r/TheSmile • u/IllWalrus7733 • Mar 29 '26
Bending Hectic is such a masterpiece
I dont even listen to the smile I mainly just listen to radiohead but Oh my god this song is so much better than most radiohead songs its literally like top 3 songs of all time its so good and I cry everytime I listen to it.
Is Bending hectic like THE the smile song or are there songs that are similar/better than it ?
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u/Meditationmachineelf Mar 29 '26
I’d listen to all of wall of eyes. It’s a whole experience. My favorites other than that are The Smoke, No words, Zero Sum, and Waving a white flag
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u/DaydreamingAMSP Mar 29 '26
Open the floodgates
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u/Repulsive-Maybe-8409 Mar 29 '26
one of the most beautiful songs of all time IMO 🐠 it reminds me of an aquarium
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u/street-trash Mar 29 '26
It is a great song. Heavily inspired by a classic Jazz tune but at the same time it's completely different. You might like that whole album if you let it play a few times in the background. Or at least some more songs from it. Cutouts is great too.
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u/Errand_Wolfe_ Mar 29 '26
Heavily inspired by a classic Jazz tune
which one?
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u/street-trash Mar 31 '26
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u/Errand_Wolfe_ Mar 31 '26
where did you find this? this song is incredible. its like if robert fripp was on a moon shaped pool
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u/street-trash Mar 31 '26
Reddit lol. Maybe in this forum a while back.
Yeah I like listening to both. I love what the smile did with it.
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u/Hillelgo Apr 01 '26
I'll add that also there are really nice Penderecki vibes here. It's classical contemporary + rock based on a classic jazz tune
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u/InRainbows123207 Mar 29 '26
Skirting on the Surface, Thin Thing, Teleharmonic, Wall of Eyes are some others you may enjoy.
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u/trabuki Mar 29 '26
Skrtin on the Surface is really good. And most of their songs really. If you dig Radiohead you will dig all that they do.
Bending Hectic is incredible though, it’s The Smile’s A Day in the Life.
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u/wheriendndyubegin Mar 29 '26
The song is on par with anything Radiohead have done. I put it in my top ten songs of Radiohead or Radiohead adjacent.
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u/ComoSeaYeah Mar 29 '26
I was just saying this last night. Total masterpiece. The beginning is beautiful but omg that crescendo!! It never ceases to give me chills.
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u/awesomeally4 Mar 29 '26
i recommend listening to Cutouts in one sitting with your full attention, and taking it in as a whole body of work. i think you’ll be convinced of how incredible The Smile is.
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u/Bravehall_001 Mar 29 '26
Now try: “Colours Fly” and “Eyes & Mouth.” I’m a diehard Radiohead fan but I honestly think The Smile is dare I say: better.
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u/FlowerSingingMan2025 Mar 30 '26
Bending Hectic is amazing
I know this might be controversial but I believe it's a better song because it's not produced by Nigel Godrich. He would constrained it and make it more light weight and polished .
BH is the best thing Thom has done in 25 yrs
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u/davkub Mar 29 '26
100% agree… their magnum opus - my #1 streamed song 2 years straight on apple music (‘23 and ‘24).
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u/drew_84 Mar 30 '26
The effort it takes an creating a post telling everyone how much you love a song and everyone should tell you what else to listen to by the same band would be better spent literally just listening to anything else by the same band.
You just press play and then listen. It's really easy
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u/IllWalrus7733 Mar 30 '26
Yuh just wanted to glaze the song ig but ion wanna listen to literally every the smile song
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u/MoltenCorgi Mar 30 '26
Bending Hectic is truly something special. I’ve had a favorite (Radiohead) song for a good 20 years now but, Bending Hectic may be edging it out. I also really like Teleharmonic but I prefer the live versions to what’s on the album.
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u/jujubeans1891 Mar 30 '26
After the Smile concert I went to at Asheville, NC in 2023, I spent a day on the Blue Ridge Parkway listening to that glorious song on repeat, as well as Staircase. A memorable and perfectly in-sync descent off the parkway to Let Down also followed. One of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been and this song will always remind me of it.
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u/Hillelgo Apr 01 '26
Maybe an analysis of the song will be interesting: The basic texture of the song is generated from a chord of 5 notes on 6 beats, which makes the highlighted note different each iteration. The string section is based the composer Penderecki (see threnody for the victims of Hiroshima for example) which johnny is very inspired by. Basically it's an extremely radioheadish song - they have the same chord beat displacement as in weird fishes and have the string thing from amnesiac
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u/Royal_Turn2653 Apr 02 '26
Stay with it. It’s a great album overall. My only gripe is production-a weird veil over the whole of it. Great song cycle.
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u/ninlamer Mar 29 '26
Wall of eyes is a masterpiece. Unreal how great that album is