The Bends (track)

The Bends is the second track from Radiohead's second album, The Bends.

## History

The Bends was written before Pablo Honey was completed. Radiohead donated a demo version to Long Live Tibet, a 1997 compilation album raising money for the Tibet House Trust. The demo features a recorder solo by Jonny; a recorder is still audible in the studio version, but you'll have to really listen to hear it.

The opening sounds appear to be taken from various sources. Thom told an interviewer: "The sound at the beginning comes from this caterwauling Mayhem outside this hotel in the States. There was this guy training these eight-year-old kids, who were parading up and down with all these different instruments. The guy had this little microphone on his sweater and was going: 'Yeah, keep it up, keep it up.' So I ran out and taped it." At least one sound, a man crying "break it up!" at 0:10, is sampled from the 1986 film No Retreat, No Surrender.

In 2017, Jonny's wife told an interviewer that The Bends was her favourite Radiohead song: "They never play it! Each time I say to Jonny, maybe tonight? And he says they’ll play it, but they never do! I think they've forgotten it exists."

## Live

The Bends has remained a live staple for the majority of the band's career. Played at the vast majority of shows between 1993 and 1998, the song then morphed into a semi-regular status up until 2009. Briefly retired for the King of Limbs tour, it then received frequent outings on the A Moon Shaped Pool tour between 2016 and 2018. Having undergone arrangement changes during its long performance career, it is interesting to follow the live history of The Bends.

### 1993

The Bends was the only song from the eponymous album to be played throughout the entirety of 1993. Originally finding itself in a few different positions in the set, it then settled - bizarrely - into the opening song position for the bulk of 1993, dethroning You (somewhat gamely, seeing as the song was still unreleased!)

It is very interesting to listen to performances of The Bends from 1993, because the arrangement is quite different. Most notably, the 1993 arrangement is *very* acoustic guitar-heavy, featuring strummed chords across the song, which marks a striking contrast to later versions. Other lyrical and musical details can be heard developing through the year; for instance, Thom only settles into that beautiful vocal melody for the outro very, very late in 1993. Notable and/or recommended performances include:

* 1993-02-11 Signal Radio session - the first recorded performance of the song happens to be a barnstorming acoustic version with all three guitarists replicating the absolutely *huge* guitar sound of the studio recording perfectly.
* 1993-02-23 Black Session - another radio performance, this one features a really beautiful, deeply mournful take from Thom.
* 1993-06-30, The Metro, Chicago, IL, USA - for a very good video recording.
* 1993-09-23, Cameo Theatre, Miami, FL, USA - a slightly rougher AUD can be ignored because this performance is so manic and over-the-top it's hilarious.
* 1993-11-23, Casino de Paris, Paris, France - a great one to hear how acoustic-heavy this song was in 1993.

### 1994

Although it had been around a lot longer by that point than most other Bends songs, The Bends continued to undergo a number of interesting arrangement changes across 1994, during which it was a setlist staple. Jonny and Ed continued to experiment with different parts, especially in the second 'lying in the bar' verse, but these would be dropped altogether later in the year; in addition, by May, the acoustic guitar had finally left the arrangement, and the all-electric sound that we know today was adopted. Come December, this song had settled into its final form. Notable and/or recommended performances include:

* 1994-05-13, Vidia Rock Club, Cesena, Italy - the first recorded performance to feature the three-electric arrangement, and a great rendition in and of itself.
* 1994-05-27, The Astoria, London, UK - probably the best place to hear the brilliant guitar parts that Jonny and Ed were experimenting with in the 'lying in the bar' verse.
* 1994-08-27, Reading Festival, Reading, UK - another great filmed performance with a hilarious Jonny moment.
* 1994-10-20, La Panza, Ojo de Agua, Mexico - instead of singing the second 'lying in the bar' verse, Thom just continues singing the high note from the previous chorus over the entire section! A real knockout moment, and one of the most impressive displays of his early vocal chops.

## References

1. ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/radiohead/comments/6n8vdr/first\_interview\_ever\_with\_jonnys\_wife/