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Paranoid Android

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"Paranoid Android"
Song

"Paranoid Android" is a song by Radiohead, from their highly acclaimed third album, OK Computer. Despite its length of over six minutes, making it the longest released Radiohead song (including b-sides, excluding remixes), it was the first single from that album in 1997. The song's release marked Radiohead's ascent as innovators in the art rock genre.

Bassist Colin Greenwood said "On 'Paranoid Android' what we were into was the idea of a DJ Shadow meets The Beatles thing." Thom Yorke also compared the song to The Beatles' work, saying "it really started out as three separate songs and we didn't know what to do with them. Then we thought of 'Happiness is a Warm Gun' — which was obviously three different bits that John Lennon put together — and said 'Why don't we try that?'"

The flamboyantly epic, multi-part structure of "Paranoid Android," though unique among Radiohead material, was also responsible for most of the comparisons with 1970s progressive rock that the band subsequently earned, to their annoyance. Thom often refers to it as a "joke" song, though not derisively; the band continues to play it live at nearly every concert, usually toward the end of the set, and many consider it among the band's best songs. It appeared at #256 on a Rolling Stone list of "500 Greatest Songs of All Time," slightly higher than "Fake Plastic Trees," another Radiohead entry.

In a public poll conducted by Ateaseweb.com (an award winning and very popular Radiohead fan site), to determine the best Radiohead song, Paranoid Android won the top position in a landslide beating the second place song (Idioteque) by nearly twice the amount of votes.

"Paranoid Android" is featured in the anime series Ergo Proxy.

Song title

The title is a reference to a character from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy named "Marvin the Paranoid Android", but the song is not about the specific character. However, some have claimed the title of the entire album (OK Computer) references the short section of Hitchhiker's Guide when Marvin "The Paranoid Android" is introduced. Computer-generated voices dubbed into the background of the song are reminicent of the electronically-altered voices in the BBC radio series of Hitchhiker's Guide.

References include:

  • "Paranoid Android" was the first track written for the album OK Computer. The words "OK, Computer" are spoken just before Marvin is introduced.
  • The opening line "Please could you stop the noise, I'm trying to get some rest" refers to Arthur being woken by the sounds of arguing at the start of the scene.
  • "Ambition makes you look pretty ugly" refers to the book version of H2G2, in which Ford is irritated by Zaphod's desire to plunder Magrathea.
  • "When I am king you will be first against the wall" alludes to an entry in the guide that refers to Marvin's designers as "a bunch of jerks who'll be first against the wall when the revolution comes"
  • "Why don't you remember my name" refers to Zaphod calling Arthur variations on 'Earthman'
  • "Off with his head" (sung twice) alludes to Zaphod's two heads
  • "The panic" refers to the guide's cover inscription, 'Don't Panic';
  • "Rain down on me / from a great height" may refer to a sperm whale falling to its doom at the end of the scene.
  • The closing lyrics "God loves his children, yeah!" may reference Marvin's death, whereupon he reads "God's Final Message to His Creation".

However, lead singer Thom Yorke explained the specific lyrics as being inspired by intrusive fans, who harassed him in a New York bar:

Everyone was trying to get something out of me. I felt like my own self was collapsing in the presence of it, but I also felt completely, utterly part of it, like it was all going to come crashing down any minute.

It's about being exposed to God, I dunno. It was that one night, really. We'd been rehearsing the song for months, but the lyrics came to me at five o'clock that morning. I was trying to sleep when I literally heard these voices that wouldn't leave me alone. They were the voices of the people I'd heard in the bar. It turned out to be a notorious, coke-fiend place, but I didn't know that. Basically it's just about chaos, chaos, utter fucking chaos.

Musical structure

In addition to unconventional lyrics and length, the song also draws upon various different instruments in order to create a complex sonic landscape. The song begins with 4 short beeps, not unlike the Greenwich Time Signal. These appear on the single version of the track, but on OK Computer they are at the end of the preceding track, "Airbag."

In the first movement traditional rock instruments, steel-string acoustic guitar played by Thom and the electric guitar played by Jonny are made unique through a complex picking pattern, and a variety of effects on Jonny's guitar. Upon reaching the chorus, a third guitar is added, played by Ed O'Brien two octaves up, giving it a distinct computer-like quality that adds to the atmosphere of the song. Throughout this first movement, there are also several atypical instruments being played. A cabasa, an African percussion instrument, a clave, maracas, and a syncopated bass drum are all in the mix.

During the chorus of the first section, a computerized voice can be heard buried in the mix saying "I may be paranoid but not an android" (the only time the song's title is referenced in the lyrics), as Yorke sings over it. This voice is identical to the one generated by Apple PlainTalk's "Fred" speech synthesiser, which also forms the basis of "Fitter Happier", another song on OK Computer.

The second movement returns to more traditional rock - but with several Radiohead twists. There is much complexity in this part of the song, with three guitars, bass guitar, drums, as well as a keyboard. Also, the meter of the song switches between 7/4 and 4/4 at several points. This movement ends in a crash leading into the much softer 3rd movement.

While the acoustic guitar keeps playing, several elements are added. In this section, several monk chanters, apparently created from reversing a recording of Thom saying "monk" and adding pitch, can be heard. As the movement progresses, a keyboard and more and more layers of Thom's voice are added, building up to the end. The movement goes out as suddenly as it came in, with a refrain of the screeching guitars from the second movement. This time, Jonny's guitar is fed twice through a Mutronics Mutator to achieve a unique sound. After several seconds of thrashing, the song ends in a run of descending chords.

Early versions

Early versions of the song performed in 1996 had a different structure and varying lyrics. According to members of the band, "Paranoid Android" originally exceeded 10 minutes. It is unknown whether this long version, also fabled to include organ solos, was ever played live. However, it was possibly played by Radiohead at the Werchter Festival in Belgium in July 1996, apparently the song's first live performance.

One month later, Radiohead began a brief tour as opening band for Alanis Morissette, in which they premiered many new songs that would go on to make up OK Computer, and played "Paranoid Android" regularly. By this point, the song was six to eight minutes long, without extended organ solos. However, the ending differed markedly from the final version of "Paranoid Android." The third section originally had the lyrics "Hallelujah," where the final version has "Rain down..." The third section also had other different lyrics and was extended longer, eventually returning to the opening theme and guitar riff of the song's first section, while the released version ultimately went straight into the final guitar solo. When played live since 1997, the song is performed as on the album, lacking these elements.

Promotional video

Magnus Carlsson, Swedish creator of the animated series Robin of which the band were fans, was commissioned to make a music video. Having first wanted to do a video for one of the other songs instead, Carlsson was uncertain how to approach "Paranoid Android." He came up with a scenario that was to the band's liking after locking himself in his office, staring out the window at a distant bridge while listening to nothing but the song over and over again.

This animated video features mild-mannered Robin and a friend venturing out into the world, running into miserable UN representatives, bullying pub patrons, two kissing leathermen, a junkie, deranged businessmen, mermaids, and an angel who plays ping pong with Robin after rescuing him. The band has a cameo appearance in the video at a bar, where they are sitting at a table drinking and watching a man with a head coming out of his navel dancing on top of their table. Although the single did not receive much radio play due to its length, MTV immediately put the video in high rotation. However, the version most often shown on television was edited. Thom Yorke was not happy about this: "The video of 'Paranoid Android' has been censored by MTV. They took all nipples out of the cartoon, but they had no problem with the scene in which a man cuts off his own arms and legs." The uncut version was later compiled along with other Radiohead videos on the DVD and home video release 7 Television Commercials.

Track listing

  • CD1 CDNODATAS01
  1. "Paranoid Android"
  2. "Polyethylene Parts 1 & 2"
  3. "Pearly*"
  • CD2 CDNODATA01
  1. "Paranoid Android"
  2. "A Reminder"
  3. "Melatonin"

Cover versions

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