Songs from Soundtracks That Don't Suck #4: Talk Show Host by Radiohead from the Soundtrack to "Romeo + Juliet"

Today's song comes from Chelsea Gorham, a director at LEX 18. To be honest this is actually a really great pick from her. It comes from the Romeo + Juliet soundtrack. The soundtrack was huge at the time of the film's release in 1996 with a lot of memorable songs coming from it. But for many people, "Talk Show Host" by the band Radiohead, remains their favorite song. 

For one thing, the whole tone of the song just fits the film. Baz Luhrmann's interpretation of the William Shakespeare play is wild and very angsty at times. This song perfectly fits into the angsty part of the equation. 

The part of the film that the song plays in is very appropriate. Leonardo DiCaprio, who plays Romeo, is walking along the fictional Verona Beach. He is in despair. The growing feud between his family (The Capulet family) and another family (The Montauge family) is tearing him apart inside. The scene starts with the family, minus Romeo, looking upon him from their limo as he walks along the beach alone.

We see it in the ruins all around the beach, which clearly has seen better days. The music matches Romeo's mood and the ruins that surround him. "Radiohead" lead singer Thom Yorke's voice sets the tone right from the first line in the lyrics: 

I want to, I want to be someone else or I'll explode

I mean, those lyrics are just spot on for this moment! Not just in mood but in what Romeo is feeling inside his head. You could read those lyrics as exactly what Romeo is thinking about in that moment. 

Luhrmann does a great job directing this scene as well. He lets the camera follow DiCaprio around and also gets some shots of the decaying area around him. It's angsty and moody but it is just the RIGHT amount of angsty and moody. 

Of the film overall, I am not enamored with it. It is too over the top and the characters get lost in the scenery at times. But this scene however is a gem. Most of all it captures the mood of what Luhrmann was trying to go for in the film. It really is attuned to where Romeo is right at the start of the story. 

The last lyrics of the song, (I'm ready, I'm ready, I'm ready, I'm ready I'm ready) sound like something that Romeo would say if anyone was standing there with him at the moment in time. Considering what is to come Romeo soon in the film, those lyrics are a fitting end to the scene in more ways that one. 

- Hash