Paranoid Android: Radiohead’s Greatest Song Shouldn’t Have Worked as a Single
Everything pointed to Radiohead’s lead single off OK Computer being the WORST pick to introduce fans to their third album. It was too long, it had no consistent chorus, and there were multiple time and key changes. Conventional wisdom pointed to it being a flop. But people loved it. This is the wild story behind the track, from how Thom Yorke wrote the lyrics, to cutting down the original 9-10 minute version (featuring a masterful Hammond Organ solo from Jonny Greenwood) down to fit the album, to producer Nigel Godrich’s wizardry, and the full story behind the groundbreaking music video by Magnus Carlsson.
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CHAPTERS:
0:00 Thom Yorke Walks Into A Bar…
1:46 Fragments Gathered on the Road
4:25 The Influences Behind Paranoid Android
5:43 Chaos Captured in an Ancient Hall
9:38 The Single That Carried Its Own Weight
10:45 The Paranoid Android Music Video (The Robin Series)
13:14 The Echo That Remains
15:13 This SHOULDN’T Have Worked…
CLIPS & REFERENCES:
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Dir Garth Jennings, Touchstone Pictures, 2005): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eh-W8QDVA9s
Queen “Bohemian Rhapsody” (Official Music Video) Credit Queen Official via YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ9rUzIMcZQ
Radiohead “Paranoid Android” (Official Music Video, Dir Magnus Carlsson, 1997): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHiGbolFFGw
Radiohead Live at Glastonbury Festival (1997): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATvonKDt6jQ
Radiohead “Paranoid Android” (Live at Mansfield, 1996): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNZ2pauQezc
Radiohead “Paranoid Android” (Later with Jools Holland, 1997) cr BBC Music via YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzPtr_n-m8A
George Michael Bluth Does the Sad Walk (Arrested Development): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REiJQrmglBs
Dave Grohl talking about Radiohead and Ok Computer (Reality Ain’t Pretty via YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTXJNG4DeA4
Radiohead MTV Interview with Matt Pinfield (June 15, 1997): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiwpL3NlzZ4
Radiohead “Paranoid Android” Live in Madrid Nov 5, 2025 (via Javi Dieguez): https://youtu.be/uqszJwLUiJc?si=oPkC0_-Urh8r9AIh
Radiohead Interview with MTV Japan – April 1997 (via Serfi) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyIuMhkTEFY
Thom & Ed in an Electronics Store (MuchMusic, June 3, 1997) via Radioheads Interviews Archive: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cS7dnkQpn6U
Radiohead Interview for OK Computer (1997) via scaryclaireyfairy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FpFENbFw1A
Radiohead Interview for OK Computer’s Release in 1997 (via scaryclaireyfairy): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaCD7dwSujI
#radiohead #paranoidandroid #thomyorke #jonnygreenwood #interview
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