Three Tune Tuesday XXL Edition ~ Radiohead - "OK Computer" ~ Tom Yorke ~ Birthday Boy #59 🎶🎸

^{Capture from the youtube video clip of the "Radiohead" - Paranoid Android}

The next track is “Subterranean Homesick Alien”, with obvious references to Bob Dylan's song, in which the narrator fantasizes about being abducted by aliens.

The next track is another one of my favorites, which is why I chose it as one of the three tracks of the week. “Exit Music (For a Film)” was inspired by William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. The lines from the play that Tom wanted to incorporate into the lyrics didn't make it in the end, boiling down to a narrative of the entire play. It ends up being an ode to a couple who should run away and not give in to a dark and painful fate. A choir enters this song, which further elevates its level of complexity. The electronica used throughout the track leads to a climax that is reached when the percussion enters and the distorted and poignant sound of Colin's bass, transformed by a fuzz pedal, leads us to think that we are even listening to a track by the fellow Bristol band Portishead.

The fifth track, “Let Down,” begins with the arpeggio of a very clean-sounding electric guitar, accompanied by drums and a simple but very catchy rhythm. The piano is present throughout the track, bringing depth to the whole piece. In this song, Yorke expresses his fear of being trapped and unable to escape. His sentimentality is a way he finds to connect with us. And he uses the lyrics to express his strongest and most basic emotions.

The sixth and final track on the first part of the album is my third choice for today - "Karma Police". It is one of the band's most memorable tracks. The acoustic guitar, the piano, the soft voice, with a story that almost lulls us to sleep... The phrase “For a minute there, I lost myself” is my favorite part of this track. The idea for the track's name came about when, during one of the band's tours to promote the album “The Bends,” Jonny jokingly said, when someone was behaving unpleasantly, that “the Karma police will get you sooner or later.” It would be good if that were the case, wouldn't it? Almost divine justice!

Let's move on to the second part of the album.

The seventh track is the unconventional “Fitter Happier.” It features many musical samples and background sounds that are mixed and remixed. One of the synthesized voice applications used by the Macintosh system was used for the narrative. The lyrics are somewhat reminiscent of advertising slogans, and Yorke referred to them as some of the most disturbing lyrics he had ever written, but at the same time they liberated him, as he used a neutral synthesized voice to convey the message. A reality that almost seems created in such a way that we feel an urge to do something better than what we allow ourselves to be proposed by our surroundings.

One of the most rock-style tracks on this album is “Electioneering.” Heavy enough, with the use of a cowbell, long guitar solos, and sharp riffs, it reminds us a lot of the band's previous album, Pablo Honey (which I also have). This track is one of the most political in terms of lyrics, which were written by today's birthday boy.

The ninth track is “Climbing Up the Walls.” A repeated beat, like the heartbeat of a creature that dwells in darkness, carries us through the track, with a very somber atmosphere. Tom's voice is used as an instrument to express his previous experience as a young man, when he worked as an assistant in a psychiatric hospital. Many ideas, feelings, and anxieties are felt by those who listen to this song, which in a way ends up being a cry of despair...

“Lucky” is one of those tracks that are simply brilliant. Tom elevates his mastery here by portraying the reality of a man who survives a plane crash, and it serves as a catapult for Yorke's anxiety about traveling by transport. The three string instruments are the central focus of the piece, and somehow their sound transports us to an atmosphere somewhat reminiscent of Pink Floyd!

The album ends with the track “The Tourist,” which lulls us, giving us time and space to reconnect with the reality we left behind when we started listening to this album, and to which we will soon return. The idea that we need to slow down is conveyed throughout the entire track. And it seems to me that this is indeed the key to our existence. SLOW DOWN!

Radiohead is one of those bands that I learned to love many, many years ago. And there is nothing that can replace it. I have had the opportunity to see them live twice, at two festivals held in Algés, organized by the same music promoter. It was in 2012, when the event was still called Optimus Alive, and then in 2016 at NOS Alive, organized by the same company but with a change in name because the communications company changed from Optimus to NOS.

I hope you enjoyed one of the posts I most enjoyed writing. This is one of the bands I will always love.