How Johnny Greenwood’s attempt to sabotage Radiohead became the making of them
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Credit: Alamy
The Radiohead song that was inspired by a car accident
Radiohead are the most essential outfit of the contemporary era. Their cerebral form of music has been positively transformative for music and popular culture, and what they’ve achieved across their career has been nothing but astounding.
From the anthemic alt-rock of The Bends to the glacial minimalism of Kid-A to the dreamy soundscapes of their most recent effort, A Moon Shaped Pool, the Oxford band’s commitment to progression is like nothing else out there, and it is this that has resulted in them producing masterpiece after masterpiece. Their oeuvre is perhaps the most consistent of the modern era, and it’s a trend that shows no sign of abating.
One of the band’s most cherished records is 1997’s OK Computer, one of the definitive albums of the decade and of all time. A blend of rock and electronica, it is best regarded as the bridge between the outwardly guitar-oriented early days of Pablo Honey and The Bends and what was to come with records such as Kid A and Amnesiac.
Fusing pioneering music with cutting social commentary on the spread of technology and neoliberal economics, the LP is one of the most comprehensive ever released, and its pertinence was clear to fans the world over. For many, it also set the benchmark of quality for the band, with it being used as a comparative tool for every other work they’ve released since.
One of the highlights of OK Computer is the opener ‘Airbag’. A masterclass in how to utilise the off-beat, its heartbeat is Colin Greenwood’s bassline, with his repetitive notes bouncing around like an electrical signal. Creating a syncopated mesh with Philip Selway’s drums and carrying the track, Greenwood’s work leaves the guitars and textures to envelop and create what is one of the band’s definitive efforts.
Notably, the song is about a car crash that Thom Yorke experienced with his girlfriend in 1987. Although he emerged unscathed, she suffered whiplash, which changed his perspective on automobiles.
Later, he explained his thoughts: “Has an airbag saved my life? Nah… but I tell you something, every time you have a near accident, instead of just sighing and carrying on, you should pull over, get out of the car and run down the street screaming ‘I’m BACK! I’m ALIVE! My life has started again today!’ In fact, you should do that every time you get out of a car. We’re just riding on those things – we’re not really in control of them.”
Elsewhere, Yorke said: “So much of the public’s perception revolves around illusion. That’s what Airbag is about, the illusion of safety. In reality, airbags don’t really work, and they go off at random.”
Perhaps the most interesting thing about ‘Airbag’, apart from its meaning, is how it’s placed on the tracklist. Fans have noted that whilst the track is the opener, the song ‘The Tourist’ is the closer, which is about irresponsible driving that leads to a fatal car crash. Whether the band intended it or not, this means that the album ends where it starts, creating a strange circle of death, an incisive take on the cyclical nature of life and death.
