Paranoid Android
"Paranoid Android" is a song by English alternative rock band Radiohead, released as the lead single from their third studio album, OK Computer (1997), on 26 May 1997. The lyrics were written by singer Thom Yorke following an unpleasant experience in a Los Angeles bar. The song is over six minutes long and contains four sections. The name is taken from Marvin the Paranoid Android from the science fiction series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
For other uses, see Paranoid Android (disambiguation)."Paranoid Android"
- "Polyethylene (Parts 1 & 2)"
- "Pearly*"
- "A Reminder"
- "Melatonin"
26 May 1997
6:27
Radiohead
- Nigel Godrich
- Radiohead
"Paranoid Android" charted at number three on the UK Singles Chart, Radiohead's highest-charting position in the UK to date. It received acclaim, with critics comparing it to the songs "Happiness Is a Warm Gun" by the Beatles and "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen. It has appeared regularly on lists of the best songs of all time, including NME's and Rolling Stone's respective 500 Greatest Songs of All Time lists. Its animated music video, directed by Magnus Carlsson, was placed on heavy rotation on MTV, although the network censored portions containing nudity in the US. At the 1998 Brit Awards, the song was nominated for Best British Single. The track has been covered by artists in a variety of genres. It was included in the 2008 Radiohead: The Best Of.
Writing and recording[edit]
As with many other OK Computer tracks, "Paranoid Android" was recorded in St Catherine's Court, a 15th-century mansion near the village of St Catherine, near Bath, Somerset.[1] It was produced by Nigel Godrich.[2]
Inspired by the through-composed structure of the Beatles' 1968 song "Happiness Is a Warm Gun", Radiohead fused parts from three different songs.[3] Other inspirations included Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" and the work of the Pixies.[4]
The first version was over 14 minutes long and included a long Hammond organ outro performed by Jonny Greenwood.[5][6] The guitarist Ed O'Brien said: "We'd be pissing ourselves while we played. We'd bring out the glockenspiel and it would be really, really funny."[6] The singer, Thom Yorke, sarcastically referred to this version as "a Pink Floyd cover".[7] Greenwood said later that the organ solo was "hard to listen to without clutching the sofa for support".[2] Godrich said: "Nothing really happened with the outro. It just spun and spun and it got very Deep Purple and went off."[2] An early extended version was included on the 2019 compilation MiniDiscs [Hacked].[8]
Influenced by the editing of the Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour, Radiohead shortened the song to six and a half minutes,[9] with the organ solo replaced with a shorter guitar outro.[10] The bassist, Colin Greenwood, said the band "felt like irresponsible schoolboys ... Nobody does a six-and-a-half-minute song with all these changes. It's ridiculous."[11] For the ending, Yorke recorded himself shouting gibberish into a Dictaphone.[12] Godrich edited the parts together with tape. He said: "It’s a very hard thing to explain, but it’s all on 24-track and it runs through ... I was very pleased with myself. I sort of stood there and said, 'You guys have no idea what I’ve just done.' It was pretty clever."[2]
The title is taken from Marvin the Paranoid Android from the science fiction series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Yorke said the title was 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 ... The rest of the song is not personal at all."[13]
Reception[edit]
"Paranoid Android" received acclaim. NME chose it as its "Single of the Week", and the journalist Simon Williams described how the song "sprawls out like a plump man on a small sofa, featuring all manner of crypto-flamenco shufflings, medieval wailings, furiously wrenched guitars and ravishingly over-ambitious ideas. Possesses one of the most unorthodox 'axe' solos known to mankind."[35] Simon Williams of NME described the song as "not unlike 'Bohemian Rhapsody' being played backwards by a bunch of Vietnam vets high on Kings Cross-quality crack".[35] Kemp praised the mix of acoustic and electronic instrumentation to produce "complex tempo changes, touches of dissonance, ancient choral music and a King Crimson-like melodic structure".[32] Browne wrote of "celestial call-and-response vocal passages, dynamically varied sections, and Thom Yorke's high-voiced bleat".[33] The A.V. Club called the song unforgettable and an "amazing epic single".[65]
Several reviewers noted the song's ambition. Slant Magazine described the song's lyrics as a "multipart anti-yuppie anthem whose ambition is anything but ugly",[66] and Andy Gill wrote in The Independent that "Paranoid Android" could be the most ambitious single since Jimmy Webb's "MacArthur Park".[67] Craig McLean of The Sydney Morning Herald described "Paranoid Android" as "a titanic guitar opera in three movements and 6 [and a half] minutes".[68] PopMatters' Evan Sawdey called the song OK Computer's "sweeping, multi-tiered centerpiece",[43] Peter and Jonathan Buckley wrote in The Rough Guide to Rock that it was the album's "breathtaking high point".[69] Allmusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine called "Paranoid Android" "complex, multi-segmented ... tight, melodic, and muscular", and said it displayed Radiohead at their most adventurous.[70] Browne admitted that, partially because of "Paranoid Android", OK Computer was significantly more expansive than The Bends.[33] Rolling Stone placed the song at number 256 on its list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time",[71] and Pitchfork included the song at number 4 on their Top 200 Tracks of the 90s.[72] In 2019, American Songwriter ranked the song number three on their list of the 20 greatest Radiohead songs,[73] and in 2020, The Guardian ranked the song number one on their list of the 40 greatest Radiohead songs.[74]
Radiohead
Additional personnel