BEN OKRI
The Famished Road
He is born into a world of poverty, ignorance and injustice, but Azaro awakens with a smile on his face. Despite belonging to a spirit world made of enchantment, where there is no suffering, Azaro chooses to stay in the land of the Living: to feel it, endure it, know it and love it. This is his story.
Radiohead’s “Street Spirit” was inspired by the American band R.E.M. and the novel The Famished Road by Ben Okri. Thom said in The Famished Road there is a three-headed spirit that leads the main character down a road, so that’s apparently where the title came from.
Thom Said “The song ‘Street Spirit’ from The Bends was completely influenced by Ben Okri’s book The Famished Road, which I read on tour in America; and also by REM – it was just a straight rip-off, you know. I’ve ripped them off left, right and centre for years and years and years and years”
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