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Fake Plastic Trees

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Not to be confused with Carbon dioxide air capture.
"Fake Plastic Trees"
Song

"Fake Plastic Trees" is a song by the British alternative rock group Radiohead, from their second album The Bends (1995). It was the third single to be released from that album in the UK, but in the US, it was released as the band's first single from the album. "Fake Plastic Trees" marked a turning point in the band's early career, digressing from the post-grunge sound of earlier hit single "Creep".[1]

History

According to singer Thom Yorke, the song was recorded as the band had just been to see Jeff Buckley play a set at The Garage in London.[citation needed] "Thom played it in three takes," remembers lead guitarist Jonny Greenwood, "then burst into tears afterward."[2] The song's lyrics are about Canary Wharf in London and about the world of mass marketing and mass consumption.[3] One source of frustration for the band at the time was their US record label, Capitol, who wanted a strong track for American radio to follow the success of their previous hit single, "Creep".[4] Surprised that the slow paced "Fake Plastic Trees" was seen as a potential single to follow up "Creep", Yorke ultimately realized the label had remixed the track without his approval: "Last night I was called by the American record company insisting, well almost insisting, that we used a Bob Clearmountain mix of it. I said 'No way'. All the ghost-like keyboards sounds and weird strings were completely gutted out of his mix, like he'd gone in with a razor blade and chopped it all up. It was horrible."

Critical reception

Despite the song's popularity, not all critics were complimentary upon release. Writing for NME in May 1995, John Mulvey surmised that the song lacked substance, and drew comparisons with the stadium rock of U2;[5]

If Radiohead ever make it to the U2-style stadium status they so obviously crave, 'Fake Plastic Trees' will be the climax of the ritually heart-rending acoustic interlude... Until then, we can sit around and listen to this glutinous mix of 'classy' understatement and blustery pomp, wondering how Thom Yorke can expend so much angst and still write songs that leave even a vulnerable listener emotionally cold, baffled and faintly irritated.

Today, the song is often cited among the greatest songs of all time. It placed at number 376 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time,[6] and at number 28 on Triple J Radio's Hottest 100 of All Time countdown.[7]

Music video

Directed by Jake Scott, the music video set inside a supermarket where the band go around in shopping carts among several other characters, including clerks, children, an old man with a large beard who plays with toy guns, a woman in a large black hat, a bald man, a young man playing with a trolley, etc. The director has said about the video: "The film is actually an allegory for death and reincarnation but if you can read that into it you must be as weird as the people who made it."[1]

Cover versions

British singer KT Tunstall covered this song in Radio 1's Live Lounge, and Canadian singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette performed "Fake Plastic Trees" in some concerts during the Jagged Little Pill-era tours and concerts.[8] An acoustic version of the song appears on the Clueless soundtrack. Travis has also acoustically covered the song, as well as folk musician Lori McKenna on her album The Kitchen Tapes[2]. The song has been covered by using text to speech by mr_hopkinson's computer as featured on Colin Murray's BBC Radio 1 show. Dashboard Confessional has also covered this song during concerts before. Marillion have also covered the song on their acoustic live CD Unplugged at the Walls, this version was later released also on their "These Chains" single. The song has also been covered by the senior citizen chorus from Northampton, Massachusetts, Young@Heart. Also, Jeff Tweedy, the lead singer of Wilco, has done an acoustic cover of "Fake Plastic Trees" at some of his solo shows. [9]

Track listing

Released over two singles, the b-sides accompanying "Fake Plastic Trees" include "India Rubber", a song in which Jonny Greenwood can be heard laughing, and "How Can You Be Sure?" which dates from the band's earliest On a Friday days. It is from the Shindig Demo and this finished version features backing vocals by a woman. The B-sides on the second single are acoustic versions by Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood recorded live at the Eve's Club in London.

CD 1
  1. "Fake Plastic Trees" – 4:50
  2. "India Rubber" – 3:26
  3. "How Can You Be Sure?" – 4:21
CD 2
  1. "Fake Plastic Trees" – 4:50
  2. "Fake Plastic Trees" (acoustic) – 4:41
  3. "Bullet Proof..I Wish I Was" (acoustic) – 3:34
  4. "Street Spirit (Fade Out)" (acoustic) – 4:26

References

  1. ^ http://www.blender.com/guide/67167/greatest-songs-ever-fake-plastic-trees.html
  2. ^ Black, Johnny (15 May 2003). "The Greatest Songs Ever! Fake Plastic Trees". Blender (magazine). Retrieved 27 September 2009.
  3. ^ Sourced from the page regarding the song on Green Plastic, a Radiohead fansite - retrieved August 29, 2006
  4. ^ Randall, Mac (12 September 2000). Exit Music: The Radiohead Story. Delta. p. 121. ISBN 978-0385333931.
  5. ^ Mulvey, John. "Review: Radiohead - Fake Plastic Trees (Parlophone)". NME (May 20, 1995). IPC Media: 54.
  6. ^ http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/500songs/page/4
  7. ^ http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/hottest100_alltime/countdown/cd_21-30.htm
  8. ^ Fake Plastic Trees Article on Blender
  9. ^ WilcoBase
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