[music]
When I think of no surprises, I think of
the squeaky clean guitar tone playing
these beautiful arpeggios and the
innocent glock and spiel and the cheesy
synth. And it all just paints this
picture of something that's too perfect,
like a fake smile, a life with no
problems, which is a problem in and of
itself, and lacking all excitement, and
no surprises. But there are some
surprises in this song. There are a
couple moments where we might hear some
notes that we don't expect. I think this
is also a great example of how radio
head will take a heavy message and then
package it in this little happy thing
for you so that it's kind of unassuming
and you don't realize how sad you are
until suddenly you're like why do I
also associate this song with the radio
head progression which is not the
official name for it but it's going to
be from here on out at least on my
panel. [music]
So, this song is mostly an F major and
major keys, you know, they can sound
like anything depending on the
instrumentation and of course the tempo
and everything. But at its core, it
tends to make us feel like everything's
okay. And it's so powerful to juxtapose
it with a message that isn't. So when I
say F major, I actually mean F major,
though the recording is flat. So I don't
know if it got slowed down a little bit
in production, but it's actually like
almost a quarter tone flat or more than
a quarter. No,
back to the radio head progression
because it's important. We're talking
about the key because the radio head
progression isn't in a standard major or
minor key. It comes from a mode or you
could just think of it as a borrowed
chord or whatever. But it's bringing in
notes that you don't expect. One note
specifically, the flat six of the scale.
So if we're going [music]
in F major, 1 2 3 4 5 6. [music] And
then we flatten it.
Now everything is heavy. [music]
You can feel it. It just gives us this
feeling like it's wistful. Something's
not perfect anymore. It's like maybe a
little bit of an alarm, a little bit of
a surprise.
[music]
>> [music]
>> Ed is so beautifully capturing the radio
head progression in arpeggio form uh
with the squeaky clean guitar line. So
he goes
[music]
It's F major.
And then [music] a B flat minor six
chord. And all you really need to know
about that is that you got the minor and
then you have this [music] note which is
like kind of the best part, right? It's
like it's not. I mean, it's all of it
together, but I always look forward to
that one part. It's so pretty. We've got
Tom on acoustic guitar and he is playing
sus a suspension against this
major chord a [music] suspension.
Now I play piano obviously and I [music]
don't play guitar so I don't know
exactly what the shape is that he's
playing but this is my closest
approximation you know on piano. [music]
Now, if I crunch all these notes up
together,
you get this. So, [music] alto together,
they create a beautiful chord called an
add nine chord. And it's like a major
chord [music] with this note stuck in
and it's creating dissonance and
tension. And what I love about how
they've arranged things is that Ed is
doing the pure, right, perfect
fake smile
and Tom is doing the tension. [music]
And the [music] tension is right at the
top and he's just really I mean and it
gets louder when it goes into like the
second verse you or or maybe it's the
third verse but yeah it that that pinch
and it's just oh it's so gorgeous. One
of the new things I heard was what Tom
is doing after this suspension. Listen
to the movement.
That's so nice. See, every part is so
good. Johnny's on the glock and spiel.
The glock and spiel at first is just
accenting some of those notes and then
later it decides, okay, I'm going to go
ahead and join in fully. So, at first
it's just going
[bell]
[music]
so cute.
>> [bell]
[music]
[bell and music]
>> Colin's on the bass and Colin is keeping
it nice and steady. He's just giving us
a pattern where there's a lot of little
uh little syncopated jabs and it's kind
of cheeky. [music]
And then he goes
>> [music]
>> Sometimes he [music] goes,
[music]
there's a little synth swell of a really
discordant. Well, the chord itself isn't
discordant, but it's not in the key. And
it comes in right before the drums come
in. It's just this random little like
listen.
I feel like that's so radio head. Let's
just have some like irrelevant
information. Bleepy bloopy kind of like
something's off. It's not perfect.
It's It's a It's a hint. It's a hint.
>> [singing]
[music]
>> pass
full of black [singing]
landfill.
[music]
A job that slowly
kills
you. [music]
Bruises that won't heal.
[music]
After [music]
[music]
this,
this note goes down here.
Now, this chord kind of by itself sounds
a bit forloren. I think it's because of
the dissonance as well as the big space.
This big gap
sounds kind of empty and lost,
right? [music]
But underneath that is the bass is D.
You could look at it as like a D minor
chord [bell]
with a
flat 6 creating all this dissonance and
tension. And I think Tom is singing that
note,
[music]
right? Okay. Or you can talk think you
can talk about you can think about it as
being a B flat major 7 chord. It's the
same notes. The only difference is what
you considered the bottom of the chord
to be
[music]
h
but just with [music] the D in the bass.
That's kind of more how I hear it. But
you know meanwhile the Glocken spiel is
doing D minor, right? So it's kind of
both. Either way, it sounds um it sounds
real sad. The guitar, Ed, is playing B
flat major, but the bass and everything
else and the guitar, the acoustic
guitar, I have to stop saying the
guitar. The acoustic guitar [music] is
on G and G minor. So, it's G minor,
but this is the seventh.
has a similar situation, you notice
[music] as the other one where basically
some of the instruments are playing like
some major chord or some minor chord and
then the other instruments are playing a
different chord that's related and has a
lot in common, but it is kind of
different and they're sort of
overlapping and it's creating
dissonance, crunchiness, beauty, um, and
for someone analyzing it, some some
uncertainty, but I don't really care.
Um, I just know that this is incredibly
beautiful.
And I love that. And then [music] then
it goes
to a C major with a little bit of
attitude.
And then back [music] here. So 251. I
don't play jazz, but I know that's like
a big deal in jazz. 251. 251. The two
[music] sets you up for the five, which
brings you back down. So that's kind of
nice and traditionish and it feels again
kind of perfect, right? like and maybe a
little pouring just like the uh the
maybe the um
what's the word?
Oh my god. Protagonist of the song. I
don't know if there's a protagonist. I
don't think it's really from anyone's
point of view, but it feels like I'm
watching someone like as I'm listening
to the song. I'm not going to talk about
the drums very much in this song. Phil G
gives us a nice basic rock beat. He's
not being flashy. He's doing the song
justice, but he's staying in the
background. Um, and he's just giving us
a little bit of a nice, you know,
sort of following some of the accent
patterns that uh Tom is playing on his
rhythm guitar. All right, let's look at
the baseline. He's doing something that
I've uh noticed in other songs on this
album is that he's mostly holding down
chord tones. Uh, so he's supporting the
harmony, often playing the roots of
chords, which is the strongest support
you can give to a chord and the bass.
And then in between the notes, he's got
some movement. He's connecting the
notes. He's not just going [music]
[music]
right. Uh, he does little walks in
between them. So here he goes. Ah
[music]
da da [music]
da da syncopated [music]
and then he has a little da da da
and here he just did [music] op to go
right up. Sometimes he walks up.
Yes, I know it sounded like the Adams
family.
>> [music]
[music]
>> Now, let's focus on the Glock and Spiel
for a moment. So, what's cool about the
Glock and Spiel, and Johnny's playing
this, is that at first it actually only
plays parts of what the guitar is
playing, just little accents,
and then it joins in fully. I didn't
realize that before. So, at first it's
just going
[music]
>> [music]
>> And then it goes
[music]
[bell and music]
and as things start to get more
interesting.
[bell]
And then finally it's like, okay,
[music]
sorry I skipped a beat.
And then it's on board fully and it's
going along just like the guitar ed. I
mean, [music]
[music]
so pretty.
[music]
And then it goes up an octave and keeps
going all the way up here. Anyway,
here's me playing it through from some
of these parts. So, I love this because
they're playing with textures, right?
Instead of the Glock and Spiel and Ed's
guitar just instead of Johnny and Ed the
Glock and Spiel and this lead guitar
just playing the exact same thing the
whole time, which honestly would have
been cool. It really wouldn't have made
or broken the song. Wow. Putting that
saying in past tense does not work. It
is nice that they're playing with the
different tones and different attacks,
right? Because Glock and Spiel has a
very strong attack and a very different
tambber. Uh, and also playing with its
octaves, right? And the different
tambers that that creates. There's just
so much variety in them leaving out
notes at first and then doing intervals
and then doing little, you know,
doing that while the guitar goes
[music]
right. It's like they're complimentary
but they're different and sometimes they
overlap and sometimes they're kind of
little in call and response mode. It's
just really really lovely to just listen
to that one layer.
>> [bell]
[bell and music]
[music]
[bell]
[music]
[bell]
[bell and music]
[music]
[bell]
[music]
>> and then the synths are all like
and I I don't know enough about
synthesis to be like I know exactly what
kind of synth that was and I know how to
recreate it. So, what I did though is I
took its sort of vintage mono quality
and I just loaded up a melatron
violin because I feel like it has that
vibe. And here's what that sounds like
kind of isolated.
[bell]
Just kind of doing what like a pad would
do, right? Just adding some fullness,
making things sound like, you know, it's
like those those old commercials. I
think it's commercials. see like a
floating bubble of a head and they're
like like you know like [laughter] it
makes me think of the Truman Show like
you know when she's um when she's doing
commercials at the end and he's like who
are you talking to? It's really good.
All right, back on track. Radio. All
right, let's talk about Tom's voice.
Sad as One of the reasons that
this vocal sounds so sad, it's partly
just cuz Tom, but the other reason is
because of these very large descending
intervals. So, he's just I mean, I don't
even think I can sing these
d. [music]
[music]
Sorry.
>> [music]
>> That's a big major 6th. And then he goes
a step further and goes, [music] by the
way, that's hard. A major 7th. It's very
dissonant. It's hard to lock in. You
want to your voice wants [music] to go
to to an octave because that just feels
more natural. But
[singing]
another [music] six, minor 6. And then
he walks up
[music]
and he's often singing this like major
third of the key
which is what makes it sound major.
[music] Like that's the main quality
that makes a major key sound major is
that note there. [music]
So he's really doing it singing into the
chord [singing]
also the [music] minor third of this
chord.
[music]
So it just again accentuates all the
those feelings to the chorus. No
[singing]
surprises. [music]
[singing]
No surprises. [music]
No [music]
surprises. [singing]
Now we have some different chords. And
you'll notice there's a lot of verses
leading up to the chorus. It takes a bit
of time to finally get there. Right now,
this has a nice stuck feeling. So, the
chords are G um G minor and then C
[music] major
[music]
and finally
it resolves. So, this will be a two
chord and a five chord. A two chord and
a five chord. A two chord and a five
chord. And finally we get home, right?
Um, and there's a lot of repetition, not
just in this back and forth, but also in
all the other parts, right? It's the
same thing three times in a row.
No surprises. It's the same thing over
and over and over again. No, [music]
no alarms [singing] and no surprises.
No alarms and no surprises. [music]
alarms and finally a different note.
Sorry, [music]
the guitar. I'm sorry. [laughter]
Ed, the clean lead guitar goes.
[music]
>> [music]
[music]
>> I could not help when I when I realized
this is what he was doing on the guitar.
And it sounds so similar to what happens
in the string part in uh climbing up the
walls.
I feel like it just makes it all sound
even [music] heavier and minory. The
descension and then this
[music]
that guitar part turns the chord into a
sassy dominant seventh chord.
>> [music]
>> and Radio Head's just they're kings of
the common tones, but the Glock and
Spiel is doing something a little
different.
[music]
[bell]
H difference is it doesn't go [music] in
[bell] thirds down. It just keeps that
D.
And what's even cooler is that in the
second chorus,
the D comes down to the C at the end. So
it goes [music and bell]
[laughter]
and all these little tiny variations add
subtle new flavors to the chords. [bell]
[music]
[bell]
>> [music]
>> That just seems to be something that
happens when you've got so many
harmonically
charged instruments with harmonically
charged people behind them and they're
just finding all these cool ways to mix
and mingle all the colors. I just love
it. Bass
>> [music]
[music]
>> super syncopated again.
[music] Okay, cool.
[music]
And that's just the first chorus. The
second chorus, uh, Colin adds a little
bit more. So, [music]
walking down.
[music]
Similarly, the glock and spiel adds more
on to its
[music]
might be all the way up here at that
point because it keeps going between
octaves.
[music]
Another fun variation is that Ed uh the
first time
>> [music]
>> does that first and then the second time
[music]
this which kind of feels like a
suspension.
Um
[music]
[singing]
it's kind of just the vibe and then he
goes back down to the little flourish
down yonder.
But for the other choruses, he reverses
it because why not? It's just like
[music]
I love the details.
>> [music]
[music]
[singing]
>> That
always sounded like magic to me. And now
I know why. the the ED the Ed guitar and
the Glock and Spiel are in harmony
going up this minor chord this
[music] minor sixth chord that we've
come to know and love.
So they go to a C.
[music]
And just that alone is interesting
because these two chords,
[music]
there's a big gap like between
the third of [music] this chord and the
third of this chord.
Big gap. Normally when you go to a chord
[music] that's just next door, see the
root is just right next door. the thirds
would kind of like move by a step, but
instead they move
by a jump. And so there's this
disconnected feeling, and I love that.
And Radio Head does that kind of thing.
Not a lot of other artists do I catch
with this kind of situation. They always
make it work really, really well. They
know how to connect chords that don't
have much in common with beautiful
lines. And here's a great example,
right? [music]
[singing]
Okay. So, Glocken Spill goes.
Okay. [music]
[bell]
Even here.
[music]
And then there as well. There's just all
sorts of cool mixtures.
[music]
[bell]
[music]
[bell]
And then the guitar goes rest.
So pretty. And then
[music]
so he goes higher than the glock and
spill. Glocken spill only gets to here.
But egg goes
pretty. Skips the A and G.
So it's kind of the same chord [music]
just you know
ish it feels like an extension.
Yes. So if you kept going third, fifth,
[music] seventh,
ninth, [laughter]
[music]
goes to [music] the G minor,
and then back to the B flat minor.
[music]
And there's all this cool mode mixture
to hear all this little chromaticism.
You can really hear it in the glock and
spiel part.
[music]
I love this part. I think it's Ed again
going
[music]
Pretty
[music]
[singing]
s
pretty [music and singing] girl.
[music]
One of the verses is very different than
all the others. The instrumentation
completely changes. The bass drops out
and the synth comes in in a more potent
present way and Tom is changing notes
and the bass is changing. Everything's
different. [music]
Okay. So in this little interlude before
the I think the la actually I don't know
if this is the last verse but in this
interlude the glock and spiel and the
synth are kind of in unison and then
they split off from each other. So check
this out. On the top the synth
[music]
does that and the glock and spiel goes.
[music]
So there's this moment there in unison
[music and bell]
and then they come in harmony and
resolve on different notes. It's so
pretty. I love those details.
[music]
>> [music]
>> Now here, acoustic guitar. [music]
Tom joins in on the arpeggio. See what I
mean about the way they play with
textures?
I guess I didn't really say Okay,
whatever.
>> [music]
[music]
>> And Tom is no longer dipping down. No
more dips.
>> [singing and music]
>> So something else about this is that
sometimes the chorus will complete its
full cycle, right, of
[music]
sorry.
[music]
And sometimes it starts off
and then it just goes in.
That's because the first [music] chord
of the chorus is the same one that comes
next in the progression when the the
verse continues. So, it's kind of uh it
just feels so seamless. No [music] long
delaying that gratification which we've
[music] come to expect finally.
Right. So, in this shorter verse, Colin,
he he decides to switch it up. Such a
good choice. [music]
That just feels different because no
longer is this [music] note supporting
the root of that chord.
[music]
He goes,
so he kind of leaves his post and goes
high. And I I don't know what it is, but
I just love it when the the bass
actually like goes higher into its mid
higher ranges. I feel like it sounds so
good. It definitely doesn't sound strong
anymore, but it sounds special. I don't
know. I'm just obsessed with that sound.
Um, and this just feels [music] so
melodic and beautiful, and it's sad cuz
then it just plunges back down. There's
some vocal harmonies on the very last
verse and chorus. And this whole song
feels like it does feel so repetitive,
right? I mean, there's so many verses
and so many choruses, but it just feels
like it's ramping up and the inner
screaming is getting louder and louder
as the song goes on.
[music and singing]
[singing]
>> How gorgeous are those harmonies? Really
subtle though. They continue
D while the other one is a third above
it in parallel
d. [singing]
Parallel thirds is the harmony of
choice. If you want something to sound
traditional, you can harmonize with
other intervals, but these are the most
like pretty and like neat and sweet and
lovely. The other ones sound either like
dissonant or strong and ancient,
commanding, abrasive. You know, there's
all sorts of other qualities, but this
is like the sweet ones. They're the safe
ones. This is the safe vocal harmonies.
So, I think it's perfect.
[music]
All the attention at this on this outro
is going to be on the synth probably and
the glock and spiel, but the bass,
check this out. So, they're all going uh
[music]
on the F chord
[music]
and then the B flat chord, right?
Okay, cool. The bass goes,
[music]
okay, just we just have to look at this
because gosh, there's some note or two
in there that feels like
I love how
how contained that is. And the bass goes
this big run jumpy jumpy line all the
way down. each one hitting like ooh ooh
ooh ooh ooh until you get to the bottom.
This is the flat. Okay, this is the flat
seven.
Oh, that's why I don't think this note
has been played at all the entire song.
Literally,
I think this is the only E flat in the
whole song. No, that's not true. Sorry.
There's one other part. It's when it
goes um the Glock and Spiel goes um
Okay, just that one part. Okay, so
that's part of why this sounds so cool
after all this,
right?
[music]
That's not the only thing though that's
doing something there. We have the synth
and the glock and spiel.
We got the bass
and clean guitar.
[music]
So many things. They're all moving
together and they're Oh, it's just so
delightful. Oh my gosh, there's a
tambourine. I forgot to mention the
tambourine. The tambourine makes things
feel Christmy as well. I feel it's just,
you know, it's like in the Sam FA Sam
family is what I was going to say. It's
in the Sam family as sleigh bells.
>> [music]
[music]
>> If you liked this, I have a whole series
on Okay Computer and I'm almost
finished. It's only taken me three
years. But if you want to support me,
you can join my Patreon or buy my music
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I want to take sponsorships from you.
Baby packs. [applause] Baby packs does
whatever a baby packs does.
>> [music]
>> Oops. Oops. Oh god. Okay. [music]
He's a