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Jigsaw Falling into Place
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Wikipedia article
"'Jigsaw Falling into Place'" is a song by the English rock band Radiohead, produced by Nigel Godrich. It was released as the lead single from Radiohead's seventh studio album 'In Rainbows' (2007) on 14 January 2008. The music video, directed by Garth Jennings and Adam Buxton, sees Radiohead performing in their studio with cameras attached to bicycle helmets.
Writing
Radiohead performed first "Jigsaw Falling into Place" on their 2006 tour with the working title "Open Pick". Mike Diver of 'Drowned in Sound' described it as a "bass-propelled pop-rock head-bobber".
The lyrics were inspired by the chaos witnessed by singer Thom Yorke when he used to go out on the weekend in Oxford. He said: "The lyrics are quite causticthe idea of 'before you're comatose' or whatever, drinking yourself into oblivion and getting fucked-up to forget ... [there] is partly this elation. But there's a much darker side." Adam Buxton, who co-directed the music video, said the song was about "being out on the town on a lairy Saturday night".
Release
"Jigsaw Falling into Place" was released on 14 January 2008 on XL Records as the lead single from Radiohead's seventh studio album 'In Rainbows' (2007). Yorke's performances of "Videotape", "Down is the New Up" and "Last Flowers" from the television series 'From the Basement' were included as B-sides.
The single reached #30 in the UK Singles Chart in its first week of release, Radiohead's lowest chart entry since "Lucky" in 1995. It spent several weeks as one of the 100 most played songs on US modern rock radio, peaking at #69.
Music video
The "Jigsaw Falling Into Place" music video was directed by Garth Jennings and Adam Buxton. Recorded in two takes, it features the members of Radiohead performing in their studio with footage shot from cameras attached to bicycle helmets.
Buxton felt it was important that the "ridiculous" helmets were clearly visible, and said: "I thought they looked great because [Radiohead] completely got what was good about the idea. They committed to it and they performed it brilliantly. And Thom was mesmerising and each member of the band was just giving it and I thought it was great ... I love it and I consider it one of the best things I've ever done."
Reception
'Time' named "Jigsaw Falling into Place" the fifth-best song of 2007. The 'Time' writer Josh Tyrangiel praised its "tightness" and rising intensity, which he likened to a three-act play. He described the song as "a journey through flirtation, consummation and regret [that] gets about as close as you can to summing up a doomed relationship in four minutes".Tyrangiel, Josh; "The Best Top 10 Lists of the Year"; "The 10 Best Songs"; 'Time' magazine; December 24, 2007; Page 39.
'Drowned in Sound' described the song as "easy enough on the ear for indirect consumption ... but compositionally complex beneath a deceptively simple outer gloss for long-standing admirers to get sufficient kicks from". However, 'Clash' wrote: "It's good but like the much-hyped 'In Rainbows' album, musically it's (relatively) unadventurous." In 2016, 'Rolling Stone' readers voted it one of the best Radiohead songs released since the 1990s.
Along with the 2000 Radiohead song "Everything in Its Right Place", "Jigsaw Falling into Place" inspired contemporary classical composer Steve Reich's instrumental work 'Radio Rewrite'.Petridis, Alexis. [https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/mar/01/steve-reich-schoenberg-coltrane-radiohead Steve Reich on Schoenberg, Coltrane and Radiohead]. 'The Guardian' (1 March 2013) (accessed 8 March 2013) Reich described "Jigsaw Falling into Place" as "a beautiful song" with "elaborate harmonic movement".
Track listing
;7"
# "Jigsaw Falling into Place" 4:09
# "Videotape" (Live from the Basement) 4:26
;CD
# "Jigsaw Falling into Place" 4:09
# "Down Is the New Up" (Live from the Basement) 5:07
# "Last Flowers" (Live from the Basement) 4:11
Personnel
* Colin Greenwood
* Jonny Greenwood
* Ed O'Brien
* Philip Selway
* Thom Yorke
Production
* Stanley Donwood cover art
* Nigel Godrich production, mixing, engineering
* Dan Grech-Marguerat engineering
* Bob Ludwig mastering
* The Millennia Ensemble strings
* Hugo Nicolson engineering
* Graeme Stewart preproduction
* Richard Woodcraft engineering
References
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