O.K Computer, Act 1

To analyse art is a very difficult thing, and the most important thing to remember is that it will always vary on the individual viewing the piece. As Wilde said, “it is the observer, not the artist, which art reveals”.

O.K Computer is an ESPECIALLY hefty thing to analyse, I mean I’ve found thesis’ written by uni students about this album! And while I don’t really focus on the musical side in this, because im not really that experienced in it, I look into the amazing symbolic feel to this album.

Put simply, O.K Computer is the average 21st Century person represented in music. Every song is a different frame of mind he has, every song represents a different facet of his (and our) lives today. O.K Computer points out the basic truth: In today’s society we can choose wether to care or not, and we choose not to.


Airbag
This track really focuses on the fragility of humanity. An interesting opening to a CD! But not an uncommon thing when introducing a person :D The opening lyrics are symbolic of an everyday introduction that a guy might make at a party, very macho and assured of himself! “In an interstellar burst, I’m back to save the universe!”

Then we get to the talk of how an “airbag saved his life” and we are shown what its like beneath the surface. We see that no matter how much of a superhero we think we think we are, we can still all be shuffled off at any time. The reliance on the technology of the airbag to save us from the technology of the car is also nice and ironic :D lol


Paranoid Android
Oh God, where to start? Paranoid Android showcases the physical representation of our real role model, the perfect ‘21st Century Man’ who has everything we could ever want; money, fame, power – The corporate type. The opening bars of the song are interrupted by our ‘kicking, squealing, Gucci little piggy’ shouting over the top “HEY CAN YOU STOP THE NOISE?! IM TRYING TO GET SOME REST!!!”. There's no time for music in the day-to-day life of business (and we have to remember, he’s trying to get away from the ‘voices in his head’).

These corporate thugs like Trump; we look up to them, want to be them. They look down on us, sneering “when I am king, you will be first against the wall…with your opinions which are of no consequence at all”.

We are so obsessed with our appearance; it doesn't matter what we do as long as we look good doing it. Ambition? Makes you look pretty ugly! Fame is everything in today’s society, and we are so filled with self importance we get outraged when we feel we are not remembered “Why don’t you remember my name?! OFF WITH HIS HEAD!!...oh, I guess you do! ” (how embarrassing!).

And after the tumultuous crashing and rocking out of the first ‘movement’ we come to the inside of our corporate type…crying out to the powers that be to “rain down!”. When push comes to shove, he still relies on God or Fate or whatever to give him sense. For a moment, he looks around and sees the world as it is. He sees the panic, the vomit, the dust, the screaming, the yuppies networking. He actually looks at his life and realises its meaningless. He cries out incredulously to God, HOW CAN THIS BE?! “God loves his children, yeah?!”, once again shifting the blame from himself.

The man we are presented with in Paranoid Android is what we all want to be. Rich, famous, powerful; he is a shell of a man, a walking dead body. Paranoid Android shows that life with the purpose that these men have is meaningless.


Subterranean Homesick Alien
What person would be able to function without secret hopes and dreams? Everyone at some point feels bored with their life, living in a town where the most excitement comes from “watching your feet for cracks in the pavement”

But you know, there could always be adventure hiding around the corner. “Up above, aliens hover” we’re told matter-of-factly, like a child informing us how Santa gets down the chimney. How EXCITING would it be to be whisked away into the sky! How DIFFERENT from our normal lives!

The lyrics get more passionate and childlike as they go along “I wish they’d swoop down, in a country lane late at night while im driving!”. He dreams of being taken aboard and “shown the world as I’d love to see it”. He feels like he’s the only one to know this secret, that if he told his friends they’d never believe him! “They’d lock me away…but I’d be alright…”

And at each chorus, our man wakes up from his dreams. Back into reality, he apologises for his childish thinking. “Im just uptight…I’ll be alright…”


Exit Music (for a film)
Now this track was not originally written to be on this album, it was written for Baz’s Romeo and Juliet (as the title points out in the brackets). The lyrics tell the story of Romeo and Juliet, the greatest love story of all time. What does that have to do with modern life? Hmmm.

We read, we watch, we listen; we are entertained all day, every day. Our society is based on where we can watch our favourite soap, or escape into a fantasy, or laugh at ourselves in a comedy. I think Exit Music, other then being one of the most beautiful pieces of music ever played, expresses one of the most depressing issues inherent in ourselves…

The love story of Romeo and Juliet is passion to the point where they willing die for each other. Back in Shakespeares time, this was presented as a true story (at least, nobody come out and said it was false). Imagine that happening nowadays. Would you willingly die for somebody?

Now fast forward entertainment to today, with shows like Big Brother. We are actually presented with entertainment as being reality, and as such, we model our lives on it. Other forms of entertainment, like soaps and comedies, also seep into our lives. Television, music, radio; nowadays tools of guidance rather then pieces of entertainment. We unconsciously copy Neighbours in our relationships, music clips for how to dress, music or reality TV stars as how to act…we have become entertainment,

Radiohead present the story of Romeo and Juliet without mentioning names, like its happening to a random couple. We see how truly a waste of life it is…but that wont stop us learning from it. They hope that you choke.


Let Down
Now all this thinking and thinking and thinking we do on our own existence…anyone whose read THIS far will know it can get pretty serious and depressing. Life can be presented as a constant and consistent kick in pants, like being “crushed like a bug in the ground”.

This song is our everyday man saying “look, life’s a bitch and then you die…but I’d love to be able to believe in something…”. Like in Homesick Alien, we have moments of childlike hope “One day I will grow wings!”, but like in Homesick Alien he suddenly realises such talk is “hysterical and useless…sentimental always comes out drivel”.

Let Down shows how we refuse to believe in anything, for fear of being laughed at and for fear of being wrong. It showcases the death of hope, the death of faith, the death of belief.

Karma Police
Karma Police is a perfect example of how modern society deals with bad things happening. In short, we believe that people deserve the bad things that happen to them. In a way, its like worshipping some pagan god; “Punish those people, O great Karma! They dress differently, and act differently, and they deserve it!”

We want people to be punished for being different. We feel hatred to that which we don’t understand, and we take personal insult at people acting differently to how we do. “This is what you get, when you mess with us” we shrug. This is what you get for not being me.

And when something bad happens to us, we are incredulous! We can’t imagine any time when we deserved it. “Karma police; I’m doing all I can, and its not enough?!”