Subterranean Homesick Alien
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| ""Subterranean Homesick Alien"" | ||
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| Song by Radiohead | ||
| from the album OK Computer | ||
| Released | 16 June 1997 | |
| Recorded | 1996, 1997 | |
| Genre | Alternative Rock | |
| Length | 4:27 | |
| Label | Parlophone | |
| Producer(s) | Nigel Godrich with Radiohead | |
| OK Computer track listing | ||
| "Paranoid Android" (2) |
""Subterranean Homesick Alien"" (3) |
"Exit Music (For a Film)" (4) |
"Subterranean Homesick Alien" is a song by Radiohead, from the band's 1997 album OK Computer.
Originally called "Uptight", which is how Jonny Greenwood referred to it in its early stages, the song pays homage to Bob Dylan's "Subterranean Homesick Blues". In this song Jonny Greenwood was trying to recreate the sound of Miles Davis' Bitches Brew. The song deals with alien abduction and stems from two incidents in Thom Yorke's life. The first occurred at Abingdon School, when he was assigned an essay question that went something like this: "If you were an alien from another planet arriving on Earth, how would you describe what you saw?" The second incident occurred when Thom was driving down a country road and hit a bird (which he believes was a pheasant). He stepped out of the car and at that moment began thinking about alien abduction. It is very textured and colourful, and one of the calmer songs on OK Computer.
