Paranoid Android
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"Paranoid Android" is a song by Radiohead, from their highly acclaimed third album, OK Computer. Despite its unusual length of over six minutes, it was the first single from that album in 1997. The song's release marks Radiohead's ascent as innovators in the art rock genre, and is still considered by many to be the band's best work.
Bassist Colin Greenwood said "On 'Paranoid Android' what we were into was the idea of a DJ Shadow meets The Beatles thing." Thom Yorke also compared the song to The Beatles' work, saying "it really started out as three separate songs and we didn't know what to do with them. Then we thought of 'Happiness is a Warm Gun' — which was obviously three different bits that John Lennon put together — and said 'Why don't we try that?'"
The title is a reference to a character from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy named "Marvin the Paranoid Android", but the song does not seem to be about the character. Some have speculated that the group uses the phrase to mock the tyrant depicted in the song.
The lyrics 'When I am king you will be first against the wall' appear in altered form in Marvin's introduction, and the closing lyrics 'God loves his children, yeah!' may reference the character's demise.
Some more far-fetched lyrical references in the song may include:
- 'When I am king you'll be first against the wall' aludes to an entry in the guide refering to the Sirus Cybernetics Coorperation (who designed Marvin) "A bunch of jerks who'll be first against the wall when the revolution comes"
- 'Off with his head' aluding to Zaphod's second head;
- 'Why don't you remember my name' to Zaphod calling Arthur variations on 'Earthman';
- 'The panic' refering to the guide's cover inscription, 'Don't Panic';
- 'Crackle of pig skin', a reference to the talking pig in The Restaurant at the End of the Universe;
- The name of the album, of which "Paranoid Android" was the first track written, is OK Computer, a line from the Hitchhiker's Guide spoken just before Marvin is introduced.
"Paranoid Android" has been covered by several artists, including jazz pianist Brad Mehldau.
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Track listing
CD1
- "Paranoid Android"
- "Polyethylene Parts 1 & 2"
- "Pearly"
CD2
- "Paranoid Android"
- "A Reminder"
- "Melatonin"
External link
- "Paranoid Android" (http://www.ateaseweb.com/songs/paranoidandroid.php) at At Ease Web, a Radiohead fan site
Paranoid Android [1] (http://www.unsanity.com/haxies/pa) is also the name of a Mac OS X utility program from Unsanity LLC.es:Paranoid Android