Music is an essential part of our daily lives. As we progress throughout our days, we see people with headphones, earbuds, or AirPods everywhere. You might wonder, “Why is this important? Who cares if people wear those?” Time by time, everyone starts to love any genre of music or anything related to it if they haven't earlier. Seeing so many people wearing headphones just to listen to music shows the deep attachment we have to the art of music. Art can be the freedom of expression. A freedom to make a story or write about anything, the beauty of music can tell us a story through the majestic sounds of vocals, guitars, pianos and more! One of the most essential things to music of course is the creators: the artists. The very people who make this kind of art.
Radiohead contains some well-renowned artists and it is considered one of the most influential bands of all time. They have also created what reviewers have acclaimed as “one of the best albums of all time,” OK Computer. Radiohead's beginnings are short and simple, in the mid-1980s, English schoolboys Thom Yorke, brothers Johnny and Colin Greenwood, Ed O’Brien, and Phillip Selway all went to the same school together in Abington School in Abingdon, Oxfordshire and became friends. They decided that they were going to form a band in 1985. The band was originally called “On a Friday” but then it was changed in the late-1980s to Radiohead. They later signed with EMI in 1991 and released their debut album Pablo Honey with their biggest hit, “Creep,” which elevated them into widespread popularity. They later released their sophomore album, The Bends in 1995, and in 1997, this album is an emotional roller-coaster and is a flawless masterpiece. As we go down the track list, I will explain why Radiohead created the greatest rock album of all time, their magnum opus.
“Airbag” is the very first song on the album and it tells us a story on Thom Yorke's past and how this event changed him as a person, In the opening seconds we can hear a guitar solo and the a jingle-like sound, then the first verse begins by talking about an idealistic view of reincarnation or being reborn. These themes are the most relevant to this song as Thom Yorke finds his true identity in the aftermath of the car crash, in the second verse and final verse, Thom Yorke feels this burst of energy after the car crash. “Airbag” tells us a story on how a man got revived, this human being found himself, saw who he was and now is excited for the possibilities of what he can do as a new man. This song deserves much more praise and more love on their views of change or the feeling of being reborn. after a traumatic event.
“Paranoid Android” is the second song on the album and critically acclaimed the "best song by Radiohead" in their entire discography. This song talks about the unpleasant experience that Thom Yorke faced at a Los Angeles bar and he got inspired to write a song about it. In the first verse and then later the chorus, he speaks about an uneasy feeling he is experiencing at the bar and he has that tension in himself where he feels like he is surrounded by not humans but "unborn chicken voices" later on into the chorus, it shows Thom's views the narrator of the song, as this weak man who is ruining the mood for everyone else, the odd man out, the epitome of the shell of a person. This entire song is wrapped around the idea of being the “Paranoid Android.” Thom Yorke's description of the narrator's feelings at the bar is brilliant, a confused man who didn't feel he was normal compared to the other people enjoying their time at the bar. Despite being the longest track on the album, it can still make an amazing view on a story.
“Subterranean Homesick Alien” is one of the most interesting songs in the catalog of this album but it doesn't stand out in a negative light, this song musically gives off his alien-like feeling, this unnatural song where it feels out of place in the category. Thom is describing his experience in his town. He feels this mundanity where his town just feels so normal or just boring, described like the sentences in verse 1 as, “the smell of the warm summer air, I live in a town where you can’t smell a thing.” By downplaying the good of his town, he then describes that aliens might just be watching humans for the entertainment part in the last part of verse 1, also claims “all of those weird weird creatures who lock up their spirits, drill holes in themselves and live their secrets.” In this last part, he describes human insecurity from the alien perspective, alluding to the fact that we damage ourselves by “drilling holes in ourselves.” like drugs or other stuff we do that affect us negatively. Then verse two tells us what Thom Yorke wants to do if he was with aliens. Overall, this song is from the perspective of Thom’s view of mundanity and negativity in a weird but affected fashion,
“Exit Music (For A Film)” is the fourth song of the album and it was used to be apart of the soundtrack for the movie Romeo and Juliet (1996) and the song was used to show the perspective of the two lovers, in the first verse, presumably Romeo, is attempting to wake up Juliet and then notices the washed up tears of hers from the lyric “the drying of your tears.” Romeo and Juliet were planning to run away but they notice the danger of their plan, and the lyrics of “all hell’s breaking loose” paired with a subtle beat change represents the couple recognizing the backlash they'll get when this will happen and sees the loss of the views they'll get from others and will not care. In the last part of the song, Thom Yorke recognizes the sad circumstances Romeo and Juliet had to face because of the rivaling family dynamics and utilizes the beat by making it more eccentric, then Thom Yorke ends the song with the key essential for his perspective on their dynamic as he references unity in death by saying “Now that we are one in everlasting piece” engulfing the idea of the unity in the afterlife. This song depicts the tragedy of the young lovebirds in the best way possible, as well as their perspectives on them, within the context of a musical masterpiece.
“Let Down” is the fifth song of the album and the lyrics discuss the narrator's disillusionment, disappointment, or unusual feelings in modern life. This narrator conveys the idea of modern society as repetitive and boring in a way, he starts off by making fun of modern transportation in the lyrics like "transport, motorways, and tramlines, starting and then stopping." Seeing it devoid of it all and then he recognizes the absurdity of the human future. Describes it like a "crushed bug" because crushed bugs will still be alive but will strive to keep moving and the narrator thinks of it as not normal and it fits with the main idea of “Let Down.” The narrator is trying to convey the thought of a let down, a basic disappointment, because as humans we dissolve but still keep living. Let down is a song that recognizes the inevitable unclear focusing on our view of living, we’re alive, but are we actually living?
“Karma Police” is the sixth song on the album and one of the more known songs on the record. This song presents us with the repeating idea of karma in our lives. The narrator portrays the idea of karma depicted as a police force so he calls them the “Karma Police.” In the first few verses, the narrator describes the very people that deserve karma. As the song is getting further and further through its final seconds, the narrator begins to realize that he is also a victim of karma. He views himself as if he was a leader but unfortunately, he isn't. He saw the truth behind this concept of karma and it happens to everyone, even the people reading this article. This song shows us the truth of our own consequences and it's an underrated song in a way of the storytelling, it's a beautiful song and highly underappreciated.
“Fitter Happier” is the seventh song on the album and it's one of the most underappreciated songs of all time, considering it's on one of the most popular alternative rock albums of all time, one would think it would be more appreciated than it truly is. However, it’s painted as an undiscussed masterpiece that contributes to the idea of how society wants you to be as a normal, ordinary person. “Fitter Happier” is played on a slow piano beat. This warped reality of happiness but this sort of controlling way of finding happiness is. This song is 2 minutes long and it's an Endless list of how you should be considered as a functioning member of society and how as a man or a woman, it makes us insecure to live up to the standards as the perfect contributing member of society, The last verses say “a pig in a cage on antibiotics,” this line is one of the most scariest things when you considered the story of this song, we are the pig in the hierarchy, we are the pig, not powerful, simply the prey and there's a predator in the shadows running the business.
“Electioneering” is another underrated and over hated part of this album. It's fun in the way they used the guitars and it just makes your ears ring of excitement, it’s creative, and it explores ideas of politics. In 1997, Tony Blair got elected during the recording of OK Computer and Tony Blair changed some rules about the labor party of the United Kingdom and Radiohead were skeptical of Blair's actions and thought he was trying to get votes with hollow lies of reform. Radiohead’s lyric of “I will stop at nothing.” foreshadowing the lies politicians say to get votes, “Electioneering” is simply a perfect song to portray views on politics.
“Climbing Up The Walls” is the ninth song on the album, and many’s personal favorite tracks on this album. Not only is this song written well, but the instrumentals in the background are fantastic. In this song, it was briefly inspired by how Thom Yorke worked in the mental institution, and he tells the very listeners in the song that paranoia will be with you in your life a lot, but then you have to realize that you need to control that paranoia, and this song serves as a warning to people who have this paranoia or have doubt in their life or have demons in their life. The impact of this demon will control us a lot in our lives, but we have to keep going on.
“No Surprises” is the tenth song on the album and the most renowned song by Radiohead in the entire album. This song relates to “Fitter Happier,” as these two songs resemble each other and have similar ideas about how the government is trying to show you how the perfect life is supposed to represent what is just mundane and unfulfilling. “Fitter Happier” was more related to the perspective of feeling like a robot when told to do these tasks while “No Surprises” focuses on the actual human recognition of useless people find that they wasted their life on a boring job and just a mundane life that will always be easily forgotten, the title of “No Surprises” represents how we chase for those ideal life planted in our heads but eventually it’ll be no surprises because we been chasing this dream of the ideal perfect life for our whole life even if we didn't recognize it.
“Lucky” is the eleventh song on the album and second to last song. This song starts off with the narrator saying “I’m on a roll,” which is a phrase usually used in terms of gambling when someone gets on a lucky winning streak. This is a representation of luck, correlates with the idea of getting lucky a multitude of times. The narrator then asks in the first verse asking for a person named Sarah to kill him, kill him with the idea of love, “it will be a glorious day.” However, those weren’t the original lyrics for this verse. The original lyrics said “fill me up with love,” “Fill me Sarah with love.” Sarah is not a person in the story but more rather a way the narrator can make a point like climbing up the walls with this identity of a man being represented by anxiety and paranoia within a person. Sarah embodies the identity of love. In the chorus, the metaphor for love continues as before again, he represents himself as this superhero who can save the day. The narrator thinks they are the superheroes to Sarah, but really he needs a superhero for himself. In verse two, the narrator realizes his own ego and realizes that he doesn't need to build this superhero personality but just has self esteem but later on he gets into a plane crash. Lucky is that one perfect song on every album that tells us all things come to an end, but not everything will work out in the end.
“The Tourist” is the twelfth and final song on OK Computer, the “perfect end” to one of the best rock albums of all time, it talks about something simple: happy tourists. Johnny Greenwood and Thom Yorke were actually inspired by tourists when they saw Americans frantically trying to visit every place in England so they wrote this song, This song feels natural as the final song on the album, even if it doesn't conclude any main loose ends on the album, it talks about one certain thing this album has been lacking, the appreciation of being happy. Thom Yorke and Radiohead perform their last song for the album to say 6 simple words to the listener, “Hey man, slow down, slow down.” Slow down in life, don’t rush everything in your life, feel more grateful for your circumstances. “The Tourist” is a song to show people the real joy of touring around the world. It could be said that for people who are “tourists,” you will grow without the gratitude of your surroundings.
OK Computer shows us topics of depression, love, mundanity in life, paranoia, karma, and other topics compiled into a single album. It is argued that there hasn’t been an album that can surpass it musically or tell a story like this album can. There will never ever be another album like OK Computer, and will always be Radiohead’s magnum opus.
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