Paranoid Android

Radiohead, 1997. Solo by Jonny Greenwood.

A turbulent frenzy in a six-part song. Greenwood makes chaos sound composed.

Jonny Greenwood's main solo bursts out at the end of the second section, running roughly from 2:43 to 3:33, and its snarling, heavily distorted tone came from running his guitar through a Mutronics Mutator filter. It replaced a long organ outro heard in early versions, and it gives the song its most violent moment. Greenwood also wrote the aggressive coda riff, and parts of that closing lead are reportedly played backwards. The chromatically descending line at the end mirrors the close of the second section, tying the song's fragments together, which is why the chaos sounds planned. Listen for that filtered, almost wah-like snarl in the main solo; it sounds like a guitar being wrenched rather than played.

Paranoid Android by Radiohead is ranked #28 in our consensus of 79 guitar-solo lists. The solo is played by Jonny Greenwood and the song was released in 1997. It appears on 21 lists, placing as high as #5 (Coach Guitar).

The story of Paranoid Android

Thom Yorke drew the lyrics from a disturbing night in a Los Angeles bar, where he watched a woman high on cocaine turn frighteningly aggressive. He said the people around him seemed like demons from another planet, and the line about a kicking, squealing Gucci piggy came straight from that scene. The words came to him in the early hours while he tried to sleep. Yorke has said the title was a sarcastic joke about people wanting him to be depressed, insisting the rest of the song is not personal.

Rather than a conventional verse-chorus song, Paranoid Android was pieced together from separate fragments, a method the band compared to the Beatles' Happiness Is a Warm Gun. It moves through four sections: a mid-tempo acoustic opening in G minor, a heavier passage in A minor with bars of 7/8 time that ends in a guitar solo, a slow choral section written by Jonny Greenwood that loops between C minor and D minor, and a short, violent instrumental coda.

Radiohead began playing it live in July 1996 while opening for Alanis Morissette, when it stretched to around ten minutes. They recorded it at St Catherine's Court, a historic manor house near Bath, with producer Nigel Godrich. An early studio version ran about 14 minutes and ended with a long Hammond organ solo from Greenwood that Yorke mocked as sounding like a Pink Floyd cover. Taking a cue from the Beatles' editing tricks, the band cut it to about six and a half minutes and replaced the organ with a guitar solo.

Capitol backed the unusual choice of a six-minute, multi-part single to prepare listeners for OK Computer. It premiered on BBC Radio 1 in April 1997 and was released on May 26, 1997, reaching No. 3 in the UK, still Radiohead's highest chart position there. Swedish animator Magnus Carlsson directed the cartoon video, which MTV put into heavy rotation after editing some nudity.

The solo

The guitar solos on Paranoid Android belong to Jonny Greenwood. The main one bursts out at the end of the second section, running roughly from 2:43 to 3:33, and is a snarling, heavily distorted break whose unusual, filtered tone came from running his guitar through a Mutronics Mutator rack unit. It replaced the long Hammond organ outro heard in early studio versions. Greenwood also wrote the aggressive coda riff, saying it was an idea he had kept around that happened to suit the song's key and tempo; according to Songfacts, parts of that closing lead are played backwards and parts forwards. The chromatically descending line at its end mirrors the close of the second section, tying the fragmented structure together. Critics singled out these furiously wrenched guitars as a highlight.

Legacy

Paranoid Android is often cited as one of the defining songs of the 1990s. Critics compared its ambition to Bohemian Rhapsody and Happiness Is a Warm Gun; Pitchfork ranked it fourth among the decade's best tracks, Rolling Stone put it at No. 256 on its 500 greatest songs list, and The Guardian named it Radiohead's greatest song in 2020. It earned a Brit Award nomination for Best British Single, was used as the theme of the anime Ergo Proxy, and has been covered by artists from Brad Mehldau to Weezer.

Top 10 facts about Paranoid Android

The lyrics were inspired by a violent, cocaine-fuelled woman Yorke saw in a Los Angeles bar.
Wikipedia
An early studio version lasted about 14 minutes and ended with a lengthy Hammond organ solo by Jonny Greenwood.
Wikipedia
Greenwood's main solo got its distinctive tone from a Mutronics Mutator filter unit.
Wikipedia
Parts of Greenwood's closing guitar lead are played in reverse while other parts run forward.
Songfacts
The band first played the song live in Belgium in July 1996 while touring with Alanis Morissette.
Songfacts
Nigel Godrich stitched together Yorke's Dictaphone gibberish for the ending on 24-track tape.
Wikipedia
The song's No. 3 UK chart peak remains Radiohead's highest position on the UK Singles Chart.
Wikipedia
MTV Europe accidentally aired the uncensored video for two weeks because its censor was ill.
Wikipedia
Radiohead first refused to license the song to the anime Ergo Proxy but agreed after seeing a preview.
Wikipedia
The band's 1997 Glastonbury headline set featuring the song was later hailed by Q as the greatest concert of all time.
Rolling Stone

Live versions

Belgium (supporting Alanis Morissette) (1996) Live debut, when the song still sprawled to around ten minutes.
Glastonbury Festival, Pyramid Stage (1997) Legendary Saturday headline set; this recording appeared on the BBC CD Mud for It.
Allianz Parque, Sao Paulo (2018) Ed O'Brien led the crowd through the rain down section on the A Moon Shaped Pool tour.

Notable covers

Brad Mehldau (2002) Nine-minute jazz piano version on Largo, later stretched to 19 minutes live in Tokyo.
Easy Star All-Stars (2006) Reggae version on Radiodread; the producer noted its many time-signature flips.
Sia (2006) Neo-soul reading for Exit Music: Songs with Radio Heads.
Weezer (2011) Studio and tour versions that divided critics.
Ball Park Music (2020) Performed for triple j's Like a Version segment.

In our lists

See Them Live — #9
Deep Cuts — #3
The Greatest Solo of Every Year — #54
Genre Champions — #1
The Modern Canon: Best Since 1990 — #4
The 25 Greatest Alternative Rock Guitar Solos — #1
The 1990s — #4
SGs & Telecasters — #3
Critics' Picks — #22
Most Divisive — #23

Sources

What guitar was used on the Paranoid Android solo?

A fender telecaster plus through a Fender amp, with DigiTech Whammy, according to widely reported accounts.

Where does Paranoid Android rank among the greatest guitar solos?

#28 in the GreatestSolos consensus of 79 published lists; it appears on 21 of them.

Who played the guitar solo on Paranoid Android?

Jonny Greenwood, who also wrote the song's slow third section and the closing riff.

What is Paranoid Android about?

It grew from Thom Yorke's unsettling night in a Los Angeles bar and touches on madness, violence and consumer culture.

Why is it called Paranoid Android?

Thom Yorke has said the title was a sarcastic joke about people expecting him to be depressed; the rest of the lyric is not personal.

What time signature is Paranoid Android in?

Mostly 4/4, but the second section includes bars of 7/8, and the song shifts tempo between sections.

How long was the original Paranoid Android?

An early version ran around 14 minutes with a long organ solo before the band cut it to about 6:27.