"Paranoid Android" is a song by English alternative rock band Radiohead, released as the lead single from their third studio album, OK Computer (1997), on 26 May 1997. The lyrics were written by singer Thom Yorke following an unpleasant experience in a Los Angeles bar. The song is over six minutes long and contains four sections. The name is taken from Marvin the Paranoid Android from the science fiction series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
"Paranoid Android" charted at number three on the UK Singles Chart, Radiohead's highest-charting position in the UK to date. It received acclaim, with critics claiming it to be the band's magnum opus, comparing it to the songs "Happiness Is a Warm Gun" by the Beatles and "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen. It has appeared regularly on lists of the best songs of all time, including NMEs and Rolling Stones respective 500 Greatest Songs of All Time lists. Its animated music video, directed by Magnus Carlsson, was placed on heavy rotation on MTV, although the network censored portions containing nudity in the US. At the 1998 Brit Awards, the song was nominated for Best British Single. The track has been covered by artists in a variety of genres. It was included in the 2008 Radiohead: The Best Of.
Writing and recording
As with many other OK Computer tracks, "Paranoid Android" was recorded in St Catherine's Court, a 15th-century mansion near the village of St Catherine, near Bath, Somerset. It was produced by Nigel Godrich. Other inspirations included Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" and the work of the Pixies.
The first version was over 14 minutes long and included a long Hammond organ outro performed by Jonny Greenwood. The guitarist Ed O'Brien said: "We'd be pissing ourselves while we played. We'd bring out the glockenspiel and it would be really, really funny." Greenwood said later that the organ solo was "hard to listen to without clutching the sofa for support". Godrich said: "Nothing really happened with the outro. It just spun and spun and it got very Deep Purple and went off."
Influenced by the editing of the Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour, Radiohead shortened the song to six and a half minutes, with the organ solo replaced with a shorter guitar outro. The bassist, Colin Greenwood, said the band "felt like irresponsible schoolboys ... Nobody does a six-and-a-half-minute song with all these changes. It's ridiculous." For the ending, Yorke recorded himself shouting gibberish into a Dictaphone. Godrich edited the parts together with tape. He said: "It’s a very hard thing to explain, but it’s all on 24-track and it runs through ... I was very pleased with myself. I sort of stood there and said, 'You guys have no idea what I've just done.' It was pretty clever." art rock, progressive rock and neo-prog. It has four distinct sections, potentially defining the track as a "rhapsody", each played in standard tuning, and a time signature, although several three-bar segments in the second section are played in timing.
The opening is played in the key of G minor with a tempo of 82 beats per minute (BPM), and begins with a mid-tempo acoustic guitar backed by shaken percussion before layered with electric guitar and Yorke's vocals. The melody of the opening vocal lines spans an octave and a third.<!--Self published source: The final chord progression in this section uses C Dorian and C Mixolydian.-->
The second section is written in the key of A minor Ending the second section is a distorted guitar solo by Jonny Greenwood, which lasts from 2:43 to 3:33. and reduces the tempo to 62 BPM. This section uses multi-tracked, choral vocal arrangement
The fourth and final section, which begins at 5:35, is a brief instrumental reprise of the second section that serves as a coda. Jonny Greenwood's solo tone during the solo is achieved by passing the guitar through a Mutronics Mutator rack unit. The song ends, as does the second section, with a short chromatically descending guitar motif.
The style of the song was likened to Queen by Rolling Stones Mark Kemp, while other critics, including David Browne of Entertainment Weekly, Jon Lusk of the BBC and Simon Williams of NME Yorke's lyrics were based on an unpleasant experience at a Los Angeles bar during which he was surrounded by strangers who were high on cocaine. Yorke was frightened by a woman who became violent after someone spilled a drink on her. He characterised the woman as "inhuman", and said "There was a look in this woman's eyes that I'd never seen before anywhere. ... Couldn't sleep that night because of it." The woman inspired the line "kicking squealing Gucci little piggy" in the song's second section. Yorke, referring to the line "With your opinion, which is of no consequence at all", said that "Again, that's just a joke. It's actually the other way around – it's actually my opinion that is of no consequence at all."
Music video
Yorke said that many people suggested Radiohead make another "moody and black and dark" music video for "Paranoid Android", similar to the video for their single "Street Spirit". However, Radiohead wanted an entertaining and "sick" video instead. Yorke said: "We had really good fun doing this song, so the video should make you laugh." According to Yorke, the band did not send Magnus the lyrics as they did not want the video to be too literal.
Summary
thumb|The video's protagonist, Robin.
Like Robin, the "Paranoid Android" video is drawn in a simplistic style that emphasises bold colours and clear, strong lines. However, in this cameo only the versions of Yorke and Jonny Greenwood resemble themselves; Colin Greenwood said "there was no way that we could appear in it to perform in it because that would be so Spinal Tap" and that having animations that did not resemble the band members allowed the video to be "twisted and colourful which is how the song is anyway".
Reception
Yorke was pleased with the video, saying that it "is really about the violence around [Robin], which is exactly like the song. Not the same specific violence as in the lyrics, but everything going on around him is deeply troubling and violent, but he's just drinking himself into oblivion. He's there, but he's not there. That's why it works. And that's why it does my head in every time I see it." Adrian Glover of Circus called the animation incredible and the video "really cool".
Artwork
thumb|The back of the CD2 release of "Paranoid Android" illustrates the release's use of images from the OK Computer artwork, the change in tint from the CD1 release, and the "cathedral of white" message.
Stanley Donwood worked with Yorke to design the artwork for most of the "Paranoid Android" releases, although both the images and design were ultimately credited to "dumb computers".
The two versions of the single have different messages on the reverse. Both the CD1 and Japanese releases state:
Written on the back of the CD2 single is: