Try to imagine a world taken over by technology and capitalism, where overconsumption is the norm. It isn’t necessary to imagine, these are the drastic measures where our society is at now. 

Now, imagine if there were people who knew this would happen. Their names are Phil Selway, Ed O’Brien, Jonny Greenwood, Colin Greenwood, and Thom Yorke, together forming the famous alternative rock band, Radiohead.

Radiohead didn’t see into the future, but they did create an album—OK Computer—that depicted a dystopian future taken over by technology, capitalism, and over-consumerism. Sound familiar? 

This article will feature everything you need to know about this album and the themes that reflect many aspects of our lives today. It’s essential to stay informed about the social, political, and environmental issues in our world; music makes it a little more enjoyable to learn about them.

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The Making of the Masterpiece

Released on May 21, 1997, the album was named OK Computer, which doesn’t sound strange in modern times where people command their technologies, like Siri or Alexa. In the 90s, it was strange and new. Personal computers were becoming more and more popular, and by the mid-90s, most of the Western population were purchasing computers of their own.

OK Computer sold millions of copies worldwide, and a big reason why it became so popular was that it wasn’t a traditional rock album. It featured electronic and unfamiliar sounds, steering away from a guitar riff being the main melody of a song.

Before, Radiohead were known for being an almost grungy rock band with their first two albums, Pablo Honey and The Bends. Pablo Honey was a commercial success, featuring the band’s most famous song reaching nearly 2 billion streams on Spotify, “Creep“. The Bends was a leap forward, earning much more acclaim from critics than their debut because of its refined sound, bringing them more recognition and respect in the music industry. 

Radiohead wrote OK Computer after being on tour for the last three years, rushing on and off airplanes and buses to support both Pablo Honey and The Bends. A video on YouTube uploaded by channel Middle 8, referenced an interview with lead singer of the band, Thom Yorke, where he said that the band, especially himself, felt extremely isolated and disconnected from society and the world because of that. Being on the back of a tour bus, he felt people were moving too fast, and technology was advancing at high rates.

In another interview conducted in 2017 for Rolling Stone, Yorke explains how he “was getting into the sense of information overload, which is ironic, really, since it’s so much worse now. The paranoia I felt at the time was much more related to how people related to each other. But I was using the terminology of technology to express it. Everything I was writing was actually a way of trying to reconnect with other human beings when you’re always in transit.”

This shows that although computers technically connect people all over the world, it’s more isolating than ever to stare at a computer screen instead of interacting with people face to face. An article published by Yale University Press reports on research that found “excessive screentime is where problems arise [because] it crowds out opportunities for face-to-face social interaction—the very interaction that maintains existing relationships and builds new ones.”

Yorke and his bandmates saw that writing on the wall back in the 90s, and their albums still taps into that alienation. It’s also a bit ironic because the World Wide Web gave fans of Radiohead a way to discuss OK Computer and the songs, making countless websites for the album, bringing the band even further success.

OK Computer is not only important because it addresses problems in modern society, but it also transformed the rock scene at the time. To put in perspective, Secondary school music teacher Eric Murray says that Radiohead “were pushing the boundaries outward when everybody thought that the boundaries were already closed.” 

Even Dave Grohl, famously a member of Nirvana and Foo Fighters, said that the release of OK Computer “was a pivotal moment in the history of music,” and he thought “it was the beginning of some kind of revolution, musically.” 

Themes of OK Computer

There are multiple themes on this album, some of which were presented earlier. Each song represents a different topic of the dystopian world that OK Computer explored. Each song also works on its own to listen to, but they work together as a whole album that shows the negative side of this dystopian world. 

This article takes heavy inspiration and research from a video released by a channel called Stemp, where he explains his thoughts on what each song means. Here is an explanation of the standout tracks with interesting underlying messages.

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Other lyrics like “In a fast German car / I’m amazed that I survived / an airbag saved my life”, tell us how happy this person is that he survived. An airbag saved his life, and without that technology, he would be dead right now. Which brings the irony, that the same technology that saved his life could’ve been his demise.

This reveals the real message of the song. The same situation can be applied to the technology of today. It shows the reliance we have on technology, and one day it might be the end for us because we are so over-reliant on it. Almost dying and feeling better when you don’t can be compared to getting a new computer and feeling so much better or cooler because of it.

It reflects the over-reliance on technology in modern society, and without them, we are lost.

In a fast German car / I’m amazed that I survived / An airbag saved my life

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“Paranoid Android”

The first single released for the album, and lasting six minutes long, “Paranoid Android” is the most critically acclaimed song on the album, and rightfully so. It involves a sequence of four different parts that started out as three different songs that Radiohead combined into one. 

The first section is softer than the other ones, but very dynamic. Starting out with a riff on the acoustic guitar, and on what we could call the chorus in this section, there are three different guitars, two voices, a bass, and drums all creating a similar but intense harmony. 

The second part starts similarly to the first, with a different riff on the acoustic and a fast bass line. It amps up to a very loud section with Yorke yelling, and Greenwood’s first of three solos, the song has. 

All the tension is released in the third section, where the acoustic comes in with a complex chord progression and two different voices singing simultaneously on the synthesizer. Yorke comes in as the third, and as the final chord progression begins, a fourth joins in. 

Leading up to the final section of the song, which is similar to the second, but is even crazier and louder. Screaming noises are heard from Yorke, static noises are heard, and Greenwood performs two guitar solos to finalize the song.

The lyrics are strange and hateful. Yorke begins by pleading for someone to “stop the noise”, because he’s trying to get “some rest”. The second part brings lyrics where he’s insulting someone’s “ambition” which makes them a “kicking, squealing, Gucci little piggy.”

He’s taking a stab at people who only care about their careers and money to the point where that’s their only thought. Typical businessmen are ambitious to the point where they only care about themselves and their appearance. 

Overall, the lyrics reflect anger towards a capitalistic society filled with wealthy people who are just shallow. It shows the lack of empathy in the dystopian society of OK Computer, but also what we can see in our world today.

Ambition makes you look pretty ugly / Kicking, squealing, Gucci little piggy

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“Fitter Happier” 

This song, which really isn’t a song, serves as an interlude on the album. It features a monotone robotic voice reading out a type of formula to live the ‘perfect’ life. This voice, introduced with the iMac, can still be found on your MacBook laptop right now, if you go to the Speech settings on your Mac, and then select the name Fred. 

This perfect life consists of normal things a doctor would tell you. Like: “Not drinking too much”. And: “Regular exercise (three times a week)”. But this is not what makes this song creepy, it’s the background noises of static and an eerie, ambient piano accompanying the voice. 

The song reveals the true purpose of these orders to live a better life when the voice says: “No chance of escape, Concerned (but powerless)”. This shows us that the true intention of the voice is to control the people of this imaginary world. It’s also a reflection of our society that most people are concerned about problems and political leaders, but really can’t do anything to stop them.

The final lyrics of the song are the most powerful, describing the optimized life as living as “a pig / in a cage / on antibiotics,” comparing humans in the modern world to an animal being controlled and waiting to be slaughtered for the consumption of humans. This line is what reveals everything about the anthem; its purpose is to show how governments can control people and how people conform without thinking.

But it’s not only the government or people in authority that can control people; it’s also society’s norms. People conform to a ‘normal’ life just to fit in; they’ve lost their humanity and authenticity. Now, being reduced to a pig, being controlled, and waiting to die.

A pig / In a cage / On antibiotics

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“Electioneering”

Another lyric that shows the song’s message is “Say the right things, when electioneering,” showing the person is calculating and finding the right things to say when running in an election, referring to how most political leaders manipulate people and make fake promises of a better future to get in power. And how most leaders don’t actually fulfill those promises.

The song is a dig at leaders who don’t care about people but instead follow the money. And how, no matter the protests of the population, nothing will change.

Say the right things / When electioneering

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“The Tourist” 

The final song on the album features two soft guitars, a quiet drum pattern, accompanied by an amazing vocal performance from Yorke. It’s a very beautiful but slow song. Compared to the other songs on the album, it isn’t so negative, instead serving as advice. 

The lyrics are a bit nonsensical, but the chorus is telling someone to “slow down.” Although this could be tied into “Airbag” and a car crash, this song isn’t telling a car to slow down, but rather people in general. Tourists often go to a country to try to see every tourist attraction and famous site they can, as fast as possible. But rushing through life won’t bring you joy, it’ll just bring you down. 

Yorke is telling people to slow down and enjoy the quiet moments in life. After all the negatives of his dystopian world, the final message he wants for you is to appreciate life. 

In our modern society, it could reflect how normalized it is for people, especially the younger generation, to consume so much. Always thinking about the next fashion trend and new shoes to buy. “Slow down” could be applied here. Having ten pairs of shoes won’t bring you happiness or fulfillment.

They ask me where the hell I’m going / At a thousand feet per second

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AISB’s Thoughts on OK Computer

It’s no secret this album is very dark, themes of a dystopian world protruding in it’s melodies with anger. What does our community think of this, and what does it mean to individuals?

After prompting, guitarist and grade 11 student Eliya T. listened to the album in full for the first time, and was happy to share her thoughts with The Bite:

“I just really liked the vibe of [OK Computer]. Like, I don’t think there was a single song that I didn’t like. I know there was the interlude, and that was, very unique, I would say. It’s not a song. But the message, like—It fits completely into the album. It’s about loss of individuality. I think the album in general made me feel lonely. But it’s not, like other sad songs you would listen to. It’s not, oh, they put this D minor chord, and it’s all of a sudden super sad. It’s not that, I think it was, super unique. 

Grade 11 student Eliya T.

Eliya also mentioned her favorite track on the album was “Paranoid Android” because it is “just amazing. It kind of pushes you to feel uncomfortable, even.” 

She also mentioned that she would 100% recommend the album to people and that her brother, whom she had recommended it to, already loves it.

Music teacher Eric Murray was open to share his opinion and the impact OK Computer had at the time of it’s release. “The music is interesting,” Murray says, “there’s a lot of depth to it. It’s very complex: a lot of the chords, a lot of the rhythms. They were at the height of being just really creative and interesting.”

Is OK Computer Really That Good?

Upon its release, OK Computer became an instant commercial and critical success. It sold around 7.8 million copies worldwide and won a Grammy for Best Alternative Record in 1997. They were the hottest band of that year.

Pitchfork gave the reissue, released in 2017, called OKNOTOK, a 10 out of 10, which is rare for a famous music website, known for trustworthy reviews. Another review by Pitchfork written by Barry Walters, mentions that the album is “a masterpiece” and “a break from nearly all other concurrent rock” at the time. It was a step up from all their previous releases, bringing a new sound to the rock era. People named it the best record of the year, if not the decade or ever. 

I could sit here and name every amazing review it had, but why should you care? Well, the thing is, you don’t have to. It’s always hard to explain why music is good, there is no actual evidence or proof, it’s subjective. Music theory can explain a song, but never the impact or change that can come from it. So you might hate this album, or you might agree with Walters and believe it’s a masterpiece. You decide. What we do know is that music has the ability to move and touch people in ways words can’t. That’s why it’s just best to listen. 

And if you do decide to check Radiohead out, you might learn more about everyday world problems that they connect to their music. And it might make you a more empowered and informed member of society.