Paranoid Android Introduction
"Paranoid Android" is a work of mad genius. It's almost seven minutes long (and that's drastically cut back from a fourteen-minute original version). It has four totally distinct musical sections. It has deeply depressing lyrics. It's named after a character from The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy. And it's all supposed to be a bit of a joke.
But like its spiritual forefather, Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody," "Paranoid Android" – despite all its weirdness, or more likely because of it – just works. Somehow this epic (and epically strange) single rose all the way to #3 on the UK pop singles chart; it wasn't quite so popular in the United States, but it did cement Radiohead's reputation among the most creative and original artists of their generation.
Not bad for a song that had its genesis when singer/songwriter Thom Yorke got scared by an enraged woman in a bar.
The song ranks #256 on Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list.
But like its spiritual forefather, Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody," "Paranoid Android" – despite all its weirdness, or more likely because of it – just works. Somehow this epic (and epically strange) single rose all the way to #3 on the UK pop singles chart; it wasn't quite so popular in the United States, but it did cement Radiohead's reputation among the most creative and original artists of their generation.
Not bad for a song that had its genesis when singer/songwriter Thom Yorke got scared by an enraged woman in a bar.
About the Song
| Artist | Radiohead | Musician(s) | Thom Yorke (vocals), Jonny Greenwood (guitar), Ed O’Brien (guitar, backup vocals), Colin Greenwood (bass), Phil Selway (drums) |
| Album | OK Computer | ||
| Year | 1997 | ||
| Label | Parlophone | ||
| Writer(s) | Thom Yorke | ||
| Producer(s) | Nigel Godrich, Radiohead | ||
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Learn to play: Tablature 1, Tablature 2 Buy this song: Amazon iTunes |
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Music Video
Shmoop Connections
"Paranoid Android" sounds like the soundtrack to some kind of futuristic dystopian novel; this is what our beleaguered dissidents in 1984 or A Brave New World should have been listening to between the Two Minutes' Hate and the next dose of Soma, don't you think?On the Charts
"Paranoid Android" reached #3 on the U.K. Singles Chart, Radiohead's highest chart position ever.The song ranks #256 on Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list.