RADIOHEAD MUSICAL ANALYSIS // Paranoid Android
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- Опубліковано 11 тра 2024
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0:00 - Hi hello
0:52 - Section 1: Psychedelic
17:55 - Section 2: Rowdy
28:02 - Section 3: Church funeral
43:41 - Rowdy again
48:56 - 🐈 - Розваги
It's interesting that early versions of paranoid android transitioned from the churchy mid-section back into the chorus of the 1st section. That version was great too! ua-cam.com/video/BNZ2pauQezc/v-deo.html
wowww was that cool or what. Hearing the differences and how it evolved. Thanks for linking this!
they were front act for alanis morissette when they played the earlier version of paranoid android live (before ok computer was released)... one hell of a rockstar moment for alanis, i bet, and foo fighters taylor hawkins was her drummer at that time too
@@iximusic no problem!
This girl's fantastic.
This is my favorite 3 song songs ever.
lol!
Lmaooo
Concur 😊
i didnt get it at first😭
😅three songs, heavy syncopated tritone use, flat 3rdminor 9th. Three songs to free ur musical neurocognizance.
The vibrato control when Thom sings "What's that?" is *_So. F*!@ing. Beautiful._*
I mean the whole song is incredible but still...
Also have been singing "what's there" my entire life. Sticking with it.
excellent.
I’ve been singing “what’s this?” Feels right.
I notice that a lot of singers pick interesting pronunciations to maybe sing it better or more comfortably. May just be a British thing here though idk lol
Jonny plays through a Small Stone Phase Shifter in the first section…that’s how the swirling watery effect is achieved.
But my favourite of Jonny’s contributions is the lead guitar at the end, where he processed the signal (twice) with a Mutronics Mutator. It’s more of an electronic music/DJ tool but it produces one of the most inspired and original guitar sounds I’ve ever heard. Just awesome.
Absolutely love his use of the Mutator. I wish he'd used it more. I think the only other tracks I can remember him using it on were B-sides like Palo Alto and maybe Pearly? Although they did use it on the drums on Airbag I think as well.
@@matthewsaul3533 He may have used it on those b-sides you mentioned...it would make sense, because those are both OK Computer era tracks and that is the period he obtained it and used it most. Subterranean Homesick Alien is definitely another example. To his credit, Jonny never overused it and to my knowledge he never played through it again post 2000. He didn't bother bringing it on tour either...it does seem to be more of a studio tool. I think he uses some type of envelope follower stomp box for Paranoid Android, which unfortunately will never sound quite the same.
@@monsieurmitosis I’m definitely certain he used it on Palo Alto. Nothing else would’ve gotten that sound. Not sure about pearly though. Doesn’t really sound like it but I don’t know how else he would’ve made his guitar make those sounds on pearly lol oh interesting, did he use it on subterranean homesick alien? I’ll have to listen again. Where does he use it? Oh, is it during that “I’ll tell all my friends but they’ll never believe me” part?
Yeah I agree. It’s awesome that he didn’t over use it. And unfortunately I agree that the filter pedal he uses live really doesn’t come close.. but honestly for 90% of listeners or more I don’t think they’d know the difference so I don’t blame him at all
I love this song. I got this album when it came out, I was 17 and It was one of the first songs I fully worked out by ear. I played the beginning section in the first position on guitar compared to how Thom plays it further up the neck. My way was so much harder to play and inefficient, even though note perfect. I felt pretty silly many years later when I realised how much easier it could be to play, but am still strangely proud of my obfuscated version
About Jonny's magical guitar tone, more or less it looks like that :
EHX Small Stone V2 > Demeter (for tremolo) > whammy > DOD440 env filter > and the famous Roland RE-201 space echo ... and the magic happens
And by the way thank you so much for your musical analysis. Such a great job !
your analysis is so fucking perfect and your edits are hilarious, especially going from psychedelic to rowdy 😂
Incredible content please keep it up cannot wait for Let Down because that is one of the 5 greatest songs ever made even if it's pretty simple harmonically
There are moments in life that are so pivotal, that they always feel so vivid. I remember sitting at my mother's dining table, listening to BBC Radio 1 (when it was worth listening to) and they premiered Paranoid Android. To this day I could swear that I didn't breathe for the six or so minutes. I couldn't compute what I had just heard/witnessed. It's the closest that I've come to experiencing what it must have been like to live in 1967 and hearing Sgt Peppers for the first time.
On a side note, I hope this is the first of many Radiohead deep dives!
I feel like this channel is seriously underrated
It was years I waited for someone to do a such in depth analysis of this song. I ve spent so much time arranging it in more than one style and so I’m happy to see I’m not the only one so obsessed with Paranoid Android. Love the fact that you gave the church section so much time, it is often overlooked while it has some of the most interesting cadences of the entire album. Looking forward watching more of your content!! :)
It's amazing how you can show me things about music I've listened to thousands of times. The way you highlight the underlying prettiness of Jonny's solos was mindblowing. You make me want to learn piano!
Brilliant and fascinating analysis. You showed me new things in a song I’ve known very well for nearly 26 years. Well done!
YESSS, IVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS THANK YOU IXI
The first time I heard this song I said to my friend angrily “They blown it”. About a week later I liked it, a month later I loved it, and now I think it’s probably the best song ever written.
Lol. It's interesting to know there was a guy who had that initial reaction. I was 12 and saw the video on MTV. The rain down part blew my mind - until then I thought a Babyface ballad was as powerful as music could get.
Radiohead are not my favorite band by a long shot, but I enjoy them. However the first time I heard Paranoid Android, I was f-Ing floored. My roommate in college was blasting it, and I wanted to hate it so bad, but holy shih tzus this song was such an ever changing mood. Interesting, textural, great rhythms and time signature changes. Oh god, to hear it again for the first time! I can’t even imagine hearing it and being like … “meh.”
Please more Radiohead videos... yeah. It's so satisfying listening to you interpreting them! Thank you!
that melody in the middle part of the song almost reminds me of intro to Prodigy-Breathe
I'm really curious about their writing process. Do they write songs together as a band? Or does someone (I assume Thom or Johnny) come up with most of the parts, and then .... they come together to try to "fit" them all together. With all of these complex parts, complex vocal performances and playing ..... it would be fascinating to know more about this process!
They're rarely that explicit about how songs take shape, but the impression I get from reading many interviews is that you're basically right - Thom normally brings the nucleus of the song, which the band workshop, sometimes over very many years. Jonny seems to be the next most involved. For example for A Wolf At The Door, Jonny provided the chords and the guitar arpeggio and The Tourist was entirely written by Jonny. And of course, he does all the string arrangements.
From an interview with Colin about his biggest contributions to songs he brought up a baseline he wrote that changed the tonality+feel of the song, which he was "allowed" to keep. There's no doubt that all of them are in the room, chipping in ideas on how to improve the song, but in terms of input, it's Thom first, then Jonny, then the rest of them.
I think it's pretty wise for them to credit the songs to the entire band for every song, it just takes the thinking and the jealousy out of it. It certainly seems to have worked for them, given the longevity of the band.
Sorry I couldn't find links to back up my memory, but I think that's the jist.
Thom or Jonny come up with the skeleton of a song, whether it just be acoustic or piano chords, and show the other & flesh out the idea more.
Then the others fill out the arrangement & turn it into a full song.
They're also pretty strict about if you don't figure out a part nobody else will come up with one for you, and you won't be on the song. Ed O'Brien has missed out on playing on some songs because he didn't come up with a part.
trueee in this song thom make the first part and johnny the raindown chords for example, and the other members add things to the song
To add to what others have said:
Thom is frequently the source of the initial outlines of the songs. Rhythms, guitar, melodies, vocal melodies, and lyrics are often from Thom.
Jonny sometimes brings songs, but often writes strings that back up or solo over Thom's work.
Phil often is left to figure out how to play the beats Thom writes on a computer. It's so difficult that he has grabbed the help of a second drummer, Clive Deamer, to work out & play the songs with him.
Colin sometimes is given a baseline (national anthem) and sometimes contributes that part (famously on Nude, making the song work.)
Ed has described his role as trying to find a way to justify his place on stage. He provides the experimental ambiance and ethereal notes that give them that overall dreamy texture. He also plays rhythm guitar on several tracks, or bounces between those roles.
As other's have said they don't talk about it much, on purpose lol but I have heard them say a little about Paranoid Android. As far as I remember, Jonny wrote the chord progression for the Rain Down section.. not sure about the rest.. He may have had some parts of the solo before the song was really written as well. Honestly my impressions is that Thom writes the core of most of the songs, Jonny writes the core of a few songs (like Just, The Tourist, Kid A, The Gloaming (composed completely of tape loops made by Jonny), Weird Fishes/Arpeggi, Daydreaming, Present Tense.. those are pretty much confirmed to have been written by Jonny, music-wise.. possibly In Limbo [it really sounds like Jonny to me] and Faust Arp as well [also sounds like Jonny's harmonic style].. there are probably a few others that I haven't heard about.. I tend to think Thom and Jonny came up with Glass Eyes together.. but those three I haven't read anything to back up my thinking on lol) and then perhaps some come together more organically as a band. If that's true I'd imagine 15 step to be one of the songs that everyone had a hand in writing... seems like Jonny wrote the guitar part for the verses, Thom wrote the vocal melody, Ed wrote the chords for the ending, Colin wrote that amazing bass line, and the drums seem like a collaboration between a few or all of them.. again, more speculation.. I think Dollars and Cents may have been more of a band collaboration, I feel like I read something about that.. Perhaps Bloom as well.. which I think started with a bass line that Colin wrote. Honestly I think the writing process changes a lot. But it seems to remain that Thom remains the main source for the core of songs.. But I'm pretty sure that even with that, he shows the band members pieces of songs he's writing as he's writing them and their reactions and input informs where he goes with them. I've read something to that effect in some interview somewhere. Ed contributes things as well. Ed wrote the chord progression for Street Spirit. He also wrote Hunting Bears. And Treefingers is composed of guitar loops made by Ed which Thom edited. Ed also wrote the loop for Meeting In the Isle. I think the writing process is perhaps a bit more collective than people usually imagine.
Some videos you just have to like before you even watch.
I always thought this was Radiohead’s attempt to make a song that is impossible to cover. Almost too complicated to fully enjoy or appreciate. Kinda beautiful and playful with touches of ugly, haunting and tragic. Which eerily mimics life. Only they could depict such a roller coaster of emotions all in one song and somehow make it work.
Well done, Ixi. So talented and eloquent! No one can break down a song like you. 💜
Ah the 90s, when this song can be the lead single from a major label album. I liked Radiohead at this time, but owned nothing of theirs, just enjoyed when their videos came on. Paranoid Android entranced me and I couldn't shake the feeling. Bought OK Computer and was just mesmerized. I saw them on that tour in Chicago and it was an amazing show. Thanks for this breakdown, really shows how much damn thought and care they put into their songs. Really great stuff, thanks ixi.
I absolutely loved your analysis. Thank you!
Something that I think is often missed in musical analysis, is how much the physicality of an instrument influences the music that people make with it. Something that you might not realize as a pianist is just how much fretted, stringed instruments lead you to chromaticism. Just like C-major is the most likely scale for someone to play notes out of on their first time sitting in front of one (I certainly assumed that the black notes were there for special occasions only when I first saw a piano), the chromatic scale is the obvious one on fretted instruments. Obviously a skilled played can play whatever their instrument is capable of, but some things are unusually difficult or super easy and that has an effect on what ends up being actually played.
As a pianist, what with the two types of keys, it may not be obvious that chromaticism is a comfortable thing to fall into on guitar. I'm an on-and-off amateur bassist, and when I learned this bass line, Colin's chromatic bass parts were so physically satisfying to play regardless of how they sound! In that little F Gb Bb B C lick, one way you might play it in standard tuning is 3rd fret, 4th fret on the D (3rd lowest) string, then 1st, 2nd, 3rd fret on the A (2nd lowest string) (though, if I recall, I ended up playing it higher on the neck). So you're playing frets 3, 4, 1, 2, 3 only separated by one string which I find immensely satisfying and I suspect played a part in why those notes came to be. An equivalent run on the piano might be something like C# D# C D E.
I've seen you call out that you're not a guitar player a few times in your videos. I think that's really cool, and something that not enough UA-camr types do, since it highlights where your expertise lies which is what made me think of this, so thanks for that! :)
Anyways... long comment for such a short section of the video, but I thought the idea was interesting. :)
This is so well done! Thank you so much. I can feel your passion through your words and humor. Lovely video ixi!
love this series! so much work has been put to it. Thank you!
Was looking forward to this one, and it delivers. Thank you.
This was great - thanks for posting
Smashed it. Great job! Did you noticed that Thom actually says ‘boop’ on the fourth click of the opening metronome!?
ha what? No I didn't!
Is that actually true? I’ve heard that but I didn’t realize it was Thom, if you’re right.
So dope. Always love these breakdowns. You do them the bestest :)
thank you for this amazing analysis! i love this song it’s so cool to learn more about it
Loving this!
What a brilliant way to showcase the sections with the outfit/makeup changes. You're a great storyteller of storytellers!
I'm loving this series. That was an epic breakdown!
Excellent breakdown!!!
Love your Radiohead stuff!!!!
this is great! thank you for sharing your excitement for music!
Been binge watching all your videos. What an amazing channel, and what an inspired, joyful person you are. Thanks for sharing your passion!
I love this. Amazing musical and emotional review that few can explain. Love it!
Worth the wait
Thank You!
Loved every second of this. 🙏❤️🙌
Good things come to those that wait. Thanks for this one. Fantastic!
oh how i love this already!
Thank you for tackling one of my favorites, ixi! :)
Love this - thank you
Thanks so much Ixi! I love the cat outro😀
i'm pretty obsessed with this song since i listened it for the first time.
so, it's REALLY satisfying see a great analysis like this, i love it.😸❤️
Working on this tune with a band currently and this deep dive is so helpful! Thanks! Eagerly awaiting the next track.
My fave Radiohead song since I was a kid. Thank you for this.
Hee Hee, more wonderful music analysis to throw on while I get some work done. Tysm!
Love Radiohead, love this song, love your content. I was in punk bands my music scope was punk, ska and punk/ska.. then I heard Radiohead, and my life changed in a single moment.
At one point during the last solo you said “sounds like a film score” and now Jonny is writing film scores. Even back then (and I’d dear say from birth) he just had that sound. It’s so beautiful and fucked up like the human condition. I love that about Radiohead. It’s that dichotomy of the beautiful and ugly, dark and light, soft and hard that we all experience through out our experience.
I really enjoy your content!
Ah you are so cool. I love the way you analyze/teach. Thank you!!
Your videos are amazing. As someone who loves music and especially Radiohead that makes music but has no idea about music theory I feel like your videos are so open and fun yet informative and I thank you so much for your passion and care for the craft!!! It goes a long way!!
I could listen to your Radiohead ramblings for ever. Can't wait till you get round to doing Let Down.
thanks for making this video! Paranoid Android has been one of my favorite songs for over 2 decades but I never quite knew how genius of a composition it was until now. And I love how you made the 3 personas 😆very nice touch!
Thanks for this breakdown, Ixi! Your analysis videos are the perfect background soundtrack for half-naps.
You really are truly wonderful! ❤
Watched a good handful of your vids now,
You’ve earned my sub.
Wonderful breakdowns.
👍🏻
Fantastic break down. Love what you do. The bit around 45:20 with Johnny's solo reminds me a lot of Tori Amos for whatever reason.
Love this channel. This is such an enjoyable breakdown.
I remember buying this album just because of this song. It blew me away. I taught other boys at school how to play it on guitar.
The “church” section was the DRAW for me. Pulls you in.
Always reminded me of the middle-8 from Flash by Queen actually
Masterpiece is thrown around alot in modern culture but if someone called this a masterpiece you wouldn’t really argue with it
Oh and I like the “raucous” sections btw 😉
i first heard the song when i was 16 during that summer as it was like "what the fuck is this and how did they get from "creep" to this?" it is my 2nd favorite album of all-time (behind the stone roses' first album) as i was reading all of these reviews from the magazines i was reading at the time including some local magazines. when i finally heard it in full. it was like unlike anything that was happening at the time. i heard the song was partially inspired by the beatles' "happiness is a warm gun" due to its time signatures and tempo changes.
Every time I see an in-depth analysis of Radiohead, my admiration for them only deepens. This is one of the best!
my wife and I recently discovered your channel and your music taste is EXTREMELY similar to my wife's so we are really enjoying it all. anyway you are a queen and this is a great and funny video have a nice day
Looking forward to the rest of this album being stripped down, great job!
I love your musical breakdowns Ixi 😊. As a drummer I’m more used to time signatures so when I hear you speak in “chords” even tho it’s foreign to me , it’s very fascinating. I commented on the Airbag video as well - which is one of my all time favorite songs - anyways, love your work and commitment.
Peace and much love from Portland , Or ✌🏼
You have a great voice, great analysis of such a beautiful song
WOW! I remember staying up late to watch the world premier of the music video for this song on channel 4. I've just stayed up until 4am to watch your analysis. This song still amazes me.
Youre videos are so well researched, and comprehensive. Also the different lipstick colors really help find the parts Im looking for when scrolling through the video haha. Cant wait for your analysis of climbing up the walls, no surprises, and the tourist
This is the first of your videos I've ever seen. I experienced a lot of positive emotions watching it. I like you a lot and your analysis is amazing. Sufficiently accessible for non musicians but also with enough theory thrown in. You have a new subscriber 🙌
i love that you are still discovering while showing us what you already found.
Your voice is so gorgeous, I can't wait to hear your original stuff with it
this lipstick looks really good on you btw!❤
The best analysis of this song ever!!!!
I was waiting so long for this vid 😮😮😮
Great analysis! Honestly, that last rowdy part analysis, when you start harmonizing over Jonny's solo notes just gave me the chills. Kinda like listening to some deeper, more raw version of the song's core (also, it could be one of Trent's haunting piano melodies). Anyway, thanks again, hope you continue with the whole album.
I loved the way you broke down my first favorite song by Radio head and you have a beautiful singing voice as well thankyou it was great fun watching this video ❤
Thank you so much for this video
As an avid music fan, as well as an avid Radiohead fan with limited musical knowledge, I found this fascinating.
You're immensely talented, too.
Thanks for your video. Much love from England
Came here by mistake. Captivated I stayed. Never would I normally watch a 40+ min breakdown video about anything.
Thank you so much (even though a fair chunk went over my head) just brilliant content and presentation.
I love this video (and I love Milo).... I have probably learned more in the --4hrs?-- I've watched of your UA-cam videos than I have in the 2 decades I played an instrument. Thank you, and I look forward to many more!
Your music perception is out of this world. Thanks for illuminating us mere mortals!
All I can say: This music sounds super wild, and super awesome throughout. Deeply enjoyable. And really really unusual everywhere.
Maybe the kind future generations will be listening to after a few centuries like how we listen to Vivaldi, Bach today.
FANTASTIC
Well done. MAGIC !
Ixi, I can't thank you enough for showing us the notes so that I could pick up my guitar and follow along. Whatever software add-on that gives you your keyboard on the screen is super helpful and adds a bunch to the videos.
00:30 you're a very smart cookie 🤣🤣Loving your editing, and I'm happy I found you!
Brilliant!
Great video. Thank you.
Love your analysis and flowing presentation and without all the gizmos Mr Beato is using, just your voice, piano AND your hands, love your hand movements!
38:42 that was just awesome. Thanks for being so transparent about rethinking a thing while filming.
"He says what's that, I always thought it was "what's there""
Me: I thought it was what's this...
This song has been stuck in my head for the past 3 days, i got goosebumps when i saw the thumbnail.
Always a pleasure watching you talk about Radiohead. As someone who obsessed about this album when it came out and learned every guitar part and almost every keyboard part, that chromatic transition from the 7/8 section with the killer bass line to the piggy part, I always played as C-B-Bb-Ab-and landing on A.. that's how I always heard it. But I think if any of them are actually playing it, Thom might be the only one on his acoustic guitar
Great song and good video. Thanks.
What do you mean "looong video"? Oh, right, it's 2:27 AM now... hadn't noticed. It flew by.
Thanks for another extraordinary video.
I love that you have costume for the video on top of how good it already was
Awesome analysis of one of my favourite songs ever. I loved the parts on Johnny’s solos as I knew the so well from playing them, but just as patterns on the guitar, not really musically. They work as patterns on the fretboard under your fingers, esp the Maj7/maj7/octave one which is just repeating the pattern one string lower each time, so it seems obvious on a guitar in a way that it really wasn’t musically when I see your compositional analysis. Just when you think you know a piece because you can play it, it can apparently still be blown wide open!
Wow. Phenomenal breakdown!
glad you enjoyed!
Thankyou for helping me live in this masterpiece more
yay amazing videos ixi! i love that swirly guitar tone jonny has too and i'm pretty sure it's achieved through a phaser pedal with a slow rate, so it goes: tele > EH small stone phaser pedal > vox ac30 amp (atleast that's the main gear used i think)
I did indeed love this, thank you. Milo looks gorgeous also.