Thom Yorke and his fellows in Radiohead recently recorded “Harry’s Patch (In Memory Of)” as a tribute to the man of the title (must’ve been fun growing up with that name), the UK’s lone surviving soldier from WWI, who passed away at the age of 111 on July 25th from, we are assuming, boredom. 111 years is a longass time to be British (JUST KIDDING DUDES). Patch’s appearance on BBC radio inspired Yorke et al to record this war hymn in an abbey just before his death, as according to Yorke, “The way he talked about war had a profound effect on me… It would be very easy for our generation to forget the true horror of war, without the likes of Harry to remind us. I hope we do not forget.” The former, fair enough, totally subjective; the latter, some (namely vets of that other World War) would argue that there are still many profound lessons to be gleaned from the millions still living who have fought and continue to fight in wars around the world. Anywayyyy, plenty of lessons for everyone. Listen to the song at Stereogum and buy it (with proceeds going to the British Legion) here.
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