/or recommended performances include:

* 1994-08-27, Reading Festival, Reading, UK - its first known 1994 performance, and all the above attributes are on full display here: devastatingly fast and full of mindblowing guitar work. The sound and video quality are also great.
* 1994-10-08, Shepherds Bush Empire, London, England - ditto everything I said above, except tenfold.
* 1994-12-02, Melkweg, Amsterdam, Netherlands - ...but the best performance of all might be this, for one clear reason: the sheer energy here, and the quality of the guitar work, is just off the freaking charts

### 2000

Despite the song not having been performed in four years, an audience member at 2000-06-13, Théâtre Antique, Arles, France called out for Thom to play Inside My Head between two songs. Thom's response - "you've *got* to be joking" - probably reflects his and the band's mindset towards it.

## List of recordings

See Inside My Head/Recordings for full list.