Radiohead - No Surprises Please (early)

[musicmailman]

I think it is about a guy with a girlfiend who is cutting herself, he knows about it and it is wearing him out,that's why she doesn't want to take of her dress in the bathroom, and he is hurt that she won't tell him whats wrong, he just wants a normal relationship, without the 'alarms and surprises of her habit'

[pitchthewoo]

thank god they changed these lyrics. for both the integrity of the song and the flow of ok computer.

[captainreagar]

Lol, love the inappropriate "Woohoo!" when he finishes

[arashrahnama]

I think the guy is committing a suicide, because he's involved in a destructive relationship with his girl. The line about her girlfriend not taking her dress off, maybe means that her girlfriend does not want to have sex with him, and uses her period as an excuse everytime!

[1005MYBABY]

reminds me of Revolutionary Road

[musicallyfedmonkey]

defo radiohead - AWESOME!!

[Cricriiii]

this high pitched voice in this song is very poignant. I mean i fucking love the official version which is around octave lover (don't want to check the key out), but this creates another emotion. in addition of the complete tiredness of life and no chance of relief at all of the official one, this adds something like fascination for the guy depicted in the song, painful fascination, it is making something beautiful out of something tragic.

i fucking love thom's high pitches, so fragile.

[pmac24]

@Cricriiii Perfectly put. "Fragile" is so perfect. He has an incredible voice and while there are other singers with more "technical" ability, Thom to me is the best of all time because his voice has a sincerity and vulnerability to it that I think anyone who was experienced any kind of pain or loss can instantly relate to.

[agk971]

@Cricriiii i think the key in the album version is higher but thom sings that key lower in the album version- correct me if i'm wrong music boffs ;)

[Cricriiii]

@agk971 Well, now I know ;) This one is in D whereas album version is in F. Both songs are the same, same melody, just transposed.

They just certainly (I suppose, I'm not in their head ;p) found that would be lovelier if it was sung in a lower register (one octave lower), but that would have meant singing E2/F#2/G2 if they stayed in D, notes that are, I suppose, quite low for Thom.

So they changed the key from D to F to make Thom sing G2/A3/A#3, which is more comfortable for him.

:)

[agk971]

@Cricriiii you were a music boffin all along! :O

[mogumunarok]

@Garberd he surely did :P

[JibadeauxFox]

Sounds like an Arcade Fire song I dont even

[ryannee]

I always thought the female vocal part at the very end (3min 23sec) of Damien Rice's "The Blowers Daughter" was suspiciously similar to this version of No Surprises.

[berwick73]

One of the most beautiful song I've ever heard

[seapockets]

love

[Utsumo]

This is so beautiful...prefer it to the album version

[davedefran]

cool version! kick ass!

[LostGreenTapes]

a perfect piece of music that lyrical depicts the TRUTH behind "the american dream and the smiling family as Father strives for that oversized house with a white picket fence." Like the 50's sitcoms before us that spoon fed us this dream, it usually becomes an nightmare. You are not your possessions.(thanks ChuckP)

Life is what you make it. Pardon the opinion.

What I really wanted to say is this is my favorite version of No Surprises.

Also check out the demo for Motion Picture Soundtrack

[katenzcool]

Radiohead have always been really beautiful.

[rattlehead00]

This is beautiful.

[FastTrackStatus1]

Also, I was looking for this before realising I had it buried in my iPod. D'oh. Takes youtube to help you discover a gem like this...

[Genevievus]

@FastTrackStatus1

where did you get this song? i really want it on my ipod (:

[blackblackgrey]

heyy, if you want to get this song try a youtube to mp3... can't remember which ones are good off the top of my head, but I've used them before, they work :)

[FastTrackStatus1]

@Genevievus

I got it from Towering Above the Rest...

If you're that keen on it though, I'm sure I can send you it in some way :)

[flyhayable]

"he was sick of her excuses

to not take off her dress when bleedin' in the bathroom"

[Jsdoc09]

This version sends a shiver down my spine..

[rainicecream]

pure

[lifeinsepia]

Love it.

[Hellomynamesolly]

Amazin

I'm not some chav, I just couldnt find the G on my keyboard

[lifeinsepia]

Wait, so how did you put a G in the explanation?

Idiot.

[Scott17quebec]

Almost makes me cry.

[jamesthemarshall]

heartbreaking

[trickyjgc]

he was sick of his clock stopping wind it up, that girls stayed sleeping next to him watch stops, the batteries run down he started his broken sentence, "no alarms..." the watch stops, the batteries run down, he started his broken sentence,no alarms and no surprises he was sick of her excuses to not take off her dress when bleedin' in the bathroom he was sick of his clock stopping, wind it up no alarms an no surprises no alarms an no surprises no alarms an no surprises, please

[snogger6]

correction: "he was sick of LIES excuses"

[FastTrackStatus1]

hey, thanks for this.

since getting Towering Above the Rest I'm getting better at deciphering Thom's occasional slur, but I'm not quite there yet :)

[mackles]

@trickyjgc doesn't he say 'sick of HIS excuses?'

[kiekoesj]

@mackles Yes, I hear him say 'his' excuses too. And if he means indeed 'his' that means that the 'he' actually does NOT want to touch her while she's bleeding.

[kiekoesj]

@mackles Second thought: He might be saying 'HERS excuses' , somekind of colloquial idiom or maybe it is possible to put in an extra 'S' to bind the her'R' with the 'E'xcuses purely as a soundrule, without implications for the grammar..

[kiekoesj]

@kiekoesj Third and last thought, maybe it is wordplay, maybe he sings 'sexcuses'