Subterranean Homesick Alien

"Subterranean Homesick Alien"
Song by Radiohead
from the album OK Computer
Released27 May 1997 (1997-05-27)
RecordedJuly 1996 – 6 March 1997
StudioSt Catherine's Court, Bath, England
Genre
Length4:27
Label
Songwriters
Producers

"Subterranean Homesick Alien" is a song by English rock band Radiohead from their third studio album OK Computer (1997). Its title references the Bob Dylan song "Subterranean Homesick Blues" from Dylan's fifth album Bringing It All Back Home (1965).[1]

Background

"Subterranean Homesick Alien" takes inspiration from several sources, the most prominent being a poem Thom Yorke wrote in college where he imagined himself as an alien observing humanity.[2][3] Another idea for the song arose after Yorke hit a bird while driving home.[1] It was originally a "folky" acoustic duo by Jonny Greenwood and Yorke titled "Uptight".[1] Greenwood composed the intro, the chorus and the outro, Yorke composed the verses.

Composition and lyrics

Radiohead used electric keyboards to emulate the sound used in Bitches Brew, a 1970 jazz album by Miles Davis.[4][5] The New York Times mostly likens it to "Pharaoh's Dance" from Bitches Brew.[6]

Recording

The song's instrumentation features a guitar with effect pedals played by Jonny Greenwood and a Fender Rhodes piano played by Thom Yorke.[6]

Release and reception

"Subterranean Homesick Alien" was released on Radiohead's 1997 album OK Computer. When ranking Radiohead's 40 best songs for The Guardian, it was placed number 22, stating: "Plunged into a shimmering dreamscape, Yorke observes a fleet of aliens surveying humanity." and "Radiohead exist to petition for the second option; here, however, was sweet ambiguity".[7] Marc Hogan ranked it number 17 in his ranking of every Radiohead song, writing "Yorke's man-who-fell-to-earth observations of 'uptight' life on the third planet does justice to the title's nod to Dylan — one of the few artists whose music thrives more on inscrutability than Radiohead's".[8] In Consequence of Sound's ranking of every Radiohead song, it was ranked 37, Nina Carcoran wrote the track's commentary, writing that it "drips each of its notes like a spoonful of honey, letting guitar lines and keys backstroke through an ocean of reverb in a beautiful ode to outer space and the ever-present feelings of nostalgia and longing".[9] Author Dai Griffiths stated it "'fucked with' in solidly earnest, industrial-music fashion. On the other hand, there’s a tendency – Alanis Morissette was the first, so far as I know — for female singers to perform the slower, 'torch songs' faithfully."[10]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wawzenek, Bryan (11 February 2022). "Radiohead Bring Jazz to Mars on 'Subterranean Homesick Alien'". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 2025-07-03.
  2. ^ AltPress. "5 ways Radiohead's 'OK Computer' shaped alternative music". Alternative Press Magazine. Retrieved 3 July 2025.
  3. ^ Footman 2007, p. 59–60.
  4. ^ Moran, Caitlin (July 1997), "Everything was just fear", Select, p. 87
  5. ^ Footman 2007, p. 62.
  6. ^ a b Aaron, Charles (2017-06-23). "Before and After 'OK Computer'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-07-03.
  7. ^ Monroe, Jazz (23 January 2020). "Radiohead's 40 greatest songs – ranked!". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 3 July 2025.
  8. ^ Hogan, Marc (28 March 2019). "I Might Be Wrong: Every Radiohead Song, Ranked". Vulture. Retrieved 2025-07-03.
  9. ^ "Ranking: Every Radiohead Song from Worst to Best". Consequence. 2017-06-28. Retrieved 2025-07-03.
  10. ^ Griffiths 2004, p. 107.

Sources

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