Paranoid Android
Hyper-complex, vaguely prog-rock multi-mood epic, ranging from acoustic
angst to white noise, yet perversely chosen to be the first single
from OK
Computer. Perhaps because all those clearly defined segments
make it a
Bohemian Rhapsody for the Nineties. Apparently.
Ed: "Well, when we wrote it, one of the references was Bohemian
Rhapsody
But the other was the Pixies."
Jonny: "It's not actually complex enough to be Bohemain Rhapsody
- there's
only really two different bits there. Plus it's way too tense."
Ed: "It's not a Bohemain Rhapsody for the Nineties - it's
just a handy
reference point. It's like Creep was meant to sound like Scott
Walker... it
just didn't come out that way. But Paranoid Android is the
song we play to
people when they want to know what the album is like, cos it should
make
them think, "What the Fuck's going to happen on the rest of the
album?"
Colin: "Plus it's so long, we have time to make them a cup
of coffee while
they listen to it."
Key Lyric: "When I am King you will be first against the wall/With
your
opinions which are of no consequence at all."
Ed: "It's not about the press, if that's what you're thinking.
Thom
wouldn't be that specific."
Thom: "Everybody has an opinion. people make professions
out of it. Most
of it is white noise. It is not personal, OK? 'Opinions
are like
arseholes, everybody's got one.' What liberates Paranoid Android
is a
sense of humour - Marvin the paranoid android. The blackest
things can be
said with jokes - re, 'The Fast Show': it's funny."
Subterranean Homesick Alien (Uptight)
Sprawling, freeform, spooked-out sounding tale of alien abduction.
Title
is a homage to Bob Dylan's "Subterranean Homesick Blues", apparently.
Thom: "Yeah! Jonny's in the basement mixing up the medicine,
I'm on the
pavement thinking about the government..."
Colin: "When we were doing The Bends, John Leckie told us
about this
hollow earth theory that John Power of Cast has. Apparently,
there's a sun
revolving in the centre of the earth and there are holes in the
north and
south poles that aliens fly into. We, er, weren't completely
sold on it to
be honest, John."
Jonny: "Americans believe in alien abduction but that's about
it. I'm a
fully paid-up subscriber to Sceptical Inquirer magazine. If
you go into
a newsagent in America you'll find 30 mags about UFOs, aliens, the
supernatural, etc and Sceptical Inquirer, which has all these scientists
providing logical explanations for everything. Thanks to 'The
X-Files' and
everything, it's become the lazy option to believe in all this stuff,
but
science fascinates me far more than aliens."
Colin: "Yeah, apparently there is now neurological evidence
to prove the
existence of the human soul. They've had big meetings in the
Vatican,
because obviously the Roman Catholic church are very keen to control
it.
Er, I sound like John Power now, don't I?"
Key Lyric: "I'm just uptight."
Thom: "What do I think of 'The X-Files'? And which Spice
Girl do I like?
Exit Music (For a Film)
Brooding ballad specially composed for the movie, "Romeo & Juliet",
where
it appears alongside another Radiohead song, "Talk Show Host".
Significantly, Radiohead are first heard just as the characters
are
discussing Romeo's "black portentous humour".
Thom: "I like the film very much, it's just my sort of thing
- not quite
as many bodies as 'Hamlet'."
Ed: "It's the only song we've ever done on demand. We
were on tour with
Alanis Morissette last September when we got sent through the last
half
hour of the film. It looked great so we did this song straight
away."
Colin: "Soundtracks are a bit naff nowadays: they just stick
on some
contemporary music. We wanted to be a bit more intelligent
than that."
Ed: "The only thing I don't like is "Exit Music..." appears
over the end
credits, so it will just play to the sound of loads of chairs banging
upright."
Key Lyric: "Pack and get dressed, before your father hears
us, before all
hell breaks loose..."
Ed: "Thom looked at Shakespeare's original text and tried
to incorporate
it into the song - but he gave up on that quickly. But I still
think it
fits with the film amazingly well, especially as the lyrics are
actually
quite personal."
Let Down
Old school Radiohead song, with Thom crooning away in Bono-esque
style.
Despite the title, sounds resigned rather than angry.
Jonny: "It's like when Andy Warhol said he enjoyed being bored.
It's
about that feeling that you get when you're in transit but you're
not in
control of it - you just go past thousands of places and thousands
of
people and you're completely removed from it."
Ed: "Feeling let down is just down to your insecurities and
paranoia most
of the time, which is why the song sounds sad rather than furious.
It's
about not being in control of the situation."
Thom: "I am fascinated by how insects are squashed, especially
wasps - the
cracking sound and the yellow gak, just like people."
Key Lyric: "Crushed like a bug in the ground..."
Karma Police
Ignoring the appalling track record of the word "karma" in pop music
(Boy
George, George Harrison, etc), Radiohead use it to project an Orwellian
vision of the future and write a bonzer tune to boot.
Jonny: "It was a band catchphrase for a while on tour - whenever
someone
was behaving in a particularly shitty way, we'd say "The karma police
will
catch up with him sooner or later." You have to rely on something
like
that, even though we're probably just kidding ourselves. But
it's not a
revenge thing, just about being happy with your own behaviour."
Key Lyric: "This is what you get when you mess with us..."
Thom: "Karma is an important idea. I like it.
It makes me nicer to
people. It fills me with joy. This song makes me laugh.
It was Ed's
idea."
Fitter Happier
A computer speaks a random spiel of modern-living buzzphrases to
a
soundtrack of tinkling piano, screeching violin and, er, that's
it,
actually. Weird.
Colin: "Thom didn't want to have to say it, so we were messing
around with
a computer voicebox. We really liked the way the emotion still
comes
across, so we kept it."
Thom: "The computer was the most emotional voice I have ever
heard, at the
time."
Colin: "It sounds like Stephen Hawking is guesting on the
album. Maybe he
should have been. I used to see him when I was at college,
toddling around
in his wheelchair."
Key Lyric: "Concerned, but powerless..."
Thom: "Are the lyrics a reflection of my own life? Yes."
Ed: "It's about the lack of naturalness in modern life.
I'd like to see
the lyrics printed as a full page advert in one of those dreadful
magazines
like GQ or FHM, cos some people might believe all that stuff."
Colin: "Really, it's an exercise in finding meaning in things
that seem to
be random and chaotic and out of your control. A bit like
life, really."
Electioneering
Big, scary, searing rock track. Nothing to do with Tony Blair
and his New
Dawn for Britain, etc.
Ed: "Basically, it's about those times when you go out to
a territory and
have to sell yourselves and sell your record. You can meet
some very cool
people but, if you're pissed off or tired, it feels like a huge
propaganda
machine and you feel like a politician - kissing babies, shaking
hands..."
Jonny: "We're not a political band, but we are all political
people. One
of the first thigs I can remember is Margaret Thatcher coming to
power, so
just the fact that it's changed is revelation enough. We had
a hell of a
party that night."
Ed: "It was weird all those people going down to Downing Street
to mob
Blair. He's definitely the first pop star PM."
Colin: "The first New Grave PM more like. He IS the
New Seriousness."
Phil: "Where does that leave us then? Perhaps we're
the Labour Party of
New Grave. New Radiohead, New Danger!"
Key Lyric: "When I go forwards, you go backwards, and somewhere
we will meet..."
Thom: "This is about being liberated, this is about getting
beyond the
dirge, they are all bullshitting, but I'm already laughing.
On the other
side, I trust I can rely on your vote."
Climbing Up The Walls
Even bigger, even scarier rock track. Thom Yorke does his
best to sound
demented, but is out-done by the monumental chaos going on behind
him.
Colin: "It's quite horrible, isn't it?"
Ed: "We always knew that song had an atmosphere and it was
very easy to
capture. The white noise is loads of violins."
Colin: "We recorded it in the ballroom of this old stately
home. Dare we
say there was something Gothic about the environment? It was
certainly
very New Grave of New Grave."
Key Lyric: "In the crack of your waning smile/15 blows to
the skull..."
Thom: " 'Was it an accident that of the 10 largest mass-murderers
in
American History, eight have occurred since 1980, typically acts
of
middle-aged white men in their 30s and 40s after a prolonged period
of
being lonely, frustrated and full of rage and of 10 precipitated
by a
catastrophe in their lives such as losing their jobs or divorce?'
"New York Times October 17 1991 - quoted by Eric Hobsbawn in 'Age
of
Extremes'."
No Surprises
In contrast, the simplest, most stadium-friendly song on the album.
Built
around the chimes from a jewellery box. Lovely.
Colin: "Scare the living daylights out of 'em, then soothe
their brow:
that's the Radiohead way."
Ed: "Strangely, it was the very first song we did for the
album. Didn't
exactly set the tone, did it? If it had been the first single
it wouldn't
have been a very true representation of the album. It's a
bit like Louis
Armstrong's 'Wonderful World.'"
Colin: "We'd like it to be a single at some point but we're
not making any
promises. We are the New Labour of Rock, after all."
Key Lyric: "A heart that's full up like a landfill..."
Thom: "What is fad today is rubbish tomorrow. I am an
emotional dumping
ground."
Lucky
Highlight of the Bosnia-aiding "Help" album, included here largely
out of
embarrassment at the way it fared when released as a single.
Ed: "yeah, number 53 with a bullet or something. That
was pretty bad
considering it was for charity and it was the best song we'd ever
done. It
did seem to make a difference to how people perceived us though
- the
broadsheets started to get interested in us and stuff. And
it was a
brilliant thing to be involved in. We're very proud of it,
especially as
we took the hard option and recorded a new song. Although,
admittedly,
that's only because we're so bad at covers. Always have been
- even when
we were a school band we couldn't do them."
Key Lyric: "I'm on a roll..."
Thom: "It's our song, we want it on our album and it fits
exactly where it
is."
The Tourist
Written by Jonny, the calm after the storm. Features minimal
vocals and
maximum mellow Eric Clapton-esque guitar.
Jonny: "I'm still amazed that everyone else in the band let
it on the LP
It was a bit of a late runner. We were packing up and leaving
when we
decided to do it."
Thom: "What do I think of Jonny's songwriting? Whenever
I am tired, he is
there and awake."
Key Lyric: "Hey man slow down/Idiot slow down..."
Jonny: "We just wanted a song where we weren't paranoid about
making
something happen every three seconds and where we could record it
with
space."
Colin: "But not record it with Space. That would never
have worked,
frankly."