An Analysis of OK Computer
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- Опубліковано 9 тра 2024
- Join me on this deep-dive and analyze Radiohead's 1997 album, OK Computer.
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Inspired by jschlatt's 2017 series "A Tribute to OK Computer". Since he never finished himself, I figured I'd step up to the plate and finish what he started.
OK Computer is the third studio album by the English rock band Radiohead, The album's lyrics depict a world fraught with rampant consumerism, social alienation, emotional isolation, and political malaise; in this capacity, OK Computer has been said to have prescient insight into the mood of 21st-century life.
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 intro
1:42 Airbag
3:53 shill
4:07 Paranoid Android
9:50 Subterranean homesick alien
12:00 Exit music
15:41 Let down
19:42 Karma Police
22:42 Fitter happier
24:42 Electioneering
27:40 Climbing up the walls
33:07 No Surprises
36:15 Lucky
38:46 The Tourist
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this is an alternate timeline where Jschlatt never discovered The Jackbox Party Pack
I wish he finished the series but this video is a good replacement lol
@@doovid_ _stemp_ is the replacement.
Alternate universe where 9/11 didnt happen and jschlatt lost 95% of his jokes
Nah he said somewhere he couldnt finish it bcs of copyright stuff and that he would love to finish it :/
jschlatt had so much potential 😡😡😡😡
FINALLY someone gave Climbing up the Walls the attention it needs. The final 1 minute stretch of that song is so bone chilling I love it
Best song on the album imo!
@@Stemp fact
I used to listen to it alot but now it just creeps me out to be honest. That scream at the end is so bone chilling
best song fr
@@lRedPosion Any song with screaming just makes me happy, it's just satisfying to hear sometimes.
I've read from somewhere that the final "ting!" at the very end of The Tourist somewhat symbolizes him crashing his car again (hence, the song repeating "slow down") which then leads back to Airbag and thus repeating the whole album again. It's a loop. Or perhaps, he wasn't that lucky this time, and he did crash full stop, giving the album a rather ironic yet poetic ending.
To me, it sounds like a microwave ting. Our overreliance on technology.
i always imagine it had something to with a vehicle, but more like being on a plane and waking up after a flight and the whole album was a dream with the Ting being the landing message
The Tourist is an unreal song---hauntingly beautiful-and a beautiful message.
There is a live version where Johnny’s solo makes Thom cry on stage. To think there are folks that think The Tourist is the weakest song of the record...
The tourist is my favorite track!
And in my opinion, one of the greatest album closers of all time
It always rubbed me kind of ostentatious and condescending. “Hey idiot. Slow down.”
Electioneering is one of my favorite songs on the album. Crazy how they can hate their own work but somebody else loves it.
most underrated Song on the album that and "Let Down"
Ok Computer is probably the greatest album ever made, it is definitly my most listened album, there isnt a single weak song in the whole album
Why is it the greatest album of all time? Even more than anything by The Beatles or Pink Floyd, etc.?
@@curly_wyn i do not know much about the beatles discography but pink floyd's dark side of the moon is certainly great, however, i personally think OK computer is a better album due to personal preference
@@curly_wyni think it is the greatest album of all time because of its importance. the lyrical content is so dense and is becoming more and more relevant as the years go on and technology advances. i think it is also the greatest album of all time because it was the blueprint for even more complex ideas seen in Kid A and in In Rainbows. Of course, music is subjective and you can love pink floyd and the beatles all you want, this just takes that spot in my heart.
@@dmcyhmwBeatles had more important and influential albums like Sgt Pepper's, Revolver, Abby Road
you don't skip 'fitter, happier' like the rest of us then? ;D
I think Stemp is a radio head
I get radio head
I may be paranoid but not an android may be my favorite line in all time such a masterpiece of a album deserves a review this good
I completely agree, that line really just resonates so much.
this is definitely one of the albums of all time
The album had songs, and the band played instruments to make music.
@@CGR0620 agreed, the songs were also all recorded
@@beefysupremeand you’ll hear words being sung by a singer!
@@curly_wynnot only that but of those words "the" is featured!
Did you know that, unbelievably, Radiohead were the masterminds behind this album? Truly a Radiohead moment.
Thom Yorke is, in fact, on a roll
climbing up the walls is my fave okc track, but let down means a lot to me. my old best friend, and first friend in general, from prek died of brain cancer around a month ago. on the way there i listened to let down and it was the only thing that played in my mind as i saw her dead body in the casket. same as when i hugged her mom, dad and sister, same when i saw my old bullies sitting right next to me during the wake, everything. she didnt deserve to die. she was only 14 with a family and friends who loved her dearly. its not fair man
God loves his children
God loves his children, yeah
i'm so sorry, this is terrible, hope you're okay
Thanks for the Let Down appreciation
YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO I havent even gotten through the first song but i can already tell this is golden and carries the vibe of Schlatts cancelled one pretty good aswell
I used to love this album, but when I heard Kid A I quickly started listening to that instead. I wish I could rediscover this album and love it like I used to
I felt the same way at one point, it comes around again, I promise!
Different flavors for different moods. Both masterpieces in their own right
having listened to kid A, i dont get it i think. I mean its pretty but. ok computer is better imo.
@@s-dew ok computer has better "singles", but Kid A flows much better as an album imo, want a mix of both? Listen to In Rainbows, might just be the best album of all time
@@agnomenamedgrimblegromble3735 In rainbows is awesome. I love that album
OK Computer fans when you skip Fitter Happier: 😡
Electioneering infuses energy and picks up the pace and reminds you which band this is in case the ok computer trip felt alienating. Always loved that song
I like to think of OK Computer as part of the broader Radiohead canon and their obsession with society's interdependence on artificiality. We see hints of what they were going to do on OK computer on The Bends with tracks like "Fake Plastic Trees" and "Planet Telex." Then Kid A would bring the lyrical themes and sound to their logical conclusion with a completely artificial world of music.
I totally agree. It’s like one big concept spread out through many albums.
Palo Alto is such a fucking underrated track its basically if radiohead made a nirvana song
people actually dislike electioneering? its one of my favourites on the album
I'm crushed by the reveal that they don't like Electioneering, as it's one of my favourite rock tracks ever...
Me when I get two ads before the video even starts
The power of UA-cam partnership
@@Stemp ayy congrats!!
@@TanguyBlanchard thanks!
I liked that you mentioned that electioneering is a weak track, OK computer is a near perfect album but I think people put it on such a pedestal that it can lose its humanity (ik ironic) electioneering is of its era while the rest of the album is timeless and your excellent analysis really highlighted that
I think that in climbing up the walls he is talking to someone who he refers to previously as ( a pig) which in this song refers to him as a house and that toys he have in his basement resembles hi inner innocence and that if he gets too deep in his mind he will find toms reflection (his beliefs) and the alarm refers to losing sanity because he knows that tom is right there . And that the house (the pig) is pretty outside meaning all the chaos is inside his head . also the light referring to him being alive .
Climbing up the walls is easily my favorite on the album, the chilling drums and lyrics and it literally is fear and paranoia as a song, and that guitar outro with the chilling noises afterword that songs is constantly on repeat
This satiates half my desire for Jschlatt to finish his series, and the other half would settle for Jschlatt's Twitch chat harassing him about it for an entire stream, followed by him losing it and just running through every second of Exit Music in excruciating detail.
wait, Schlatt talks about Exit Music somewhere?
No
Electioneering is so over hated it has such a good energy to it
This does incredible justice to Jschlatt's series. I'm so glad it exists. Thanks man, this was perfect.
can we talk abt how he's a TROOPER for adding thom on a roll in the background while explaining the lyrics
This album is my favorite album for a reason. I don't fit in and have no intentions to. Not only does it sound absolutely amazing (especially for its time), but it's relatable. It represents the feeling of hopelessness and boredom so accurately.
What makes OK Computer so good is the fact it holds more relevance today than it did in 1997.
i literally just got into Radiohead and have been looking for something like this that gives a more well-researched, in-depth analysis of their work. i watched the first 3 jschlatt videos on OKNOTOK, and was devastated when i realized he never finished the series.
this, however, is just the well-researched, in-depth video i've been looking for. you're script-writing, narration, editing, and attention to detail are all fantastic.
great work, Stemp. i wish you success in your video career.
I grew up listening to individual songs from Radiohead, I still remember the first time I finally listened to the full album and when it clicked. I had just finished Exit Music (For a Film) and was crying my eyes out, then Let Down hit and I cried even harder, finally getting it.
I know the reputation Radiohead fans have, and while I fit in the stereotype, it does mean something incredibly powerful to me. I have been hooked ever since. I still throw on different Radiohead albums at 2 AM whenever I feel down or sad. It's a different comfort, an embrace that it's okay that it's not okay.
Exit Music hit me hard too the first time (well every time) I hear it. Tears just burst out uncontrollably.
Who’s in a bunker? Who’s in a bunker?
OK Computer is one of my fav albums like ever (i know, the most normie take ever). Even though it's 25 years old now, it's still feel fresh and relevant.
You're analysis was wonderful. Each tracks was wonderfully explained with great visuals. My favorite is the one with Karma Police where it's just burning forests which just ties itself to the hateful vendetta of the song.
Keep up the great work!
Thank you! I’m glad you enjoyed! It really is a timeless album
The production is so pristine and ahead of it’s time, there’s not your typical guitar riffs it’s a whole atmosphere, a whole landscape of sound idk how they came up with it
@@hippiecheezburger5457 im starting to formulate some ideas of how they came up with it *dives back into OK Computer minidisc "leak"*
subterranean homesick alien is such a favorite of mine, could've been nice to bring up the homage to Dylan's song
there’s not enough love for paranoid android, that’s my fav song of all time and i could talk about it as long as this entire video on the whole album
The depth in every single lyric is insane and the instrumental is perfect how every part transitions
yay more analysis videos :D awesome job!
Welp time to binge all of these
Loved every bit of this video, great job
Beautiful video stemp, while i do sort of get why people arent as big of a fan of electioneering i still think it's an absolute banger and i am glad they kept it.
This take on Electioneering was the only thing in this analysis, however well thought out and discussed, that hit me as a shock. I had no idea they felt this way, but now that he mentions it I realized it has been left behind, in live performances and such. This was just a new thing for me as I recall really rocking out to it as a kid and feeling like it was a real banger with some great guitar hooks. I can see now how it may not be viewed as being as sophisticated as the rest of the album.
Great idea using the actual song at the start of each section then switching to a non-copyrighted version (also I forgot to say great job dude I really loved the video when I originally made this comment but the edit button was boken)
This was fucking great!
Subscribed. Definitely watching more of you man, this was so well made.
Recently discovered your channel. Have binged watched most of your Radiohead videos. You deserve so much more subscribers with the amount of work you put in them. Can't wait for more.
I’m so happy someone has finally made a high quality analysis of my favourite album of all time, I’m going to enjoy this video a lot! Thank you!
This was a great video man seriously keep it going
Bro this channel is so underrated. I wish you luck on youtube, your videos are amazing. Keep up the good work!
This video is SO GOOD, I’ve rewatched it three times!
One of the best vids I’ve seen about this album 👍
One thing about the tourist that I always believed was that the reason why he's speeding in a car is to recreate the accident in airbag that made him feel alive putting the album in a loop of optimism that is slowly weighed down by the world until a near death experience make them happy to be alive again. Might not be what they where actually aiming for but it's my favorite head cannon for the album.
Thank you for finishing this series. I feel like I go back and watch Schlatt's videos about everything 3 months just wishing there was more. You definitely did it justice. Learning about the songs and their meanings makes me love this album even more if that's even possible. Love the little nod to schlatt in the final segment with the music too.
Excellent video. My personal favourite song on this album is lucky. Something about it gives me chills.
This is a beautiful video and I love how it’s almost as long as the real album
That has gotta be one of the cleanest thumbnails I’ve seen in a while, I haven’t even sat down for a minute to get into this video… but…
You’ve posted epic and you’re gonna gain a subscriber.
Thank you so much for putting the time and effort to cover this amazing album that I've recently discovered thanks to coming across jschlatt's tribute a few months back. This video was amazing and i cannot wait to see more of your content!
Great content, Stemp. Subbed and going through the backlog now. Thanks for the entertainment :)
Stemp, I really needed this
I love Radiohead's songs. Thank you for creating this series of videos about this band. Please keep doing what you're doing. It's truly special.
'42 minutes is the perfect length for an album' - me
I think this 'album' is gonna hit the algorithm pretty nicely
called it
Huh, so the album heavily inspired by the Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy is 42 minutes.
Excellent.
Airbag is the best Christmas song
there is ZERO WAY this channel hasnt gotten its big break yet. this editing is top notch bro, along with the topic and mic audio. you deserve WAY more than 2,000 subscribers holy
I’ve loved this album for years. Thanks giving me an understanding of the lyrics. They’re much more nihilistic than I initially thought.
this is insane entertaining and informative, thx stemp
Amazing work ! Schlatt's mini-series is what actually got me into radiohead music at the time - now, almost 3 years went by since watching those videos; And I've had the time to listen to every single radiohead album at LEAST a hundred times. Thank you so much for this analysis; I really hope the gods of the UA-cam Algorythm will show you some decency by getting you more views !
Amazing video on an amazing piece of music! Great production and insight on the album's content. You my good sir have won a sub!
Radiohead is one of the few bands that you have such difficult choices to make in what their best album is. Ever since The Bends, they’ve pulled off so many masterpieces. This analysis, however is brilliant. I did an analysis of OK Computer for school, but you topped it 1000x over. Great work!
Thank you for the insight to these songs I’m a person who unfortunately used to take things at face value but finding Radiohead and videos like yours I’m starting to change a bit 😊
Amazing analysis of one of my favourite albums! I personally don't really pay attention to the lyrics (Unless the music is made around it like with Bob Dylan) when listening to music. I just go off on the feeling that the song gives me and the atmosphere created. But this really made me appreciate Ok Computer even more.
Like with songs like No Surprises. It was always my least favourite song on the album because I think it has a basic sound and is kinda boring. But now that I know the meaning behind this "boringness" it suddenly gains a whole new meaning.
I’m glad I helped open it up a little more for you! That’s always what I try to do with videos like this!
The translation’s between these well worded, detailed song analyses to make an incredible video.
Extremely well-made video. I am flabnergasted. This is litterally the best album of all time. Subscribed
I have finished the video, it was fantastic and I want to rewatch it again sometime, I really liked your use of stock footage (that Lun-class ekranoplan footage was a great surprise) and I thought your points were really great. I’ve never actually watched a full analysis since I didn’t think anything could outdo Jschlatt’s videos but I have been pleasantly surprised! Can’t wait to see what else you’re planning on doing!
Thanks for watching! I’m glad you enjoyed!
I've been waiting for something like this
ok computer is an absolute masterpiece, what a great video!
I will never get over the fact that Jschlatt dropped this, I literally found one of my favorite content creators on the internet through those rather well made video essays and then he just stopped :(. I mean I could see how it would be kind of odd to return after all this time but it would be really cool if he did.
Very well done video by the way, keep it up :D!
I think Colin or Ed mentioned in an interview that the key theme of the album is of speed, and a hyper-sped up society, rather than technology. Extend that further to a society which has been so hellbent on progressing that there are not pauses to check in on the seasickness of the speed of life or of relentness development and progress. You can draw links to that theme on almost every song - the over-critical judging / thinking mentality Thom sings about in Karma Police ; unhinged priviledged morons running amok in Paranoid Android ; general seasickness with life on Subterranean Homesick Alien ; a resigned dissatisfaction with the ideal worker bee family life on Fitter Happier and No Surprises ; poor provision of mental health care and a lack of querying why people might commit mass murder on Climbing Up The Walls ; and more explicit songs about wanting to slow down - Let Down and The Tourist.
How many comments am I supposed to post to fully express my unexplainable gratitude for helping me make sense of the WHOLE thing, not just snippets? Dude, thank you so much, good job on the visuals, references, overall research and even the background music *wink*.
This analysis is perfect, RESPECT ❤👌
i hope u made more about radiohead bro
Loved the video! I've gotten really into Radiohead the past year and I've really liked the story behind songs such as 'How to disappear completely' and this was exactly what I wanted to find. It all makes sense, so thank you for that! Even though the song climbing up the walls sounds kind of creepy to me now....
Your research is incredible! Thank you for that, it has always been one of my favourite album ever and now knowing the meaning of it is truly incredible! Thank you again
Great analysis of one of the greatest album of all time and my favorite album of all time. One thing to note is that there are many theories in regards to the album and one of them being is the album is a loop. In that, the ending of the Tourist ends off with a triangle being hit and the beginning to Airbag starts with a triangle being hit (although a bit more obscured). So fitting this theme of rebirth, life being a cycle and much more. There are other tidbits to consider during the making of this album where Thom Yorke's mental well being wasn't at that best place as they were now see as "the greatest band ever," with stardom success which he and the rest of the band was not a fan of. During this time, Yorke also delved into concepts of Buddhism which also talks about life being cyclical and concepts of rebirth. Those fit into the themes of the album as well. Overall, you nailed it with most of the themes of album has to offer.
i love this so much. thank you.
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! THIS IS WHAT I NEED
Exit Music is literally where i hear Radiohead as something transcendant and more than any Rock band or anything with a definition.. sort of like a much darker brooding Pink Floyd but more ....its where they literally became the Radiohead we know now. you heard them morph.
Lucky, Climbing Up The Walls, The Tourist are my favorites.
OKC is the most beautiful bleak and dark commentary on isolation, the fear of death, paranoia, ridicule, government control, the technological future, not being socially accepted
its literally everything Thom felt.
he let us into his head to understand how he felt and dare i say this is THE definitive alienated loner album...all of us who are that way can feel it resonating in this album. but its beautiful, haunting, angry, violent, afraid, and chaotic like a cat tied to a stick
I honestly thought u had like 200k subscribers, was surprised to see you only had 2k, your work deserves a lot more recognition this vid is great
I appreciate that!
Good job with this, I just finished it. This album is one of my favorites and I like the interpretation you had. Only part I didn’t like was when you said Electioneering was one of the weak songs as that’s one of my favorites from the album lol but I liked the video nonetheless and I think this deserves hella more views
i honest to god think that this album is the best that alt rock has to offer something about it its just awesome
Great job, well done. Thank you
the Most underrated channel on youtube right now
The Tourist is possibly the most underrated radiohead song. I remember when years ago I started to listen to music like a fanatic and I remember when I discovered Ok Computer and thought that this was the best album and the best band of all time. In the present time Ok Computer isn't my favorite piece of music but it is perfect and it was there in a magical moment for me when I was discovering good music. Ok Computer is a masterpiece in songwriting.
Amazing video. I've been watching ur videos for almost a year now and i was wondering if u are going to cover all of the radiohead albums? Maybe hail to the thief?
HTTT is hard cuz it’s longer than any other RH album and is a lot more political, I might at some point but it won’t be for a while if I do
Great video! Love it!
The line "I am gonna grow wings, a chemical reaction" always felt like it had another dimension to me. The angelic image being prescribed a scientific explanation, and one that doesn't actually make much sense
to me it meant being in a plane crash and burning up with gasoline all over you and dying hence the angel wings..."Let Down" is definitely about transport crashes...
let down, or crashing and the depressing feeling of dying
hanging around, like hanging out of the seats or outside of the transport dead
crushed like a bug on the ground, or after a crash dead smashed bodies
look at the lyrics
Transport
Motorways and tramlines
Starting and then stopping
Taking off and landing
Let down and hanging around
Crushed like a bug in the ground
Let down and hanging around
Shell smashed, juices flowing
Wings twitch legs are going
Don't get sentimental
It always ends up drivel
THIS RECORD WILL NEVER AGE
fully thought this said 802k views instead of 802. the quality is INSANE and im so glad i was recommended it
i'm glad you enjoyed, thanks for watching!
it should've been 802k smh stemp
What a fantastic video, thank you so much!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Tbh can't wait to get off work to watch the rest of ur videos!!! specially the one reacting to Wall of eyes from the Smile, I'm seeing them on August and I can't wait !!
Are you planning on making videos about Tranquility base hotel & casino or The Car by the arctic monkeys? @@Stemp
@@evaaa8355 Its a great album! I saw the smile live in november of 2022 and they were amazing i hope the show is fun! I don't currently have any vids on those albums planned but I'll look into em!
I need a video like that of the new abnormal
I loved this vid so much
love this video love this album love radiohead love your voice
I like the flow of the album, Exit Music, Let Down and Karma Police create this kind of broken, depressing flow and then fitter happier continues that but doesn’t build on it, creating tension and then we get the most upbeat rock songs other then airbag before suddenly that happiness is broken with this beautiful, lullaby, nice one, No Surprises
fitter happier is so haunting i love it so much
Thank you for mentioning the state of mental health in “Crawling Up the Walls.” I’m 45 now and have suffered from clinical depression all my life but just recently got help for it.
In the 90s it was exactly what you said “you’re just sad get over it.” “This will pass it’s just a phase.”
Depression was considered a joke and if they did believe you it was a prescription for Prozac or family therapy, nothing for the individual.
Ok Computer really helped me through those dark times and captured the zeitgeist of the 90s in not only America but the UK (Pink’s quiet desperation). Especially with Fitter, Happier. No Surprises Exit Music etc.