This is topic Ender's Game - Radiohead's "Down Is The New Up" in forum Discussions About Orson Scott Card at Hatrack River Forum.


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Posted by Traceria (Member # 11820) on :
 
A friend of mine had been recommeding that I read Ender's Game for some time, and just in the last year did I finally do so. Obviously, it made a more than favorable impression or I wouldn't be a new member here.

A few days after finishing the read, my playlist was skipping around and on came Radiohead's song "Down Is The New Up." How could I not make some connection?! It's not airtight, but definitely some common themes. [Wink]

Here are some of the lyrics if anyone is curious or not familiar with it: (if you want to read the lyrics in full, try a search for them)

I shall now amputate, I shall now contort
Because down is the new up

[ November 25, 2008, 11:05 AM: Message edited by: Traceria ]
 
Posted by Orincoro (Member # 8854) on :
 
There are more Douglas Adams references in Radiohead than anything else literary, as far as I can figure.

Also, Radiohead's average age is 38, which puts them slightly outside the target demo for the book, which means york or somebody would have to have read it as an adult in order to make that one reference, which is in itself tenuous, because "down is the new up" is not the same as any of the references to spatial coordination in Ender's Game.
 
Posted by Traceria (Member # 11820) on :
 
That's all fine and well, but my point was not that Radiohead by any stretch of the imagination wrote this song with Ender's Game in mind. It was more humor at the coincidence that both reading the book and hearing the song would converge in time. If you expand your parameters some, you could simply say that they have this in common: don't take gravity as we know it (the earthbound type) for granted. My overly analytical friend who recommended the book and who also loves Radiohead got a nice laugh out of it.

You might find this site interesting: www.siblproject.org
 
Posted by LargeTuna (Member # 10512) on :
 
yeah, love it when songs sound like books! cool [Cool]
on another note, allways thought that Space and the Woods (song name) by Late of the Pier (band name) sounded a lot like the rest of the ender books on Lucitania and whatnot, heres the lyrics:

Suicide is in my blood
It always was
but it doesn't evaporate in the light any more

And this world is no place
For a mind or a thought
No its not
Well thats been said before

But space and the woods still know who I am
and I know they don't owe me anything
not after what I've done.

Put on my radiation suit and slip away
I'm on the run from what I've become

And this life (like suicide)
Runs at a lot of different speeds
and I know they don't owe me anything
not after what I've done

(The ending doesnt fit too well though):
I've done nothing
I've done nothing
but they forgive anything
like how I don't stop you
breaking my arms
and chopping chopping me down
 
Posted by All4Nothing (Member # 11601) on :
 
***Spoilers in this post if you haven't read Speaker for the Dead or Xenocide***

Wow LT.....that really does put me in mind of Lusitania. And I think I could even fit the ending in there also.

I've done nothing
I've done nothing (a tree stands still)
but they forgive anything (humans forgive each other for not planting their dead hero)
like how I don't stop you
breaking my arms
and chopping chopping me down (reference to the destruction caused to the main piggie forest when the tree killed Quim)


I know it's not a direct reference, but that was fun to play with in my mind. On a side note, I'm gonna have to search out and listen to that song now.

[ November 12, 2008, 11:49 AM: Message edited by: All4Nothing ]
 
Posted by Traceria (Member # 11820) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by LargeTuna:
(The ending doesnt fit too well though):
I've done nothing
I've done nothing
but they forgive anything
like how I don't stop you
breaking my arms
and chopping chopping me down

Wow, you weren't kidding (about the whole song)!

To continue All4Nothing's thought, the "like how I don't stop you breaking my arms..." lines sort of fit in with the piggies' (and Pipo's and Libo's) willingness to enter into the third life. Though, there is no true chopping involved in that process. Oh well, loosely related. [Wink]
 
Posted by All4Nothing (Member # 11601) on :
 
It's very interesting that I'm about to say the same thing LT said to me, when I first got here, to you Trace.

I called him Large or something, I can't remember now. And he said to call him LT.

Call me A4N....only because it'll save you having to spell it out that long name. [Smile]
 
Posted by Traceria (Member # 11820) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by All4Nothing:
It's very interesting that I'm about to say the same thing LT said to me, when I first got here, to you Trace.

Ha ha! Thanks for the head's up, A4N! ;D

Whatever works for me - Trace, T, Tra. I get it all. :]
 
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
 
I hate to be the grinch, but Card has a rule about posting song lyrics on the forums here. We're officially allowed to post only two lines from a song that is still under copyright. It's always seemed silly to me, but it's not my forum.
 
Posted by All4Nothing (Member # 11601) on :
 
It's ok Noe'ing is half the battle!
 
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
 
:: laugh ::
 
Posted by All4Nothing (Member # 11601) on :
 
Sorry Noe, just couldn't resist. I'm glad you mentioned it actually, till you did, I thought it was just in the writer's forum.
 
Posted by T:man (Member # 11614) on :
 
Ok no, just no Traceria I am the T you are not to be called that ever again!

heh heh heh... If someone calls you T just start screaming "I AM NOT T I AM TRACERIA!!!!!"

It'd be kinda' funny...
 
Posted by All4Nothing (Member # 11601) on :
 
I listened to that song LT. (got the speakers working for my computer, amongst other things) It wasn't really my thing, but I really like the lyrics.
 
Posted by LargeTuna (Member # 10512) on :
 
Yeah [Big Grin] that kind of crazy pop techno isn't everones favourite stuff. [Wink] but cool!

and sorry Noemon, i didn't know about that rule! I'll be more mindful next time. we can just post a link to the lyrics next time right?
 
Posted by Traceria (Member # 11820) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Noemon:
I hate to be the grinch, but Card has a rule about posting song lyrics on the forums here. We're officially allowed to post only two lines from a song that is still under copyright. It's always seemed silly to me, but it's not my forum.

Thanks for the head's up! As a newbie, I hadn't a clue, not having come across anything about the rule (yet). What do I do...can I edit?


quote:
Originally posted by T:man:
heh heh heh... If someone calls you T just start screaming "I AM NOT T I AM TRACERIA!!!!!"

It'd be kinda' funny...

Ha ha... I'll keep that plan in mind. Actually, when I was a kid my granddad called me Big T because my little brother's name also shares that first initial. *shrug* I'm flexible, though, so whatever people want to call me, so long as it doesn't incringe on someone else's nickname, I'm cool. [Smile]
 


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