No Surprises

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"No Surprises"
File:Radiohead - No Surprises (CD1).jpg
UK issue
Single by Radiohead
from the album OK Computer
Released 12 January 1998 (1998-01-12)
Format
Recorded July 1996 at Canned Applause, Didcot, Oxfordshire
Genre
Length 3:49
Label Parlophone
Writer(s) Radiohead
Producer(s)
Radiohead singles chronology
"Lucky"
(1997)		 "No Surprises"
(1998)		 "Pyramid Song"
(2001)
CD2 cover
CD2 cover
Audio sample
noicon
file info · help
Music video
"No Surprises" on YouTube

"No Surprises" is a song by the English alternative rock band Radiohead. It was released as the third and final single from the group's 1997 album OK Computer. It was accompanied by a music video that featured a single shot of singer Thom Yorke's head in a plastic bubble filling with water. The single peaked at number four in the United Kingdom. In October 2011, NME placed it at number 107 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".[1]

In 2008, the song was featured on the Radiohead: The Best Of collection.

Origin and recording

Radiohead wrote "No Surprises" while touring with R.E.M. in 1995.[2] It was the first song recorded on the first day of sessions for OK Computer. "That childlike guitar sound set the mood for the whole album," said Thom Yorke. "We were going for that Pet Sounds vibe."[3]

The version on the album is the first take recorded. "We did endless versions afterwards [...] and they were all just covers of the first version," Yorke recalled. "So we gave up and went back to [the original]."[4]

Release

"No Surprises" was released as the third single from OK Computer on 12 January 1998.[5] The single reached number four on the UK Singles Chart.[6]

No Surprises/Running from Demons

No Surprises/Running from Demons
File:Nosurprises front.jpg
EP by Radiohead
Released 10 December 1997
Genre Alternative rock
Length 19:58
Label Parlophone (Toshiba-EMI TOCP-50354)
Producer Nigel Godrich, Radiohead
Radiohead chronology
OK Computer
(1997)OK Computer1997		 No Surprises/Running from Demons
(1997)		 Airbag/How Am I Driving?
(1998)Airbag/How Am I Driving?1998

No Surprises/Running from Demons is the fourth extended play (EP) by English rock group Radiohead, released in December 1997. The EP was aimed at the Japanese market to promote the band's Japan tour of January 1998.

"Meeting in the Aisle" is Radiohead's first completely instrumental track.

This "remixed" version of "Pearly*" (as opposed to the "original version" available on the "Paranoid Android" single and Airbag/How Am I Driving? EP) features clearer production values, louder guitar at the beginning of the song, and a different guitar line at the end. The song "Bishop's Robes" refers to Yorke's experience of cruelty at school. Though he claims that he suffered no physical punishment as a schoolboy, violence was felt in ghastly mind-games, and in the teacher's cruelty: hence the line "bastard headmaster".

"Bishop's Robes" is also included on the "Street Spirit (Fade Out)" CD#1 single.

"A Reminder" contains excerpts from the reports of the Prague metro, Czech Republic.

Music video

The music video for "No Surprises" was directed by Grant Gee. The video consists solely of a single close-up shot of Thom Yorke's head inside an astronaut-style dome helmet. The lyrics are shown throughout the entire song slowly scrolling upwards but mirrored, as they are being reflected off of the dome. After the first verse, the helmet begins to fill with water. Yorke continues singing as he attempts to lift his head above the rising water. Once the bubble completely fills, Yorke is motionless for over a minute, after which the water is released and he resumes singing. For Yorke's safety, the video was filmed at high-speed and played back in slow-motion.[6]

File:Radiohead No Surprises music video still.png
Yorke, in the music video (left) and filming the music video (right)

One of the scenes in Gee's documentary about Radiohead, Meeting People Is Easy, cuts from the British news channel Sky News showing and (unfavourably) discussing the video to several takes of its filming. The song speeds up during filming when his face is fully submerged, until he pulls the rubber bottom out to release the water and members of the film crew help him out. Despite the safety measures, Yorke is shown getting more visibly uncomfortable and even agitated with each take.

Sales chart performance

Chart (1998) Peak
position
UK Singles Chart[7] 4
Irish Singles Chart 13[citation needed]
New Zealand Singles Chart 23[citation needed]
Australian Singles Chart 47[citation needed]
Dutch Singles Chart 58[citation needed]
Austrian Singles Chart 39

Track listing

All songs written by Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, Ed O'Brien, Colin Greenwood, and Phil Selway.

CD1 (CDODATAS04)
  1. "No Surprises" – 3:51
  2. "Palo Alto" – 3:44
  3. "How I Made My Millions" – 3:07
CD2 (CDNODATA04)
  1. "No Surprises" – 3:50
  2. "Airbag" (Live in Berlin) – 4:49
  3. "Lucky" (Live in Florence) – 4:34
No Surprises/Running from Demons
  1. "No Surprises" – 3:49
  2. "Pearly*" – 3:38
  3. "Melatonin" – 2:08
  4. "Meeting in the Aisle" – 3:07
  5. "Bishop's Robes" – 3:23
  6. "A Reminder" – 3:51

Personnel

  • Thom Yorke - vocals, acoustic guitar, piano
  • Jonny Greenwood - glockenspiel, organ, string synth, electric guitar
  • Ed O'Brien - electric guitar, tambourine, backing vocals
  • Colin Greenwood - bass guitar
  • Phil Selway - drums, tambourine

Regina Spektor version

"No Surprises"
File:Regina Spektor - No Surprises.png
Single by Regina Spektor
Released 27 April 2010 (2010-04-27)
Format Digital download
Genre Dream pop
Length 3:51
Label Sire
Writer(s) Radiohead
Regina Spektor singles chronology
"Eet"
(2009)		 "No Surprises"
(2010)		 "All the Rowboats"
(2012)

Regina Spektor, alternative pianist and anti-folk musician, released a charity single of the song on April 27, 2010.[8] All proceeds of the song go to the Doctors Without Borders Emergency Relief Fund.[9]

Track listing

  1. "No Surprises" – 3:51

Alternative versions and covers

Versions have also been recorded by Luka Bloom, Malia, Blake Morgan, Yaron Herman Trio, Christopher O' Riley, Paige, Peter Jöback, Motorama, Louis Durra, Stanisław Sojka, and Northern State. American singer song writer Amanda Palmer recorded a version of this song for her album of Radiohead covers performed on ukulele, "Amanda Palmer Performs the Popular Hits of Radiohead on Her Magical Ukulele". It was also covered by Blake Morgan on his 2006 album Silencer.

The song was also used in the 6th season of the medical drama, House M.D.

References

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References

  1. ↑ 150 Best Tracks Of The Past 15 Years | NME.COM
  2. ↑ Randall, p. 228
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Randall, p. 229
  5. ↑ Randall, p. 253
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Randall, p. 254
  7. ↑ Randall, 2000. pp. 242–43.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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