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

Welcome to my #TTT #ThreeTuneTuesday entry!

Today is a special day for one of the artists I most admire and like. I'm talking about Tom Yorke.

Born exactly 57 years ago, ten years older than me, this multifaceted artist born in Wellingborough, England, has one of the most iconic voices in the music world.

And for today's post, I couldn't help but go to the hatch. Literally!

A few years ago, shortly after I bought my house in 2010, I salvaged a low wooden table that someone had thrown away. At the time, my father and brother ended up helping me with this project. The top was a little battered and had some surface damage, but that meant I would have to remove the entire surface layer of varnish, then prepare the wood with very fine sandpaper, only to be able to varnish it again.

I am a very practical person. I thought of an alternative solution. As the tabletop was not only old but also loose from the structure that supported it, it would have to be fixed. So I thought of covering the tabletop with a sticker with an interesting pattern, but one that was not too “shocking” so that I would not get tired of it over time. I chose a pattern that resembles raffia weaving.

The tabletop was literally resting on a square box with legs. I thought it would be a waste to fix it and lose this small storage space. I put in two shock absorbers, which help to lift and hold the top up, and assist in the downward movement. I didn't use hinges, as I would have had to use one of those long ones that covered the entire width of the table. But maybe that would have been the best option, as one of the shock absorbers comes loose quite easily.

At the time, I used this small storage space right in the center of the room to store my CDs. Yes, since I no longer had a stereo, it made sense to use that space.

And today, I decided to open it up to take out what is, in my opinion, one of the best albums EVER!

I'm talking about “OK Computer.” The third album by the band Radiohead, released on May 21, 1997, is one of the most acclaimed and experimental works I have ever discovered.

The sounds, the overlapping ideas, the dystopian lyrics about a capitalist society devoid of any human values are elevated to their highest exponential and brought to us through twelve tracks of enormous musical quality and originality.

It can be divided into two parts, one from track 1 to 6, and a second segment from track 7 to 12. In the first section, we hear a sample that is repeated over and over again in the song “Airbag.” This was something that Radiohead had never done before. They used a Macintosh to compute and edit! The guitars dance to the sound of drums that set the rhythm throughout the track, interspersed with some remixes and synthesizer sounds, and vocals.

The second track, one of my favorites, and one of the three chosen for the selection, is the song “Paranoid Android”. In my opinion, it is one of the best songs ever conceived by the British band. The lyrics were written by Yorke, who was inspired by an episode during one of his visits to Los Angeles. One night, he witnessed an episode in a bar where a woman reacted violently after someone accidentally spilled a drink on her. I don't know if you remember the video clip, but that part even appears there, portrayed in a certain way.

^{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.