I love watching musicians pick apart this song. "Let Down" is another one with incredible musicianship on display; it's a lot of people's favourite. Great reaction!
Radiohead, especially early stuff like OK Computer, is really a band that you need to listen to the whole album to really "get it". And often it takes 10+ listens, to let it infiltrate every corner of your mind and just consume you. I think of them similar to older bands like Pink Floyd, where just listening to one single just doesn't do it justice. I do hope you check out some of their newer stuff also, like In Rainbows (which I believe is best "listened to" but watching the basement sessions, so you can see the pure skill in action, and Thom vibing out as he sings. These guys are easily my favorite band of all time.
The song title is a reference to a book: Douglas Adams' "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", which has a character literally called Marvin, the Paranoid Android.
Ed O’Brien was on guitar as I think someone has mentioned. Whilst Jonny plays all the leads, Ed was so influential on this album, in particular as a lot of the backing sound effects are from him playing around with guitar pedals etc. Colin Greenwood is also such an underrated Bass player
There are several live recordings of Paranoid Android that are on RU-vid. Watching them perform it live is well worth the time. The whole OK Computer album has some amazing songs.
Radiohead builds a lot of their songs similar to TOOL in that there are many ways to interpret certain lyrics, lots of symbolism and songs are a journey.
If you’ve read “American Psycho” you’ll pick out some of the references to the futility of materialism as epitomised by the ‘yuppie’. Such as “why don’t you remember my name?” Thom Yorke went to a party and saw a Gucci-clad woman making a scene, on the back of too much coke. She, and her kind, was the inspiration. Thanks for the video, Erol.
I've always thought of the final part of PA as a reference to the Last Judgment. From the "rain down, rain down" set up, to "the panic, the vomit" as the chaos and realization of fate and condemnation, to "God loves his children, God loves his children." Together with the music, it's full of irrationality that can't be contained. That last line in an early notebook was written as "God loves his children, That's why he kills them."
Paranoid Android was a complicated affair, not least because of the three disparate yet cohesive sections. It had been inspired by a bad experience Thom had one night in a Los Angeles bar. He had gone there for a quiet drink, but found himself surrounded by parasitic groupie types and pretentious California posers. Unbeknown to him, virtually everyone in the room, except himself, was on cocaine. Thom: "The people I saw that night were just like demons from another planet. 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 some crashing down any minute."
Paranoid Android is a song about someone having an anxiety attack at an evening out where they've got to have conversations with record executives. As the song goes on, Thom has increasingly violent fantasies about how the yuppies meet their dreary ends. Near the end of the song, our protagonist steps outside into the cool and quieter evening to relax after wrongfully believing one of the yuppies didn't even remember his name. Then the bouncer steps out, most likely in Thom's head, to tell him he can't come back in, and to describe the hilariously tragic scene inside. The whole song is hilarious and self-depreciating. And it's amazing how few people understand it.
hi, I love your channel. Thanks for making it. I think you'd love an UNKLE track called rabbit in your headlights, featuring thom yorke of radiohead. Very strange chord prograssion and polyrhythmic. Brilliant vocal range too.
To me, This song is the reverend bohemian Rhapsody. I don’t mean that literally. It’s just where bohemian Rhapsody makes me feel positive this phase inverts it in a good way. One of my favourite creations of my life time 😍
In all fairness, it's probably best to listen to the entire album in one sitting - truly a materpiece as a whole work and I think you'd get more out of it that way and certainly worth watching the videos for the singles off this album too. A portion of the guitar sounds came/come from Lovetone pedals, which are damned crazy and very sought after RIP :(
"Unborn chicken voices" = egg shakers. Thom was trying to rest, and the band were fooling around with various percussion, some of which made it onto this track.
Just having John Lennon peaking over your head every now and then makes me respect your taste in music. EDIT: ... and the smile on your face during this ;)
Weee, you keep reacting to all the good stuff 😎❤️ To all the radiohead fans out there that wanna hear their music in a new light could try to listen to the Radiohead, A Jazz Symphony by Noordpool Orchestra Well worth your time, imo😎 Even the 8bit version of in rainbows here on RU-vid rocks 😂❤
Hi Erol! Could I request that you take a look at a Japanese math rock / post rock band called "Toe"? I think you'd enjoy them very much and find them very textural and interesting and something different! And, of course, the drumming is just...!!!!) Perhaps check out their song "All that I Understand Is That I Don't Understand" or perhaps "C" or "Goodbye (album version)". I don't think you'll regret it! So few reactors know to check them out and that's just plain criminal if you ask me especially considering how I think their drummer rivals Danny Carey for sure! And, P.S. keep up the great videos!! Radiohead is my favourite band and Tool is close second/third with Toe right there too!
I'd love to hear more about why you think some of the chord progressions are intentive! You have so much knowledge, please share 😉! The other song on this album that most people seem to praise is "Exit Music - for a film". Maybe something to check out. Have you checked out Doug Helverings channel? I think he is one of the fastest growing reaction channels, he's got a very nice format of his videos, maybe something to get inspired by 😉!
Thank you so much, Erol. Glad you liked it, SOOO much more greatness for you to experience, and not just on this album. Question: Do you have both perfect and relative pitch? Were you born with it or did you train your ear to do it? Thanks. You're very quick with the perfect pitch. It really helps with composing, I bet. You don't have to go searching for the notes that play in your head.
Please react to a band called . The Warning 3 sisters playing rock ages . . 24 . 22 and 19 . . They have been a band for over 10 years and have over 50 original songs from 2 EPs and their 4th album due on 28th june . . . You wont be disapointed . . Start with their performance at the MTV . VMAs . .of their song . . Evolve . . . Till then . . Bye from New Zealand 💐👍🍻🇳🇿twa
