An Analysis of OK Computer

over 25 years ago in 1997 radio had dropped probably their most influential album of all time with ok computer an album that deals with themes of isolation and over reliance on technology society as a whole in mass consumerism all while shifting away from a more guitar-centered sound found on their previous albums and instead having deep layers of production and an electronic influence unseen from radiohead before this of course they'd go on to dive further into abstract ideas but at the time this was a vast change for the band but that change paid off because now almost 25 years later people are still talking and celebrating this album and because of the love that everybody seems to have for this album there have been some people out there who have tried to dig a little bit deeper into it one of my favorite examples was the series by youtuber jay schlatt a tribute to ok computer unfortunately he only covered the first couple tracks before being turned off on the idea due to copyright issues and since it doesn't seem like kill ever finished the series i figured i'd step up to the plate and make my own rather than a series this will just be one big video covering the entire main album so none of the bonus tracks off of ok not okay and i'll even be going over the tracks that schlatt already covered so don't be too surprised if there's an overlap in information but without further ado welcome to an analysis of okay computer i was really frightened of cars back then but airbag was almost the opposite of that if you get into a crash or a potentially dangerous situation and walk away you feel a thousand times more alive regardless of what that is lead of radiohead tom york was in a car crash in his teens and it was clearly an essential informative moment of his life resulting in several tracks across radiohead's discography talking about cars including stupid car off of the drill ep which is more of a metaphor than actually about cars and killer cars off of the high and dry planetelic single a track which details various situations mostly dangerous that could potentially happen on the road and with airbags lyrics this more directly reflects on his own experience with that car crash the lyrics are surrounded with drum loops and distortion inspired by the work of dj shadow it also contains some distorted guitars odd ambient noises and sleigh bells which may or may not make it a christmas song depending on who you ask i'm sure most of us can attest to this to be pretty accurate but the adrenaline rush of avoiding a near-death situation whether in a car or not is something that's pretty hard to recreate it's why there are people who enjoy throwing themselves off planes or on the tamer side why horror movies are so popular they allow you to chase that adrenaline rush and while chasing it isn't what tom is necessarily singing about here it's instead the feeling that is that adrenaline rush lyrics like i am born again and in an interstellar burst i'm back to save the universe show that tom views this near-death experience as a sort of rebirth something interesting that jay schlatt mentioned in his airbag analysis was the dichotomy of the airbag the technology of the car itself and our society's reliance on it is what put tom in the accident but the airbag another piece of technology is what saved him and it's this contrast that really sets the stage for the album and the themes of technology and society are present throughout even this song's theme of an adrenaline-fueled rebirth is visited again later in the album on the song lucky and hey really quick before we continue i just wanted to let you guys know that i made a patreon where i'm going to be posting videos a day or two early as well as some other exclusive behind-the-scenes content like teasers editing streams videos and more so if you want to support me check it out paranoid android is a six minute track that really doesn't feel like a six minute track while the lyrical content follows the same story throughout the song is broken up into sections with the instrumentals reminiscent of queen's bohemian rhapsody which the band said was somewhat of an inspiration for the song along with happiness is a warm gun by john lennon the tracks started as three different song fragments from rehearsals and sessions for ok computer and they didn't know what to do with them individually so they ended up combining them to make what we now know of as paranoid android the song's name according to tom is sort of a joke and was inspired by marvin the paranoid android from the hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy marvin as a character is too smart for his own well-being with a quote brain the size of a planet and with the crew of the ship often giving him menial tasks it leaves him bored and depressed says he can't use his intelligence for something meaningful and the reason for him using the title as the track's lyrics somewhat put the narrator in a similar spot the lyrics follow a story inspired by real events that tom had experienced while in a bar in la the music video for the track is actually a pretty good representation of the song as it follows a central character named robin who seems very indifferent about the world despite all the odd things happening around him the opening of the song depicts the mindset of our narrator please could you stop the noise i'm trying to get some rest from all the unborn chicken voices in my head using this verse alone you can tell that this person is well paranoid and somewhat unhinged the chorus confirms this with the interjection of an ai voice between tom saying i may be paranoid but not an android according to tom the title was chosen as a joke it was like oh i'm so depressed and i just thought that's great that's how people would like me to be this shows more into how tom views robin and in a way how people want him to be a depressing drag on everyone around him the music video depicts this well everyone is trying to have a good time albeit in odd ways and robin being unfazed and bored leaving the people around him annoyed at his demeanor the second verse states when i am king you will be first against the wall this is sort of a jab at the people who our narrator have believed treated him wrong and how they couldn't do something before but when he gets in a position of power he'll make sure something is done about it but the next line with your opinion which is of no consequence at all while this seems like a further jab at those people saying that their thoughts and ideas will die with them tom has said that again that's just a joke it's actually the other way around it's actually my opinion that is of no consequence at all getting to the bridge is when the song story opens up more saying that ambition makes you look pretty ugly kicking squealing gucci little piggy saying how people wear expensive clothes to show off their status is exhausting to him and he views them as less because they feel the need to be seen as above the next part is amplified by the harsh guitars cutting in while tom sings you don't remember you don't remember why don't you remember my name tom is voicing his frustration with the fact that people who deem themselves as better like those wearing the expensive clothes often don't really view you as worth their time and basically dehumanize you sure they may have met you but what is the chance they remember you he ends the verse with off with his head man off with his head man why don't you remember my name i guess he does he seemingly makes a reference towards alice in wonderland's queen of hearts in this section with the line off with his head which is basically her trademark phrase while also just used in general for executing someone and with tom's previous fantasies of lining people he dislikes against the wall it further pushes that this narrator is unhinged he threatens this person directly for treating tom in such a dehumanizing way the song's final section has tom repeating rain down rain down come on rain down on me from a great height from a great height this repeats multiple times in an earlier version the second from a great height is replaced with hallelujah hallelujah another way for tom to sort of mock what's above him and i also feel it adds to the context of the final section a little bit more that's it sir you're leaving the crackle of pigskin the dust and the screaming the yuppies networking the panic the vomit it goes back to the bar's setting as presumably he's being kicked out as he makes callbacks to the things happening the crackle of pigskin calls to the gucci piggies the screaming is to the violence he encounters the networking calls to those mindless idiots only caring about how to advance their careers and the panic and vomit is more violence this is before he sings god loves his children god loves his children yeah it's a sarcastic way to end the song and with how the narrator perceives himself as an outsider like an android around everyone else would he even be considered one of god's children in an earlier version he goes as far to saying god loves his children that's why he kills him yeah giving it still that sarcastic flare but instead insisting that rather than himself being left out he's saying if he loves them so much why does he kill them after this final bar the song breaks into chaos despite him being presumably out of the bar the violence of it all is still happening leaving you to wonder if there's anything you can even do about it throughout the whole song he views himself as an outsider as someone who couldn't fit in and the next track is about coming to terms with that and realizing he's maybe just like the rest of him [Music] this track puts tom in a boring town where nothing happens but with a description as vague as his this really could just be the world in general up above aliens hover making home movies for the folks back home of all these weird creatures who lock up their spirits drill holes in themselves and live for their secrets tom makes commentary on how people lock up their true selves and try to be something they're not just to fit in how they drill holes in themselves or how they damage their bodies for things like alcohol and drugs just to put up with that facade that they have to put on and how all of them live their lives for their secrets their true selves they put up with doing the charade of fitting in just so that when the day is over they can go home and do whatever it is that they truly want to the chorus of the song has tom singing they're all uptight uptight this is just tom outright saying that these people are uptight and how he doesn't think he is he feels like an outsider which is why the next part has tom singing i wish that they'd swoop down in a country lane late at night when i'm driving take me aboard their beautiful ship show me the world as i'd love to see it tom wants to see the world from above he thinks he would have more in common with the aliens than other humans because he views himself as an outsider like someone looking in like how he described the aliens did earlier i'd tell all my friends but they'd never believe me they think that i'd finally lost it completely i'd show them the stars and the meaning of life they'd shut me away but i'd be all right these lines portray tom in somewhat of a hypocritical light while he finds this potentially life-changing perspective his friends shutting him down and tom saying he'd be all right puts himself into the category of someone who locks up their spirit which is why the final line of the song takes the chorus but replacing their uptight with i'm just uptight he's realized that maybe he is more like others than he thought as his crazy ideas he locks up too just to blend in probably the most depressing the sounding song on the album this track was written for the 1996 film romeo and juliet so the story closely resembles the lyrics but the way radiohead was able to take a story i'm sure many of us have heard plenty of times before and make it possibly darker than any other telling of it is really something the story of romeo and juliet if you aren't familiar follows two teenagers who fall in love despite their families basically hating each other juliet's father arranges a marriage for her and to avoid it she takes some kind of drug to appear dead when romeo finds her unaware she isn't actually dead he takes his own life and when she awakens seeing he's dead takes her own this tragedy leads the families to call a truce and forget their feud after only seeing a 10-minute snippet of the film radio had agreed to make a song for the movie however they didn't want this song to be included in the soundtrack because they wanted it to be in their coming album the song was workshopped as they were touring when they started the writing process so there are multiple work and progress versions of the song that were played live and even the versions used in the film is different compared to the album version there are some minor changes with the guitar parts but most notably is that the drums carry on a lot longer than in the final version in an interview tom york stated he saw the frank zepharelli version when he was 13 and cried his eyes out because he couldn't understand why the morning after they shagged they didn't just run away it's a song written for two people who should run away before all the bad stuff starts a personal song according to the band they were all really pleased with the song especially tom who at the time said it was the first performance that we recorded where every note of it made me really happy which is somewhat ironic considering the song's darkness the song's first four verses have tom singing about the escape waking up leaving before the father hears them and to breathe and not lose your nerve the fourth verse seems to be the end he sings there's such a chill like one final shot of nervousness the drums kick in the song picks up the fifth verse begins tom sings and you can laugh a spineless laugh saying that anyone mocking them after death is a fool because they're gone so they don't care he goes on to say we hope your rules and wisdom chokes you this is a laugh at those who tried to prevent those two from being together the traditionalist ideologies the parents disapproval and the family rivalries that are a joke to them they hope that the families realize that now we are one an everlasting peace this is the end for them they'll die and for them it'll be a better fate than living under these circumstances whether it's an empty void some kind of heaven or even another life at least they'll go to it together he ends the song with we hope that you choke that you choke they're once again calling against those who disapproved of their relationship hoping that they feel terrible for what they have caused that they realized that the things they were spouting on and on about created this tragedy that this is all their fault the track ends and leaves one hell of a memorable moment on the album it's a powerful song that has even gone on to appear in other shows and movies one of the most notable uses is from the black mirror episode shut up and dance this is by far one of the best episodes of black mirror and couldn't be a better fit for the usage of exit music but after the song ends [Music] sentimentality is being emotional for the sake of it we're bombarded with sentiment people emoting that's the letdown feeling every emotion is fake or rather every emotion is on the same plane whether it's a car advert or a pop song one of the most depressing tracks on the album is let down the track was apparently recorded at 3am in the ballroom at the saint catherine's court in bath somerset england but it made its debut long before that during a tour in which they played it multiple times its first appearance in november of 1995 the instrumental arrangements are quite different but the lyrics remain mostly the same in some early versions the guitar arpeggios that play at the end of the studio version actually start the song off around the middle of the song it begins to sound like the studio version but still has some slight differences for the most part these early versions of the songs sounded very similar to each other rather than what the studio version ended up sounding like they had played around with this song so much that it got to the point where tom felt bored of it which is why the studio version sounds different compared to all of the earlier versions they just found a version that they felt was different enough to finish it the lyrics of the track really focuses on its theme of being in a sort of transitional period johnny said in an interview that andy warhol once said that he could enjoy his own boredom let down is about that it's about the transit zone feeling you're in a space you're collecting all these impressions but it all seems so vacant you don't have control over the earth anymore you feel very distant from all these thousands of people that are also walking there the first verse has tom singing transport motorways and tram lines starting and then stopping taking off and landing the emptiest of feelings disappointed people clinging onto bottles and when it comes it's so so disappointing the track also has that fear of transportation that we explored on airbag that feeling of being stuck in a moving metal box however in this track i think using that fear of being stuck isn't so much about the transportation itself but rather just being trapped in a bad position this track has an interesting metaphor throughout the song with tom comparing himself to a bug in the chorus he sings let down and hanging around crushed like a bug in the ground he uses that vision of being a crushed bug to represent how he feels squashed under the pressure twitching without any resolve he gets even more descriptive with the second verse shell smashed juices flowing wings twitch legs are going he finds himself in a terrible position yet he says don't get sentimental it always ends up drivel he's saying it like he doesn't want your sympathy because it won't do anything for him he then sings one day i'm gonna grow wings a chemical reaction this line shows him having a sort of hope that he can recover from this sure he's a twitching bug crushed under the pressure but maybe soon he'll turn into something more only to then say hysterical and useless the optimism he showed in the first part is thrown away sure he can hope that it'll get better but in reality what are the chances of that being successful he hasn't had any yet why would it change it continues to say that he'd been let down again and by the third verse he basically has lost all hope approaching the end of the song he intertwines the lyrics of the chorus with the start of the third verse repeating the idea that optimism won't do anything for him he knows the situation he is in and his pragmatism won't let him believe that he can make it out ending the song with little hope and leading us into [Music] what started as sort of an inside joke between the band in which whenever somebody behaved negatively the band would say the karma police will catch up to them eventually eventually became undoubtedly one of radiohead's most recognizable tracks the idea of karma was something that made tom happy he said the idea that something like karma exists makes me happy it makes me smile karma police is dedicated to everyone who works for a big firm it's a song against bosses and while the intentions and energy surrounding the song are rather light-hearted the actual content of the song twists the idea of karma on its head the narrator views karma as his own personal way to get back at people if they even look at him funny or annoy him despite just existing he thinks they deserve punishment the first verse has him asking carmel police arrest this man he talks in maths he buzzes like a fridge he's like a detuned radio he's hoping that karma gets back to this man because the narrator believes what he's saying is important that he sounds like static to him therefore he deserves punishment he brings this further in the second verse saying carmel police arrest this girl her hitler hairdo is making me feel ill because he doesn't approve of her haircut or how she looks he thinks she deserves punishment he even says and we have crashed her party meaning that he doesn't like what she may believe or her world views therefore he and or the karma police should stop her the chorus has him singing this is what you'll get when you mess with us this further pushes the idea that he feels his subjective view of the world is right he thinks that these people by just being normal human beings are somehow messing with him and that they deserve any punishment they may receive the third verse has him almost begging in a way for a reward karma police i've given all i can but it's not enough i've given all i can but we're still on the payroll he's asking for a good thing to happen to him because he thinks he's done enough and worked hard enough for it he then accepts the fact that he hasn't gotten one saying that at least he's still on the payroll because to him at least he's still getting something out of it he could also be saying that he himself is one of the karma police he thinks that he has the right to dish out punishment but the last verse has him make a realization he sings out for a minute there i lost myself this puts him back on track he remembers that for karma to work it goes both ways he realizes that maybe his behavior is negative and that he maybe himself is also under the watch of the karma police he could also just realize that his way is wrong and his views of karma isn't the right way to go about it maybe the narrator felt society needed to be better and these people held it back maybe he just wanted everyone to be bitter happier more productive comfortable this track serves as a sort of interlude for the album it contains basically an idea of what tom felt society was becoming or more so what it's trying to become the lyrics list out what a more traditional view of the perfect life would be a family an office job healthy habits like exercising and good foods not drinking alcohol too much a safe car good sleep nice to animals staying in contact with friends not being childish and at peace but about halfway through is when the lyrics start to show a darker undertone things like at a better pace slower and more calculated no chance of escape the society being painted is a dystopia one that keeps us stuck in these conformative lives all so that we can fit in he then says concerned but powerless followed up by an empowered informed member of society pragmatism not idealism a contradiction to the previous statement rather than accepting that they're powerless he tells himself that he's informed and empowered a delusional lie that people will tell themselves to stay sane there's more general idealistic talk and then a repeat of the opening lines and fitter healthier and more productive a pig in a cage on antibiotics the final line is a stark contrast from the rest while there are little hints throughout and the instrumentation in the background is fairly dark this is the nail in the coffin the line represents the rest it's about how if we follow all these bullet points we're no better off than the pigs in cages nobody is perfect trying to make society without mistakes is basically impossible which is why i think the use of the robotic voice helps push that narrative if we were all perfect we would be androids and maybe a little paranoid [Music] a pretty obvious politically charged song from the title to the lyrics and while many considered it a standout track from their tour before ok computer's release the studio version rubs some fans the wrong way and ever since the song has been considered one of the weakest tracks on the album there's also suspicion that tom himself dislikes the track now as the song hasn't been played live since 1998 and when asked about playing the album in full band member phil said that they would have to play electioneering and that wouldn't work also the track is probably the only track on the album to sound like their earlier works and from what we know about tom's view on making rock music in general after touring from ok computer i think that he wasn't too keen on it some also criticized the track as throwing off the flow of the album which is a criticism i can get behind but i think that it's a good pick-me-up after the last four songs and helps put a little energy into the second half of the album either way the tracks lyrics are pretty straightforward in what they're trying to accomplish which is a jab at the political climate at the time referencing things politicians will say to get elected i will stop i will stop at nothing say the right things when electioneering i trust i can rely on your vote often making promises that are never followed and instead using their power to instead push their own agendas hence the chorus when i go forwards you go backwards and somewhere we will meet implying that the politicians assume what they're doing is what's right and the public just doesn't understand they're moving forward towards a better future but assuming that the public is trying to regress as a society and that they'll find some middle ground eventually the second verse only continues ripping on politicians ideas of doing the right thing riot shields voodoo economics your turn the government's response to its people protesting the forgotten promises are only met with violence from authority and rather than listening they meet them with riot shields he also jabs at the economic failures like reaganomics or the belief that wealth will trickle down and well yeah diet ideology is going great nowadays am i right it's just business cattle prods and the imf i trust i can rely on your vote here he's going against the imf or the international monetary fund which in theory is to provide poor countries with money so that they can rebuild a better country but in practice the terms of these loans that they give to these smaller countries are so ridiculous that all it really does is put these smaller countries in debt to the bigger ones making them trapped and prodded for money the song wraps up with the chorus again leaving a bleak reminder that politicians suck and nothing will ever really change unless people make themselves heard one of my favorite radiohead tracks period climbing up the walls is well kind of scary in its first appearance in 1996 it was a little different the first half sounding more acoustic it would then be played multiple times live before its official appearance changing both lyrics and instrumentals several times it's a track entirely about paranoia a theme that has already made its appearance in other places across the album but here it's in full force the track was inspired by a time when tom had worked in a mental facility and around that time the care in the community policy happened in which those institutionalized for mental health issues who were being cared for in an institution were now to be cared for in their own homes which terrified tom and many others as many of those institutionalized were there because they were possibly dangerous letting people who could potentially become a danger to their towns free because it was cheaper and at the time mental health wasn't nearly as well thought about as it is nowadays they assumed if you were depressed you'd just get over it or if you had something else it wouldn't get any worse than it was even now mental care is not where it should be which makes whatever it was back then even more terrifying as for the song the instrumentals and lyrics just further add to this creepy feeling i'm a sucker for dark and horror-esque music which is probably why i love this song so much it also seems like an early blueprint for the kind of sounds that we'd get on kidday and amnesiac with its dissonant strings distorted vocals and fever dream like lyrics they kick the song off with fleeting voices and white noise created by loads of violins before a very prominent drumline kicks in and tom joins in singing i am the key to the lock in your house that keeps your toys in the basement assuming the narrator is the paranoia itself the lyrics basically reflect those small moments we get of something not being quite right of us being extra careful just in case things like wondering if you locked the door before you left or when you're going to sleep or what about those toys from your childhood that you may have held on to they hold memories and sentiments that others may not know about but what if those things got out and if you get too far inside you'll only see my reflection the idea of venturing into the dark basement and confronting your own past or secrets when in reality you are the result of those secrets the person you are and have become is because of the paranoia you've held on to in your life it's always best with the covers up i am the pick in the ice do not cry out or hit the alarm you know we're friends till we die the childish ideology that hiding under your blankets will save you meant with the idea of being stuck on ice with a pic in it as it starts to crack and then the idea that you can't get help for it and that it will follow you your whole life and that is continued in the chorus and either way you turn i'll be there open up your skull i'll be there climbing up the walls no matter what you do your fear and paranoia will always be there and even when it's not on your mind it's trying to be it's clawing and climbing from your subconscious to be front and center it's always best when the light is off it's always better on the outside 15 blows to the back of your head 15 blows to your mind the 15 blows are not physical but rather a mental thing he's talking about how people can have things happen to them and eventually just snap in an interview tom said was it an accident that the 10 largest mass murders 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 catastrophe in their lives such as losing their jobs or divorce unfortunately the statistic is now outdated as way too many mass murders have happened since then and still nothing gets done about them but the idea still stands having bad things consistently happen to the wrong person will cause them to lash out 15 isn't just some magic number but rather a representation of the fact that it could take a long time before a seemingly normal person snaps so lock the kids up safe tonight shut the eyes in the cupboard i've got the smell of a local man who's got the loneliest feeling he touches on a very childhood-like fear of a monster in a closet followed by a very real fear of a lonely man lashing out and hurting people the chorus is slightly different for the end of the song that either way he turns i will be there open up your skull i'll be there climbing up the walls changing you to he as in reference to maybe that man previously mentioned by changing that perspective it shows that the fear and paranoia isn't just something that you have but rather something on everyone's mind tom lets out a scream last heard that maybe like the mtv beach house and then the song fades out into the next track another incredibly iconic track from the album no surprises was the third and final single released before the full album a rather different sounding track from the rest it's sort of like a lullaby and the reason for that is because it's instrumental is based around the kind of music you'd hear in a jewelry box or you know one of those little wind-up boxes this song despite its rather almost happy instrumentals has a very monotone tom and a very deep and depressing undertone when you look at the lyrics tom starts the track singing about how meaningless he finds this life a heart that's full up like a landfill a job that slowly kills you bruises that won't heal he finds his life full of pain anything he does from his job to his personal life just doesn't have a happy ending you look so tired unhappy bring down the government they don't speak for us this line on the surface may just seem like a hey screw the government line but with the context of the rest of the song it would make more sense that it's about people telling him what might be wrong with him and trying to fix it when in reality they can't do anything for him i'll take a quiet life a handshake of carbon monoxide it's this line that someone reveals the narrator of the song to be suicidal rather than discomfort of their own life they'd rather just have carbon monoxide take them while they sleep and with this comes the chorus and no alarms and no surprises he wants no alarms going off no surprise of death just a peaceful passing while he sleeps in the second verse he sings this is my final fit my final bellyache with the first symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning is nausea or a stomach ache so if this is how he wants to go out that'll be the last time he has a stomachache before he dies the song immediately goes back to the chorus replacing the silent silent at the end with please he's asking for this to be it for him and with that he goes to the third verse such a pretty house and such a pretty garden it's a reflection of the stereotypical dream that many seek to achieve it's the one that we talked about with fitter happier he may be thinking of it as tempting or viewing it as something he did achieve but didn't quite work out the way he intended reaching out at the end of the track he repeats the chorus again with an interjection of get me out of here while this could be him pleading to leave his life it could also be him regretting this decision he could be realizing that maybe he doesn't want to die and maybe he wants to keep going maybe he hasn't had that dream of a pretty house in pretty garden yet either way the track fades out leaving us questioning what really happened to him the song also has a music video that goes along with it and it's a really great visual for the track and like any radiohead music video it has you questioning exactly what's going on maybe he was able to get out of that situation or maybe he was unlucky the second to last track of the album once again touches on the themes of transportation this time in regards to an airplane the song starts with ed making an odd noise with his guitar which is the reason the song got written in the first place tom really liked this sound so he began writing he said in an interview that when you go looking for something to make a song on you can't find it so it's best to respond to things when they happen the song came together rather quickly and was originally released for the war child benefit lp help after debating about it the band included it on ok computer as they thought it was one of the best songs they had made and fits right on the album with the rest of the tracks with ed's guitar kicking off the track we're soon met with tom singing i'm on a roll i'm on a roll this time i feel my luck could change thomas finally having good luck he feels like he's had a series of good events happened to him recently but he has the feeling in the back of his mind that his luck could change and go south he then sings about a person named sarah which has been a topic of debate as who this line is particularly about but tom has stated that sarah is just a name that he likes and he thought it would sound good in a song though it seems here that sarah represents a person he cares for with the chorus following after tom sings pull me out of the air crash pull me out of the lake it seems his luck did change while he may not have actually been in an airplane crash i think it's more a metaphor for a disaster something seriously bad did happen and did change his luck he then sings because i'm your superhero we are standing on the edge despite him considering himself a superhero most likely to sarah and since he can't help himself he needs her to be his superhero because if they help each other they'll be all right even if they're standing on the edge the second verse has tom singing about an important figure calling out for him but tom says he doesn't have time before he again sings it's going to be a glorious day this time ending it with i feel my luck could change maybe now he feels it could change for the better as he has been recently faced with a disaster but unfortunately the chorus comes again he's once again asking for help and the outro of the track has him saying we are standing on the edge this line can represent the instability of the situation it seems that no matter what bad things can and will keep happening to him and him forcing this other person to help every time can't work forever no matter how lucky he may be sometimes the final track on the album is a refreshing closer that leaves this album on a rather positive note unlike the rest of the album this track doesn't have much negative to say but rather serves as advice it's a slower track which makes sense but it still wraps the album up in a nice spell wonderful guitar pits throughout the track beautiful vocal performance from tom and just a general great performance from the band the main lyrics in the chorus has tom singing hey man slow down while it does tie thematically with airbag and being about going fast in a car it doesn't have quite the same meaning this track is about slowing down with the title of the track being the tourist it makes sense that this song specifically is about enjoying life many people on vacation or when they're traveling find the need to do everything as fast as possible in the place that they're in often giving them little time to really enjoy what they're doing in this track tom is basically telling them and us to slow down take in the sights and enjoy the time you have because if you spend every minute trying to do everything fast you'll find life will go by fast he said in an interview the track is supposed to be about the speed you live your life with i don't think there's a better message to send off with your album than that the album is now 25 years old and hopefully in those 25 years the band remembered to slow down and enjoy their time the album's themes of alienation social conformity paranoia consumerism and more have left this album relevant and relatable even now the album has consistently ranked among the best of all time by many sites and critics and is one of the best of radiohead's discography and it's hard to argue against that this album was really just the start for how creative the band would get it showcases how talented they are and how well they are able to work together and make something truly special while i won't go in depth i feel it would be inappropriate of me not to mention okay not okay the 20-year anniversary release of the album that included an extra 11 tracks onto the album some old songs remastered and some that we have heard played live over the years but have never officially been released like lyft and man of war it also contains one of my favorite instrumental tracks from radiohead and kind of ever period meeting in the aisle i don't know why i love it so much but it's great the album had such an impact on the music scene at the time that many bands had already begun to start making music that tried to sound like okay computer most of them did just feel like cheap copies and it was because of this sudden oversaturation and many other feelings between the band members that the band decided to change it up severely with the follow-up record kidae which i have already covered so check that out if you'd like i hope i was able to do justice of the series that schlatt originally started but for now this has been stemp thank you for watching and this concludes an analysis of ok computer

Channel: Stemp

Views: 101,424

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Id: VxW3rlOGfQQ

Length: 42min 7sec (2527 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 17 2022