The idea behind the ‘Anyone Can Play Guitar’ recordings came from an early Radiohead song of the same name. It was sarcastically written, apparently, as an ode to a certain type of musician - the type of musician who relies on their image more than their musical prowess to get where they want to go. Thom Yorke was pissed off with the fact that it seemed ANYONE could strap on a guitar and call themselves a Rockstar despite having any real talent at all. Well … I say thank fuck for that!!!
I have a deep deep love for music and an even deeper love for singing and I’d dream (and still do) that one day I would sing with a band. Although this was always something I always put on the back burner as that’s exactly what I thought it was – a dream. It all changed when one day my friend gave me a crappy old guitar and taught me a couple of chords. With these chords I wrote a few words and along with my incredibly bad guitar skills ideas were formed and I started to use this as a way of expressing myself and getting things off my chest - and also having a little fun in the process!!!! ANYONE CAN DO IT!
If it was left to the musically gifted, folk like myself would never have the opportunity to have a voice and be heard in music and do what they love doing however, I believe that for ANYONE a simple passion for music and wanting to express yourself regardless of what talent you may or may not have is all you need. And what greater way than doing it through music … ?! After all music affects EVERYBODY in some way. Music is something most of us won't live without. Music has and will continue to change the world, and let’s face it, you can’t fucking rely on politicians to do it can you?!
So with the 2 or 3 chords, comes the hair do, the photos, the image, the statement. Regardless of age, colour or creed, regardless of TALENT, ANYONE should and can fucking DO IT, ANYONE can have a VOICE, ANYONE can make a STATEMENT, ANYONE can change the WORLD and, ANYONE CAN PLAY GUITAR … and well, quite frankly, it really is as simple as that …
... so up yours Thom!
