OK Computer

A common theme people don’t seem to pick up on in music is the theme of technology and its effects on society.  One example of this is the album OK Computer.

OK Computer is a Radiohead album released in 1997. Although Radiohead does not consider the album a concept album, the album shows a clear consistency of the theme technology and its effects on society. The album is an attempt to open the audience’s eyes and get them thinking about what is going on around them, and if it is a positive thing or not.

Airbag, the first track of the album, is similar to the video we watched in class where it was mentioned that the advancement of medical technology allowing transplants to save lives is followed by the need for car crashes, and therefore technology is very contradicting. The character in the song is surprised he survived, because of the danger of the car crash which would have never happened without technology in the first place, but his life was saved by the same technology that endangered him because of the airbag.

Fitter Happier is a track on the album that is actually a little disturbing. The voice is that of a computer automated voice, which is speaking of a person tracking their behavior and referring to the previous song Paranoid Android where the character repeatedly says “I may be paranoid, but not an android,” showing anxiety relating to the technology around him and how closely he’s being watched. In Fitter Happier, the characters new behaviors are being observed and noted, and the song ends with the conclusion that the man is “calm, fitter, healthier ,and more productive a pig, in a cage, on antibiotics.

The album seems to suggest that technology provides us with a false sense of security and advancement, when in reality we are setting ourselves up for disaster and/or danger.

"Ok Computer" (1997) 

·         Airbag

·         Paranoid Android

·         Subterranean Homesick Alien

·         Exit Music (For A Film)

·         Let Down

·         Karma Police

·         Fitter Happier

·         Electioneering

·         Climbing Up The Walls

·         No Surprises

·         Lucky

·         The Tourist

OK Computer is definitely an album that will hold your interest if you think about the meaning of the lyrics, and sometimes even disturb you. A song from another album that may spark interest is Idioteque. Nobody seems to know its true meaning, but it can cause your imagination to run wild with possibilities.