Desert Island Disc Challenge: Radiohead ‘I Might Be Wrong: Live Recordings’

Picking one album to be stranded with on a desert island wasn’t easy.

I Might Be Wrong, Radiohead’s live album from 2001, may have only eight songs, but for many reasons, it’s the perfect choice. There’s always something new to detect in a Radiohead song. I could listen to “Myxomatosis” every day and notice something new every time. So I knew I had to pick a Radiohead album.

I Might Be Wrong was in my car for most of my high school career, making it very nostalgic for me.

When I was moving to Seattle from California, I had to say goodbye to my best friend. We were sitting in my car listening to “True Love Waits” (I cannot say enough about how breathtakingly beautiful and pained this song is. I will tear up right now if I try) and when the applause rose at the end, my friend turned the volume up right before Thom Yorke said, “Thank you everybody. Goodnight.”

And it made me cry. Even though it sounds totally cheesy and adolescent, it was one of many memories that this album was the soundtrack for.

One of the reasons it never left my car was because my car only played CDs and it was one of the few random discs I had to choose from (which means it previously belonged to one of my older brothers or my dad).

I only ever listened to I Might Be Wrong in my car. Unlike my favorite Radiohead album, Kid A, I haven’t worn this one out. I haven’t even listened to it much since I moved to Seattle and left my car in California. So, if I were to be find myself on a deserted island today, it would still have some freshness to it.

The album has a good mix of faster songs like “The National Anthem” and “Idioteque,” — and my favorite Radiohead song “Everything in Its Right Place” — as well as ethereal classics like “Morning Bell” and “Like Spinning Plates.”

With only one album to listen to, a range of sounds is vital.

I imagine that being on a deserted island would obviously bring on deep feelings of isolation. Studio albums are basically created in a vacuum, so it would be healthy to hear the noise of a crowd and imagine large groups of people

I am obsessed with the art of performing, and being able to hear someone performing would help me stay sane, by reminding me of that part of myself.  In essence, I would be sharing my deserted island with not only Radiohead, but also thousands of their fans.

I would need that kind of company if I were forced to live in separation from civilization.