Karma Police
"Karma Police" is a song by the English rock band Radiohead, released on 25 August 1997, as the second single from their third studio album, OK Computer (1997). It reached number one in Iceland and number eight on the UK Singles Chart. In the US, it reached number 14 on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart. It was included on Radiohead: The Best Of (2008).
For the surveillance program, see Karma Police (surveillance programme)."Karma Police"
The music video, directed by Jonathan Glazer, sees the singer, Thom Yorke, in the back of a car pursuing a man. Rolling Stone placed "Karma Police" number 279 on its list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.
Composition[edit]
"Karma Police" is in a 4
4 time signature and played in standard tuning. The song is in the key of G major.[3] Acoustic guitar and piano are the most prominent instruments.[4]
The song progresses from the intro into a mid-tempo section which alternates between a verse and a chorus. The verse begins with the line "Karma police", and the chorus begins with the line "This is what you'll get". After this section cycles through twice, the song switches into a second section which is based around the line "For a minute there, I lost myself". Yorke's voice is put through a reverb effect and a sliding melodic figure serves as a counterpoint to his vocals.[5] In the final minute, Ed O'Brien distorts his guitar by driving a delay effect to self-oscillation, then lowering the delay rate, creating a "melting" effect.[6]
After Yorke told the producer, Nigel Godrich, that he was not happy with the ending, the pair reconstructed it with loops and samples, a technique they developed on later Radiohead albums. Godrich said: "It was the first time we did anything like that. Just us in the studio, and a forerunner of a lot of things to come, good and bad."[7]
Lyrics[edit]
The title lyric originates from an inside joke; the members of Radiohead would threaten to call the "karma police" if someone did something bad.[8] Yorke explained that the song was about stress and "having people looking at you in that certain [malicious] way".[9] He said: "It's for someone who has to work for a large company. This is a song against bosses. Fuck the middle management!"[10]
Yorke and Jonny Greenwood emphasised in interviews that the song was humorous and "not entirely serious".[9] The line "He buzzes like a fridge / He's like a detuned radio" refers to distracting, metaphorical background noise that Yorke calls "fridge buzz", one of the themes of OK Computer.[11] "Karma Police" also shares themes of insanity and dissatisfaction with capitalism.[12]
The song has the closing refrain "Phew, for a minute there I lost myself". Yorke cited it as an example of his practice of using everyday phrases in his lyrics, and said he probably heard the phrase on television.[13] According to the Financial Times, "When sung in his trembling high voice, this unexceptional phrase becomes charged with power."[13] Yorke said: "It's so ironic that for years people would write about the way I wrote lyrics as if it's like some deep heartfelt thing. It's fucking not at all. It's like collage. It's just walking down the street and experiencing something and thinking, 'What would that be like if I stuck that in your face?'"[13]
Release[edit]
In the United Kingdom, "Karma Police" was issued as the second single from OK Computer on 25 August 1997.[14] It was released on two CD singles and a 12-inch vinyl single and reached number eight on the UK Singles Chart.[14][15] In the United States, the single was serviced to modern rock radio on 13 October 1997.[16] Five months later, in March 1998, it peaked at number 14 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart.[17] In March 2010, almost 13 years later, "Karma Police" reached number 15 on the Danish Singles Chart.[18] Early versions of "Karma Police" were released on the 2019 compilation MiniDiscs [Hacked].[19] In 2023, the American hardcore band Pierce the Veil covered "Karma Police" on Triple J while touring Australia.[20]