OK Computer

~~ 500 FOLLOWER SPECIAL ~~

This is the longest review I've ever written (3,123 words). I've poured everything I have into creating the most comprehensive review I possibly can for one of the most acclaimed and talked about records in music. I hope you enjoy these thoughts. <3

Radiohead's magnum opus: 'OK Computer'

How can I do this album justice? It's certainly a daunting task. This 1997 release is regarded as one of the greatest albums of all time, one of the most essential and influential listening experiences in music. 'OK Computer' is the groups third studio album, the first in which they received full artistic control over their work. The album is full of harrowing themes of depression, anxiety, corruption, paranoia, and death, and coming off of the success of their second album 'The Bends', is a jarring stylistic shift. This album is abstract and dense in the most terrifying of ways.

For this review, I will cover each track individually and in-depth, with lyrical analysis to help construct what I believe to be the main themes and takeaways. There's lots to discuss, so I suppose I'll just dive right in...

---- Track 1 - Airbag ----

Airbag is an autobiographical song about a near-death experience Thom Yorke had in 1987. Thom was in a devastating car accident, but an airbag managed to save his life. Rather than simply carrying on with his current life, this song is about the sense of rebirth he felt following the accident. Thom feels that a life-changing event, or an event in which your life is threatened, is akin to that of reincarnation: that following a traumatic event, you have an opportunity to become a new person.

Airbag was also inspired by the poem "A Cradle Song" from William Blake's 1789 book Songs of Innocence and Experience. A copy of this book was donated to charity by Thom Yorke, and inside were early lyrics from this song.

"In a deep deep sleep
I am born again"

The poem itself is about birth, or in the context of Airbag, rebirth, and the innocence it brings. Following the trauma of childbirth comes the innocence of the child. Thom Yorke is comparing his trauma of emerging from a car wreck as being born again with a fresh innocence.

I also find it interesting how throughout this album, as you will read, Thom Yorke frequently comments on the progression of technology and the dangers that may bring. On this song, Thom mentions that it is a "fast German car" that he was driving during his accident, but it is an airbag that saves his life. The advancement of technology is both the danger, and the savior in this situation.

"In a fast German car
I'm amazed that I survived
An airbag saved my life"

---- Track 2 - Paranoid Android ----

Th title of Paranoid Android comes from the character Marvin the Paranoid Android in Douglas Adams' book series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Mavin is a highly intelligent robot with anxiety and depression because, while he claims to be 50,000 time smarter than any human, he is only tasked with mundane jobs that don't require his intellect. He is rarely, if ever, able to use his robo-brain for any real purpose other than mindless jobs.

Paranoid Android is split into three distinct sections, opening up in a bar where our character is overwhelmed by the noise.

"Please, could you stop the noise?
I'm trying to get some rest
From all the unborn chicken voices
In my head"

This character is a bit of a depressing downer in the lively bar, similar to that of Marvin. This character holds their thoughts in high regard and mentions that when they or king, or when the revolution comes around, those mindless and opinionless bar-goers will be the first against the wall (meaning the first to be killed).

Enter the second distinct section of the song, in which our character begins to lash out. The idea of being seen simply as another normal person in a cycle of corruption, or worse, being forgotten altogether, causes our character to get furious, screaming "off with his head, man, off with his head, man." Marvin the Paranoid Android was also frequently forgotten and ignored as a running gag in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, but never lashed out like our character has here.

Now enter the third and final section, the stunning second bridge, surely one of my favorite moments on the entire album. A culmination of spiraling anxiety that is seriously panic inducing...

---- Track 3 - Subterranean Homesick Alien ----

Subterranean Homesick Alien is a continuation on the isolation we began to see from Paranoid Android. Our character lives in a small simple town, where above, aliens hover in their spacecrafts. The character harks on how "uptight" his friends and the rest of the people in his town are, isolating himself through his own intelligence.

"I wish they'd swoop down in a country lane
Late at night when I'm driving
Take me on board their beautiful ship
Show me the world as I'd love to see it"

Our character wishes that these aliens could scoop him up in their spaceship and show him a different perspective on the world, one where he might fit in and be appreciated for his intellect.

"I'd tell all my friends but they'd never believe me
They'd think that I'd finally lost in completely
I'd show them the stars and the meaning of life
They'd shut me away"

"But I'd be alright, alright
Mom, I'm alright, alright"

Despite seeming to now understand the meaning of life, our character comes to realize that he is just as "uptight" as the rest of his friends. Even after seeing life from a different perspective, it doesn't matter to our character anymore, as he simple goes back to trying to fit in. Despite trying his best to tell himself he's not like everyone else, in reality, they're all the same.

---- Track 4 - Exit Music (For a Film) ----

For the 1996 movie Romeo + Juliet, director Baz Luhrmman approached Thom Yorke and Radiohead about writing a song for the movie. Luhrmann showed the band the final 30 minutes to his film, and Radiohead was instantly compelled to create Exit Music (For a Film). The song ended up playing during the final credits of the film. I watched this movie during my Senior year English class, and I wish I could go back now and see that with the context I have now. I had now idea who Radiohead was, let alone had I begun to listen to music seriously. Granted, I can still go back and watch the film again, or just watch the last 30 minutes, but ehhh.

Exit Music (For a Film) starts so slow and deceivingly soft, before breaking into a heavily distorted and epic finale. The instrumental fades out, leaving us with Yorke quietly repeating:

"We hope that you choke
That you choke"

The lyrics are heavily based around the story of Romeo + Juliet. Yorke sings about two lovers that need to escape an impending doom before it's too late, that doom being people who don't want them together because of established "rules".

---- Track 5 - Let Down ----

Let Down brings us more direct talk about humans growing reliance and acceptance of technology: technology that seems to have no limit or boundaries.

"Transport, motorways and tramlines
Starting and then stopping
Taking off and landing
The emptiest of feelings"

Thom is trying to tell us about how these forms of transportation, and others, are beginning to take away our humanity. However, it's these forms of transportation that is a metaphor for our own sentiment, starting and stopping, continuing to let us down.

"Let down and hanging around
Crushed like a bug in the ground"

Entering verse two, Thom makes another metaphor that humans are becoming like a bug crushed into the ground from their own sentiment, from the impending digital age. The bug is not dead, simply shattered, crushed into the pavement and left to twitch and watch their own slow demise. Quite the gruesome picture.

Life is simply a constant cycle of these highs and lows. When you are high, there is always a "let down" around the bend.

---- Track 6 - Karma Police ----

Thom Yorke and Johnny Greenwood have been quoted in saying that this song was meant to be purely comedic, though it's a brutally real scenario when seen through a modern lens, even if it wasn't their intention when creating the song.

Karma Police is a song about conformity and an individual or group of people who feel empowered to judge and punish the non-conformist: those they see as different.

"Karma police, arrest this man
He talks in maths, he buzzes like a fridge
He's like a detuned radio"

Our first victim of the karma police is a man who "talks in maths" and "buzzes like a fridge". This man talks more scientifically than our narrator, which might as well be nonsense for them. The buzz like a fridge, meaning they constantly have noise, or opinions, but it's simply viewed as gibberish. I find it interesting how these two facts contradict each other: the first describing someone who speaks intelligently, and the second someone who only speaks nonsense. Regardless, this person is seen as "different" or a non-conformist to the general hivemind.

"Karma police, arrest this girl
Her Hitler hairdo is making me feel ill
And we have crashed her party"

The second victim is this girl with an abnormal hairdo. Our narrator sees her high-and-tight haircut as different and non-feminine, and thus is prepared to judge her. The concept of feeling ill based solely on someone hair choice may have seen satirical in 1997, though unfortunately is something I'm sure many of us could imagine hearing today.

---- Track 7 - Fitter Happier ----

Fitter Happier is not much of a song, but still an essential part of the album and understanding its concepts. A robotic voice (that of Fred, the text-to-speech voice present on 90's Macintosh computers) runs through what is essentially a checklist to living a healthier and happier life. Despite describing a positive lifestyle (working out, eating healthy, checking your credit), there is something incredibly eerie about this spoken word passage.

I believe this track is all about conformity and stripping people of their humanity. Despite the positive message on the surface, this cold robotic voice is encouraging the listener to conform to a pattern that the rest of the world is heading towards. Humans are becoming more and more conscious of their health and happiness during this time, and the rise of the digital age makes it far easier to access these resources. Still, the checklist described in Fitter Happier, if becoming true and mainstream, marks the collapse of our humanity and individuality.

----Track 8 - Electioneering ----

One of the more straightforward political commentary songs on 'OK Computer' and in Radiohead's discography, Electioneering is about the corruption of political power and how those with power are not looking out for the interests of the common citizen.

"I will stop, I will stop at nothing
Say the right things when electioneering
I trust I can rely on your vote"

These words are simple: they describe a politician running for office who will say anything or do anything to secure the vote. Whether or not they follow through on the promises they made during the election process becomes less relevant once elected. This song and these lyrics came as a direct response to Tony Blair's victory in the 1997 UK General Election, where Radiohead didn't believe that he would follow through on the political promises he made.

"When I go forwards
You go backwards
And somewhere we will meet"

The chorus features your typical Radiohead cynicism. While politicians go forwards, the general public only goes backwards. "Somewhere we will meet" is a reference to voodoo economics, or trickle down economics. The idea is that tax cuts for the rich and wealthy will help to stimulate the economy, bringing prosperity to the lower and middle class. Though, the idea that two groups will meet while going in opposite directions is part of the cynicism Radiohead is well known for.

---- Track 9 - Climbing Up the Walls ----

You know the feeling of being alone, but the anxiety or fear that someone or something is watching you? Climbing Up the Walls is that fear personified. In this situation, there is something that is watching you: paranoia itself.

"I am the key to the lock in your house
That keeps your toys in the basement
And if you get too far inside
You'll only see my reflection"

These lines play with the idea of combining the known and the unknown into one shadowy figure that comes out at night. This shadow is always by your side, hanging over your shoulder, but all you will ever see is your own reflection.

"And either way you turn, I'll be there
Open up your skull, I'll be there
Climbing up the walls"

This imagery genuinely gives me the shivers. No matter where you are, your paranoia will always follow you. You aren't even safe inside your own mind. The anxiety is personified as this terrifying monster crawling up the walls in your house. Despite everything, you are only stuck with yourself, set to embrace your own depression and anxiety by yourself. The loneliness is crushing.

---- Track 10 - No Surprises ----

Coming from the haunting lyrics and instrumental of Climbing Up the Walls, the intro to No Surprises sounds like a children's lullaby. Granted, peacefully being put to sleep is what this track is all about...

If Climbing Up the Walls was truly terrifying, then No Surprises is truly depressing.

"A heart that's full up like a landfill
A job that slowly kills you
Bruises that won't heal"

The only thing that exists in our narrators life is job that is killing him, like a landfill being piled up high. The cuts and bruises are no longer healing paints a bleak picture of depression.

"I'll take a quiet life
A handshake of carbon monoxide
No alarms and no surprises (x3)"

After a life of being unheard and unappreciated by his government and his fellow man, the narrator is humbly asking for a quiet life. He has given up on being heard, and rather would live out the rest of his short days in peaceful ignorance. "A handshake of carbon monoxide" would mean a quiet death, and our narrator asks that there be no alarms and no surprises to stop him. The death by carbon monoxide could also be a metaphor, rather than be taken literally, for blissful ignorance to the dangers and anxieties that surround people. Sometimes it is easier to live in silent, deadly conformity rather than attempt to speak up and help your situation.

---- Track 11 - Lucky ----

Lucky can be viewed as something of an extension on the opening track Airbag, where the narrator has faced a traumatic disaster and comes out the other side with a rush of energy and optimism.

"Pull me out of the aircrash
Pull me out of the lake
'Cause I'm your superhero
We are standing on the edge"

Before this chorus, we hear about a potential love interest named Sarah, who is the one pulling our narrator out of this plane wreck. The narrator has a refreshed exuberance, ready to continue to take on the world with Sarah by his side. He refers to himself as a superhero, which relates back to the lyric on Airbag "I'm back to save the universe". Once again, this near-death experience has our narrators' spirits and has had him believe that maybe he is something beyond human (which even could be referenced on something like Subterranean Homesick Alien).

---- Track 12 - The Tourist ----

The Tourist, for me, is a perfect and all-encompassing, satisfying conclusion to the roller-coaster ride of emotions this character and the listener have been through. The Tourist is a call for all of us to slow down and simply take in the humanity of life.

"Sometimes I get overcharged
That's when you see sparks
They ask me where the hell I'm going
At a thousand feet per second"

Our tourist narrator has been moving at a thousand feet per second, as it's easy to get lost in the sights and attractions of a new destination. A vacation, or life in general, should be used to see the beauty in the world, but not at such a blistering pace to where we are missing the true enjoyment of life. A voice calls out to our narrator in the chorus:

"Hey man, slow down, slow down
Idiot, slow down, slow down"

A fitting conclusion. A call back to the humanity of life. A request that we all take a break from the increasing speed, pressure, and anxiety of life to appreciate what we have.

---- Final Thoughts ----

That's it, that's the album. All twelve songs and lyrical content, broken down to better understand to path of our main character, and to understand the messaging behind it. We have seen our character survive two life-threatening accidents, struggle with isolation and alienation, attempt to fight off the demons in their head until eventually choosing to succumb to the depression, and then be revived again with a fresh outlook on their existence. 'OK Computer' paints an eerie portrait of what humanity, and our society could, or potentially already has, become. In a digital age of social media, instant messaging, and an entire dependence on evolving technology, this album shows us the harrowing consequences that should be a call for all of us to embrace our humanity.

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Thank you for reading this review, from the bottom of my heart. I've poured all I have into writing this comprehensive analysis, and I'm really proud of the output. To all of the people out there thank follow, like, or comment on my reviews, thank you so much for recognizing my effort and for accepting my thoughts. To those of you who also enjoy pouring out hundreds or thousands of words into reviews like this one, thank you for always inspiring me and pushing me to explore more music and to continue to improve my writing. It's been an absolute treat to grow as a music listener, as a writer, and as a human over the past 8 months using this website. I'm looking forward to where this will continue to take me in 2023 and beyond.

Much love <3
Caleb