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Karma Police
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Wikipedia article
{{Infobox song
| name = Karma Police
| cover = KarmaPolice.jpg
| alt =
| border = yes
| type = single
| artist = Radiohead
| album = OK Computer
| B-side = *"Meeting in the Aisle"
*"Lull"
| released = 25 August 1997
| recorded =
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = Alternative rock
| length = 4:24
| label = *Parlophone
*Capitol
| writer = *Thom Yorke
*Jonny Greenwood
*Ed O'Brien
*Colin Greenwood
*Philip Selway
| producer = *Nigel Godrich
*Radiohead
| prev_title = Paranoid Android
| prev_year = 1997
| next_title = Lucky
| next_year = 1997
| misc =
}}
"'Karma Police'" is a song by English alternative rock band Radiohead, released on 25 August 1997, as the second single from their third studio album, 'OK Computer' (1997). It reached number one in Iceland and number eight on the UK Singles Chart. In the US, it peaked at number 14 on the US Alternative Songs chart. It was included on 'Radiohead: The Best Of' (2008). The music video, directed by Jonathan Glazer, sees singer Thom Yorke in the back of a car pursuing a man. In 2021, 'Rolling Stone' placed "Karma Police" at position 279 on its ranking of the 500 greatest songs of all time.
Release
"Karma Police" was released as the second single from 'OK Computer' on 25 August 1997. In the UK, it was released on two CD singles and a 12-inch vinyl single, and reached number eight on the UK Singles Chart.Randall 2000, p. 248 In March 2010, almost 13 years later, "Karma Police" reached number 15 on the Danish Singles Chart. Early versions of "Karma Police" were released on the 2019 compilation 'MiniDiscs [Hacked]'.
Composition
"Karma Police" is in a time signature and played in standard tuning. The first half is in the key of A minor ('Karma Police...') and G major ('This is what you get...'). The second half (starting with the line "For a minute there") is in B minor.Griffiths, 2004. p. 92. Acoustic guitar and piano are the most prominent instruments.Footman, 2007. p. 79
The song progresses from the intro into a mid-tempo section which alternates between a verse and a chorus. The verse begins with the line "Karma police", and the chorus begins with the line "This is what you'll get". After this section cycles through twice, the song switches into a second section which is based around the line "For a minute there, I lost myself". Yorke's voice is put through a reverb effect and a sliding melodic figure serves as a counterpoint to his vocals. In the final minute, Ed O'Brien distorts his guitar by driving a delay effect to self-oscillation, then lowering the delay rate, creating a "melting" effect.Randall 2000, p. 224
After Yorke told producer Nigel Godrich he was not happy with the ending, the pair reconstructed it with loops and samples, a technique they developed on later Radiohead albums. Godrich said: "It was the first time we did anything like that. Just us in the studio, and a forerunner of a lot of things to come, good and bad."
Lyrics
The title lyric originates from an inside joke; the members of Radiohead would threaten to call the "karma police" if someone did something bad.Sutherland, Mark (31 May 1997). "Return of the Mac!". 'Melody Maker'. Yorke explained that the song was about stress and "having people looking at you in that certain [malicious] way".Randall 2000, p. 223 He said: "It's for someone who has to work for a large company. This is a song against bosses. Fuck the middle management!"Webb, Robert (15 September 2006). "[https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/muse-we-blew-them-all-off-the-stage-415987.html Story Of The Song: 'Karma Police' Radiohead (1997)]". 'The Independent'. Accessed on 15 October 2008.
Yorke and Jonny Greenwood emphasised in interviews that the song was humorous and "not entirely serious". The line "He buzzes like a fridge / He's like a detuned radio" refers to distracting, metaphorical background noise that Yorke calls "fridge buzz", one of the themes of 'OK Computer'.Footman 2007, p. 140 "Karma Police" also shares themes of insanity and dissatisfaction with capitalism.Footman 2007, pp. 144147
Critical reception
Steve Huey from AllMusic described "Karma Police" as "haunting, mystifying, and exquisite", labelling it "one of the cornerstones of one of the greatest albums of the '90s". The 'Daily Record' declared it a "superb song"."Chart Slot". 'Daily Record'. 5 September 1997. Retrieved 1 December 2020. A reviewer from 'Music Week' rated it four out of five, picking it as one of the "standout tracks" from 'OK Computer'. In 2021, 'Rolling Stone' placed "Karma Police" at position 279 on its ranking of the 500 greatest songs of all time.
Music video
The "Karma Police" music video was directed by Jonathan Glazer, who had directed the video for Radiohead's 1996 single "Street Spirit (Fade Out)". The video is shot from the perspective of the driver of a car pursuing a man along a dark road, with Yorke in the back seat. The man falls to his knees and the car reverses, revealing that it is leaking fuel. The man produces matches from his pocket and ignites the trail of fuel. Yorke vanishes and the car is engulfed in flames.
Glazer initially pitched the video concept to the American musician Marilyn Manson for his 1997 single "Long Hard Road Out of Hell"; Manson wanted a video similar to David Lynch's 1997 film 'Lost Highway', which opens with a shot of a road rushing beneath the camera. After Manson rejected the concept, the video commissioner Dilly Gent recommended it to Radiohead for "Karma Police". According to Manson's collaborator Randy Sosin, after Manson saw the "Karma Police" video, "Manson was like, 'Fuck that.' But, you know, a good idea is a good idea."
Glazer said he wanted to "shoot something very simple ... Where the whole narrative could be contained within a single sentence." The running man was played by Hungarian actor Lajos Kovcs. Kovcs developed cramp during the running shots, and had to have injections in his leg to keep running; he also badly burnt his thumb during repeated takes lighting the book of matches behind his back.
The video premiered in August 1997. Glazer won MTV's Director of the Year award in 1997 for his work on the "Karma Police" as well as Jamiroquai's "Virtual Insanity". In 2001, Glazer said he regarded the video as a failure, "because I decided to do a very minimalist, subjective use of camera, and tried to do something hypnotic and dramatic from one perspective, and it was very hard to achieve and I feel that I didn't achieve it". He described his video for the 1998 single "Rabbit in Your Headlights", by Yorke and Unkle, as a more successful "partner" to the "Karma Police" video.
Track listings
All songs written by Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, Ed O'Brien, Colin Greenwood and Philip Selway.
* 'UK CD1'
# "Karma Police" 4:23
# "Meeting in the Aisle" 3:08
# "Lull" 2:28
* 'UK CD2'
# "Karma Police" 4:23
# "Climbing Up the Walls" (Zero 7 Mix) 5:19
# "Climbing Up the Walls" (Fila Brazillia Mix) 6:24
* 'UK 12-inch vinyl'
:A1. "Karma Police" 4:23
:B1. "Meeting in the Aisle" 3:08
:B2. "Climbing Up the Walls" (Zero 7 Mix) 5:19
Personnel
* Thom Yorke lead vocals, acoustic guitar
* Jonny Greenwood piano, synthesizer
* Colin Greenwood bass guitar
* Ed O'Brien electric guitar, backing vocals
* Philip Selway drums
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
References
Bibliography
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* Osborn, Brad (2013). "Subverting the VerseChorus Paradigm: Terminally Climactic Form in Recent Rock Music." 'Music Theory Spectrum' 35, no. 1, pp. 2347.
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