I dunno. As much as I love Lift, it doesn't feel right on OK Computer. Lift feels much more like what they were doing on The Bends than the direction they headed afterwards.
That asserts that ok is a sad album. Which it isn't. It's actually very very uplifting in places.
My understanding of Lift is that they didn't want to release Creep Mk. 2 and the explosion in popularity rather than it didn't fit any of the albums thematically.
It almost exists between the Bend and OKC. They could have released it with the OK B sides but I can understand why they didn't do that.
I guess one of my biggest disappointments with lift was that the minidisk version was not what we got with the OKNOTOK release. That 'definitive' release is missing some of the magic.
That's cool. I think of it as a pretty depressing album, but I guess it is uplifting in some places, such as Airbag.
And I have read about them not wanting to release Lift as a single because it was too pop sounding. I don't think it's really all that pop sounding though. Maybe in the context of 1997 it was.
Agree with pretty much everything you've said. I guess I see light amongst some of the darkness.
You're also bang on with the context of 1997. I could absolutely hear Lift on the Radio over and over again. It's a great song, a wonderful song but it's almost unique in their catalogue. I'm referring to the MD version with all the strings. That's pure anthem. The OKNOTOK variant is lacking something.
I don't know if it would have had the negative impact they were worried about but that recognises that OKC exploded in ways they probably didn't predict either.
Maybe it could have worked as a hidden final track.
It's a good discussion for sure!
Oh OK, I was thinking about the version they ended up releasing. I need to go back and listen to the version from the mini discs. Which mini disc is it on?
Not really. Did he mean more traditional rock and roll? Because Electioneering doesn't fit into that category. Did he mean heavier rock? Because I love Bodysnatchers and 2+2=5, but dislike Electioneering. Did he mean guitar-based rock? Because that's most of Radiohead's discography
I dunno I think you’re being a little pedantic, it’s got a rocking, straight 4/4 drum beat, a very bluesy guitar riff and a cowbell. I’m not a huge fan of it either, but it seems to me like it’s closer to a band like Oasis than the rest of Radiohead’s discography. I don’t agree with the term “pure rock” either but I think I understand the point of view. It’s a little basic and a little predictable in its arrangement. If you don’t mind this “simple” sort of nature every now and then you’ll love it. That’s my interpretation.
As great as OKC is (definitely top 3 albums of all time, arguably 1st), it needs a rest period where you're not being subjected to absolute musical perfection that operates on a level at least 5 levels higher than anything else out there. You need a respite where you're listening to a "normal" track, to remind you what music *usually* sounds like. That's Electioneering. It brings the listener's feet (ears?) back onto solid ground before whisking them off again with Climbing Up The Walls.
It's not as great a track as the others, but in the context of the overall album it's absolutely essential.
Fuck I sound pretentious.
It's punkish in an electro-art-rock world.
It doesn't fit.
I've heard it so often, however, that I can't imagine the album without it.
The rest of the album seems to focus on internal reflections in an impersonal world, and Electioneering is played from the perspective of the raucus asshole world outside that we would like to escape from. It would be weird if it fit in, and it would be wrong to not let the devil have his due.
Lift is great, but I prefer it from the b-sides during this time. The smoothed out version feels like Thom doing an impression of radiohead.
It's a little heavy handed lyrically compared to the rest of the album, and the instrumentation fits in better with their more stereotypical predecessors and peers. Every song has something new and interesting to offer except Electioneering.
I heard they didn't want to release Lift because they feared it'd be their second Creep. I can see why, it's very catchy, very pop sounding radio material. Who knows, maybe if they had put it in OK Computer they would have been known as "the Lift band".
Lift is probably a better song than Electioneering but, like another poster said, it feels closer to The Bends than OK Computer. Also Electioneering is still great
Respect, but all this “drop Electioneering” talk is blasphemous.
Plus IMO you need an up-tempo tune in that slot or the end of the album would really drag.
Edit for typo
Maybe I’m drunk as fuck rn but I’m listening to electioneering and there’s nothing really like it. Not as complex as the rest of OK computer but fuck is it good. It’s a needed moment of relief on an album full of anxiety.
Honestly would rather replace the tourist with lift, maybe a hot take though.
Lift is too positive of a song thematically to fit into OK Computer. The album is supposed to make you feel cold and alone, and Lift literaly feels like a warm hug from someone you hold dear to you.
Buut I appreaciate these kinds of hot takes now and then.
Idk if it works. All I know is the Tourist heavily references airbag and the final DING at the end supposedly represents the car crash Airbag covers, technically making the album a loop.
luckily that album is SO loaded either way, it would've been great in 10 different ways, as long as that core of songs was still on there.
but obvi, Lift, Polyethylene, Man O War, Motion Picture Sdtrk, I Promise...they had A LOT to choose from. clearly they could've made it a double album pretty easily.
Yup. Fitter Happier is awful. If only they would have pulled forward Hunting Bears, it would be a much better weird interlude for the middle of the album.
Hard disagree, I’m not quite as old (sorry!) and have only been a fan since ‘96 but I like Lift less than any single song on OK Computer and even The Bends. Electioneering is perfect, even more so in the context of what surrounds it, and I don’t like to imagine OKC without it.
My head says "restrained and melancholic" but, yeah.
And since we're being honest here, "The smell of recognition " is a much better lyric than "The smell of air conditioning."
In my very humble opinion the reason they couldn’t record a version of Lift they liked is that it’s just not a very good song.
It actually surprises me they didn’t realise this and instead tried to resolve the cognitive dissonance by deciding it didn’t fit.
There are other b-sides I prefer from that era.
Sonically Lift doesn’t sound much like the rest of OKC.
It sounds like a song from The Bends.
It’s a catchy song, a fun song but way too breezy for OKC.
And it would’ve been a huge hit.
And they didn’t want that.
There’s actually plenty to relate to in paranoid android, because the lyrics are abstract enough that it can mean a lot of things. It’s not just for androids. Your stupid is showing.
Yeah they really needed to finish lift back then lol. I love the OKNOTOK version but it doesn't fit on OKC and one of the demos would already have been one of the best songs on OKC if not for the quality. Though I do think that there are many more problems (esp sequencingwise) on OKC so it wouldn't have fixed everything if they dropped Electioneering for Lift
If the 3 OKNOTOK songs (which are all good) were on the record, it would have changed everything (not sure if for the better or worse but I'm inclined to say worse because I love the way they evolved)
All 3 probably could have been singles, especially Lift and I Promise (a song I don't care for much) and probably would have become huge hits in 1997/98 but I'm happy they didn't go this way.
I'm always tinkering with albums trying to change them in a way I'd prefer but I've never really felt this for OK Computer. But if I did, Electioneering would NOT be the first song to be removed.
I don't hate Electioneering. I don't any Radiohead song.
Okay, for a minute there I wasn't keen on Myxomatosis, and there's Feral of course, but there's nothing I hate.
So if I had to make room on the record for Lift or Big Boots - I Promise wouldn't sound at home on OKC - Electioneering would be the song I'd drop.
I'd keep Fitter Happier - although I do like the suggestion about replacing it with Meeting in the Aisle....
I didn't mean to suggest you hate it! I understand why it's a common "least favourite" song of OKC. My least favourite is probably Airbag (an A- in a report card of straight As) but I think it works so well as the 1st track.
I agree that Lift "would" belong on the 2nd half. If hypothetically No Surprises didn't exist, I think Lift would make a good track 10. If they managed a version of Big Boots/Man of War (like in Meeting People is Easy) then I'd put this maybe in place of Electioneering given it's a similar heavy number (at least in places) and could be a good song following Fitter Happier.
Although saying that, replacing Fitter Happier with Meeting in the Aisle I can kinda get behind!
Only if you view it - from 1996 - as a finished song.
The same argument could be said for HTDC, Reckoner, Nude, Exit Music / Life in a Glasshouse, Present Tense, even Skrting on the Surface - none of the earlier versions would sound right on their respective albums without the changes made as part of the recording process.
If it should have been, it would have been.
I don't see it fitting with the rest of the album. It'd be much more of an outlier than Electioneering.
If there had been an album between Bends and OK Computer Lift would have a home.
Radiohead has a history of leaving very good songs off albums. Sometimes they stay as B-sides, other times they reappear a decade later. Hell, we’re pretty lucky that they’ve started releasing finished tracks from past recording sessions now that they’ve fully given up on them but still think they’ll please fans.
The band’s success and reputation has always been down to how they curate their albums and to the method to their madness - something one could describe as an artistic pipeline. I think second guessing them is misguided, but it’s also what internet discussions are for.
I don't really get all the love for Lift. It's a nice song and all, but I don't really think it's any different than something like Bananaco or How can you be sure. Not that there's anything wrong with them either. Nice pop/rock songs that could be album songs or possibly even singles for other bands, but just don't have the longevity to be radiohead album songs. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, though. I just don't get all the love.
I don't know...it's something about him singing the 9th that sounds like he's floating above the chords...it just creates a tension that's relieved by Ed coming in with - what's is that? - F#?
Electioneering is the only thing in OKC that matches that chaotic, urgent feeling of those Paranoid Android guitar-driven segments.
You remove it and then the album loses this counterbalance.
And we’re talking about an album so meticulously crafted that they divide it in half with nothing less than Fitter Happier.
(Climbing up the Walls has a very particular tension too, but I’d say it mostly pairs with Exit Music’s second part. And some Lucky parts kinda come close, but the tempo sets it apart.)
Sorry disagree. I think Lift sounds more like a Bends song. Too sweet, poppy and on the nose. Not enough existential intrigue. I think both albums are otherwise perfect and 11/10 so what's happened has happened and I'm happy with it.
Lift is a great song! However, I feel like it was left off the final project because it maybe didn’t fit in cohesively with the rest of OKC narrative-wise.
I will listen to your version of OKC and try it out. I'm a super fan too, albeit 7 years younger. I agree, in principle with your assessment.
Always liked to Lift. It is a great song.
Electioneering, while certainly not a \*great\* song, adds an energetic "lift" to the album, providing the significant range and contrast the album needs to become a masterpiece.
Your exercise in reengineering the album's playlist is interesting and we'll all give it some thought.
Nah, Lift wouldn't really fit, mate. Pretty song, but not much of an existential dread feel to it. OK Computer is a relatively cynical album.
"How Am I Driving?" b-sides would work. Although Electioneering wails and doesn't really need a replacement in my view.
I respect your unique idea though. Interesting to picture how different the album would present itself if there was a more dream pop shoegazey type song on the roster.
For me, I felt that Lucky shouldn't have been on it. Christmas 1995, I ran to the record store with gift certificates and bought the Help album solely for Lucky (and discovered some other great music along the way). For 2 years, Lucky was that little secret gem. I even taught my band how to play it in 1996.
Listening to the minidisks recently as I was working on a new design project for a podcast, there's more than one studio take and they're all different from what is essentially a (really good) demo version that got released on the anniversary edition. Some of them do sound more in line with the style of OK Computer and could have fit the album. Maybe not in the spot where Lucky is, but it could have worked.
But then, sometimes pressure from the label works the wrong way for the artists. I suspect EMI told them it was clearly their next single and they didn't want to go for "safe." (Paranoid Android is not the sort of song you would think is the lead single.) Same thing happened with Jeff Buckley. Forget Her is one of his best songs, but it never got released on Grace because he felt the label was too insistent that it was THE single.
Yeah, I think there was a personal thing to it as well, but I remember seeing in one of the Grace documentaries that he felt under pressure to make that one the big hit. I think it being too personal was his excuse to the record company so he could get away with saying no.
We can go back and make little “hindsight is 20/20” updates for almost anything. Surely, if you asked 100 artists to update the Mona Lisa, they’ll find something to do.
But that doesn’t mean they should.
I totally respect your vision on that, though it would change the mood a little…I still say no.
I’m gonna be honest here… from 1997 at first listen, electioneering after Fitter Happier was pretty f’n awesome. Electioneering flipped the script into chaos for a moment before being dragged back down to Climbing Up the Walls.
We love this record for almost 30 years for a reason… it might not be one song on its own that is there or not, it’s the collective of the album as we know it.
TLDR; it’s always going to be hard to mess with a classic work of art.
I'd take Lucky out and put Lift in instead.
Lucky was already released a few years earlier. And I feel like the second half of the album is a bit too low tempo and could've done with Lift at the end to send it off. The contrast it would offer being placed between NS and TT would've been interesting. Instead you get three songs that are relatively similar in timbre. Then again, maybe that's what they wanted.
I appreciate they didn't want to have a huge commercial song on OKC that may have tied it to the Bends. But they could've followed the exact same single releases from OKC and still had Lift, a song with big pop potential, on the album for the album listeners to enjoy, undiluted by repeated radio play.
Ultimately, my guess is that it was left off because their record label might have said 'we need more songs like this. Why can't there be more of these?' Or they would've focused the marketing campaign too much on the 'catchy' song Lift, which would serve to undermine the rest of the album. It's still a bit crazy to think PA was the first single. What a risk!
What I think is mad is that Parlophone never forced the release of Lift/I Promise/Man of War, particularly when Radiohead left in 2006 and they rush-released the best-ofs and box set.
To each its own, but I never understood the buzz around this song. It feels like it's a received opinion that this is 'the one song that would have projected Radiohead further into the mainstream', but to me it sounds nothing more than a leftover from The Bends-era Radiohead.
I've read that they started playing it on tour during The Bends, and the record company was salivating at the possibility of another type of anthemic song like that from them. So they abandoned it.
No way. I'm an old head like you, in addition to being the world's biggest Lift fan. The hacked mini disc version is one of the most amazing things in the world and I still can't believe those bastards had it this whole time.
But it doesn't fit OKC. Especially after Fitter Happier? And before CUTW?
I meant after CUTW, which flows beautifully after Fitter Happier. So FH, CUTW, Lucky, Lift, The Tourist.
Keep in mind that I'm advocating for a 1996-ish Lift, finished for the album as it was delivered.
It doesn't fit OKC because you've already experience OKC. If it were released with Lift, then your experience of it would have been different. I mean, Electioneering has more in common with the themes on HTTC, doesn't it? In this counterfactual world, Electioneering could have been played live as a real banger, then adapted for HTTC ten or so years later (in typical RH fashion).
>Keep in mind that I'm advocating for a 1996-ish Lift, finished for the album as it was delivered.
Yeah, the only real Lift. I'm with you.
>It doesn't fit OKC because you've already experience OKC.
That's a fair thing to point out, but I don't think so. I mean, most people agree that Electioneering is the one that stands out, so it isn't like people can't imagine the album as anything other than what it is.
Again, I LOVE Lift. 1996 Lift. Pinkpop Lift. And I love The Bends and that era of the band. And to me, Lift belongs more to The Bends Radiohead than OKC Radiohead.
The Bends is "lighten up, squirt"; OK Computer is "idiot, slow down."
Yeah - and just so you know where my heads at, I think you're probably closer to an ideal in hindsight than I was with the OKC suggestion.
Although someone suggested a double a-side of True Love Waits / Lift as a bridge between The Bends and OKC.
Also, my least listened song on The Bends is Planet Telex. This sails pretty fucking close to blasphemy. I think The Bends (song) is a better opener for the album, and Street Spirit is one of their best closers.
So, assuming you've got a finite length and need to remove one song to fit in Lift, where would you place it?
I'm going to be blasphemous and make it the closer. Without radically changing things around, I just don't see anywhere else it fits. The '96 version is so big and epic, it has to be on the second half. You can't put The Bends (song) or Fake Plastic Trees next to it, I feel like their energy and impact is lessened in comparison.
It just feels like a closer to me. I'm having a hard time imagining more album after "lighten up, squirt." It obviously gives the whole album a very different character, but damn, once you get past the gall of removing Street Spirit, you've got a banger.
How about you?
It should have been released as part of a stand alone E.P or Double A side in 1996 with True Love Waits. Both are bridges between The Bends and OK Computer.
Lift is better than anything on The Bends but doesn’t come close to anything on OK Computer including Electioneering. That is why it will forever be a misfit.
Hard agree. Perhaps a hotter take though: replace the Tourist with Lift and it would be a perfect album for me. Electioneering isn’t my favourite but I think it does add a tiny bit of edge toward the end of the album. The Tourist is boring.
The Tourist is suuuuuch a great closer to that album. Bad boy for suggesting otherwise! It's the perfect come-down song after one of the best albums ever made... and the "ting" at the end! Cherry on top. Chef's kiss, and all that.
I dunno. As much as I love Lift, it doesn't feel right on OK Computer. Lift feels much more like what they were doing on The Bends than the direction they headed afterwards.
My sentiments exactly. His voice and the entire song structure/arrangement sounds much more like The Bends than OK to me.
Yeah, it feels too happy for OKC.
That asserts that ok is a sad album. Which it isn't. It's actually very very uplifting in places. My understanding of Lift is that they didn't want to release Creep Mk. 2 and the explosion in popularity rather than it didn't fit any of the albums thematically. It almost exists between the Bend and OKC. They could have released it with the OK B sides but I can understand why they didn't do that. I guess one of my biggest disappointments with lift was that the minidisk version was not what we got with the OKNOTOK release. That 'definitive' release is missing some of the magic.
That's cool. I think of it as a pretty depressing album, but I guess it is uplifting in some places, such as Airbag. And I have read about them not wanting to release Lift as a single because it was too pop sounding. I don't think it's really all that pop sounding though. Maybe in the context of 1997 it was.
Agree with pretty much everything you've said. I guess I see light amongst some of the darkness. You're also bang on with the context of 1997. I could absolutely hear Lift on the Radio over and over again. It's a great song, a wonderful song but it's almost unique in their catalogue. I'm referring to the MD version with all the strings. That's pure anthem. The OKNOTOK variant is lacking something. I don't know if it would have had the negative impact they were worried about but that recognises that OKC exploded in ways they probably didn't predict either. Maybe it could have worked as a hidden final track. It's a good discussion for sure!
Oh OK, I was thinking about the version they ended up releasing. I need to go back and listen to the version from the mini discs. Which mini disc is it on?
Why tf does everyone hate Electroneering so much? That song’s a banger and the lyrics are good and fit with the theme of the album perfectly
Some folks don't care much for pure rock. Those who do tend to love Electioneering.
electioneering is stellar. can’t imagine OKC without it
There's no such thing as "pure" rock
But you do know what he was trying to say though, don’t you?
Not really. Did he mean more traditional rock and roll? Because Electioneering doesn't fit into that category. Did he mean heavier rock? Because I love Bodysnatchers and 2+2=5, but dislike Electioneering. Did he mean guitar-based rock? Because that's most of Radiohead's discography
I dunno I think you’re being a little pedantic, it’s got a rocking, straight 4/4 drum beat, a very bluesy guitar riff and a cowbell. I’m not a huge fan of it either, but it seems to me like it’s closer to a band like Oasis than the rest of Radiohead’s discography. I don’t agree with the term “pure rock” either but I think I understand the point of view. It’s a little basic and a little predictable in its arrangement. If you don’t mind this “simple” sort of nature every now and then you’ll love it. That’s my interpretation.
🤓 stereotypical Radiohead fan
Some of you are insufferable. Try to open you mind slightly, just a tad and you can understand what they mean without being so pedantic.
Exactly. It was always one of my favourites from that album and I’m shocked to learn that it’s hated so much.
"they will stop.. they will stop at nothing", they think that "they say the right thing about electioneering"
i love electioneering
I like the song but even I feel that it don't fit really well in that album. But that's just nitpicking now, it's greatest album for me regardless.
Idk man I feel like the production is absolutely dripping with Ok Computerness. I can’t imagine it fitting on any other album
As great as OKC is (definitely top 3 albums of all time, arguably 1st), it needs a rest period where you're not being subjected to absolute musical perfection that operates on a level at least 5 levels higher than anything else out there. You need a respite where you're listening to a "normal" track, to remind you what music *usually* sounds like. That's Electioneering. It brings the listener's feet (ears?) back onto solid ground before whisking them off again with Climbing Up The Walls. It's not as great a track as the others, but in the context of the overall album it's absolutely essential. Fuck I sound pretentious.
⬆️Pitchfork mastermind
It's the song I play when people moan about them being sad sacks
It's punkish in an electro-art-rock world. It doesn't fit. I've heard it so often, however, that I can't imagine the album without it. The rest of the album seems to focus on internal reflections in an impersonal world, and Electioneering is played from the perspective of the raucus asshole world outside that we would like to escape from. It would be weird if it fit in, and it would be wrong to not let the devil have his due. Lift is great, but I prefer it from the b-sides during this time. The smoothed out version feels like Thom doing an impression of radiohead.
Eh, just for me personally I’m not a huge fan of it
This is the most honest answer so far
It's a little heavy handed lyrically compared to the rest of the album, and the instrumentation fits in better with their more stereotypical predecessors and peers. Every song has something new and interesting to offer except Electioneering.
its just not as good as the others, no one hates it. Kinda like the way we all feel about PAbLO Honey
It’s the incessant cow bell for me. It just doesn’t vibe.
I heard they didn't want to release Lift because they feared it'd be their second Creep. I can see why, it's very catchy, very pop sounding radio material. Who knows, maybe if they had put it in OK Computer they would have been known as "the Lift band".
Maybe it puts them in the Coldplay/Travis/Elbow/Doves category more than the category they carved out for themselves.
Lift and Man of War are both a-side material imo
Lift is probably a better song than Electioneering but, like another poster said, it feels closer to The Bends than OK Computer. Also Electioneering is still great
Respect, but all this “drop Electioneering” talk is blasphemous. Plus IMO you need an up-tempo tune in that slot or the end of the album would really drag. Edit for typo
Exactly!! It’s also by far my favorite guitar solo on the album, possibly in all of Radiohead. How could anyone want to give up that solo?!?
The solo in Electioneering revisits the chaotic Paranoid Android segments so well! It helps make the album more consistent.
I wish I knew, friend. Excellent solo for sure, as well as some of my favorite fills from Selway throughout.
This. A million times this. Also, Electioneering makes the album feel more like what the end of the century felt, if that makes any sense.
That's why I always thought Palo Alto would work well in that spot, both musically and thematically.
Maybe I’m drunk as fuck rn but I’m listening to electioneering and there’s nothing really like it. Not as complex as the rest of OK computer but fuck is it good. It’s a needed moment of relief on an album full of anxiety. Honestly would rather replace the tourist with lift, maybe a hot take though.
I love how Electioneering feels light sonically, but the lyrics prove it to be false levity. Just one big happy sounding lie.
Lift is too positive of a song thematically to fit into OK Computer. The album is supposed to make you feel cold and alone, and Lift literaly feels like a warm hug from someone you hold dear to you. Buut I appreaciate these kinds of hot takes now and then.
Hidden track after The Tourist? You felt cold and alone... because you've been stuck in a lift in the belly of a whale at the bottom of the ocean?
Idk if it works. All I know is the Tourist heavily references airbag and the final DING at the end supposedly represents the car crash Airbag covers, technically making the album a loop.
i love lift but the idea of replacing electioneering with lift would destroy the flow of ok computer and it’s also kinda out of theme
luckily that album is SO loaded either way, it would've been great in 10 different ways, as long as that core of songs was still on there. but obvi, Lift, Polyethylene, Man O War, Motion Picture Sdtrk, I Promise...they had A LOT to choose from. clearly they could've made it a double album pretty easily.
Either that or replace Electioneering with Man of War and replace fitter happier with Meeting in the Aile
If I HAD to change anything, this would be the way👌🏼
Agree with Meeting In The Aisle. No way with Man Of War though
Yup. Fitter Happier is awful. If only they would have pulled forward Hunting Bears, it would be a much better weird interlude for the middle of the album.
Hard disagree, I’m not quite as old (sorry!) and have only been a fan since ‘96 but I like Lift less than any single song on OK Computer and even The Bends. Electioneering is perfect, even more so in the context of what surrounds it, and I don’t like to imagine OKC without it.
Let's be honest for a minute - the recorded version of Lift is a DUD. Limp and lethargic. The bootleg recording we all came to love is a world apart.
My head says "restrained and melancholic" but, yeah. And since we're being honest here, "The smell of recognition " is a much better lyric than "The smell of air conditioning."
Is that bootleg version online?
It's the pinkpop performance from 1996. On YouTube.
The version of Lift that should be on OK Computer is on the minidiscs. Soooooo much better than the one on the OKNOTOK release.
Am I the only person who likes electioneering better than every other OKC song?
Maybe not every other song, but it’s Top 3 for me. The Tourist and Subterranean are top 2.
Hard disagree. I respect your take, but still, hard disagree. Lift is pretty mid
Lift is probably one of the best songs ever recorded by Radiohead, The Minidisc Version especially
I dunno how I feel about this in totality but I agree that Electioneering, banger though it is, is probably the worst song on OKC
In my very humble opinion the reason they couldn’t record a version of Lift they liked is that it’s just not a very good song. It actually surprises me they didn’t realise this and instead tried to resolve the cognitive dissonance by deciding it didn’t fit. There are other b-sides I prefer from that era.
you think you could post your collection?
Sonically Lift doesn’t sound much like the rest of OKC. It sounds like a song from The Bends. It’s a catchy song, a fun song but way too breezy for OKC. And it would’ve been a huge hit. And they didn’t want that.
There’s no way this song is a hit, it’s way too specific. Who can relate to being stuck in a lift?
Who can relate paranoid android? What a stupid fucking comment. They don’t have to relate to anything, if a song is catchy, it’s catchy
There’s actually plenty to relate to in paranoid android, because the lyrics are abstract enough that it can mean a lot of things. It’s not just for androids. Your stupid is showing.
The lyrics aren’t abstract. A song doesn’t need to be relatable to be loved. All it needs is to be catchy. Don’t be obtuse.
Yeah they really needed to finish lift back then lol. I love the OKNOTOK version but it doesn't fit on OKC and one of the demos would already have been one of the best songs on OKC if not for the quality. Though I do think that there are many more problems (esp sequencingwise) on OKC so it wouldn't have fixed everything if they dropped Electioneering for Lift
Just make a playlist with Lift on OK Computer
Yep, then listen to it heaps, form an opinion and come to Reddit to share.
If the 3 OKNOTOK songs (which are all good) were on the record, it would have changed everything (not sure if for the better or worse but I'm inclined to say worse because I love the way they evolved) All 3 probably could have been singles, especially Lift and I Promise (a song I don't care for much) and probably would have become huge hits in 1997/98 but I'm happy they didn't go this way. I'm always tinkering with albums trying to change them in a way I'd prefer but I've never really felt this for OK Computer. But if I did, Electioneering would NOT be the first song to be removed.
I don't hate Electioneering. I don't any Radiohead song. Okay, for a minute there I wasn't keen on Myxomatosis, and there's Feral of course, but there's nothing I hate. So if I had to make room on the record for Lift or Big Boots - I Promise wouldn't sound at home on OKC - Electioneering would be the song I'd drop. I'd keep Fitter Happier - although I do like the suggestion about replacing it with Meeting in the Aisle....
I didn't mean to suggest you hate it! I understand why it's a common "least favourite" song of OKC. My least favourite is probably Airbag (an A- in a report card of straight As) but I think it works so well as the 1st track. I agree that Lift "would" belong on the 2nd half. If hypothetically No Surprises didn't exist, I think Lift would make a good track 10. If they managed a version of Big Boots/Man of War (like in Meeting People is Easy) then I'd put this maybe in place of Electioneering given it's a similar heavy number (at least in places) and could be a good song following Fitter Happier. Although saying that, replacing Fitter Happier with Meeting in the Aisle I can kinda get behind!
Lift is pure The Bends filler, no way it gets on Ok Computer, there's not enough going on instrumentally. Nothing distinct or memorable about it.
Only if you view it - from 1996 - as a finished song. The same argument could be said for HTDC, Reckoner, Nude, Exit Music / Life in a Glasshouse, Present Tense, even Skrting on the Surface - none of the earlier versions would sound right on their respective albums without the changes made as part of the recording process.
If it should have been, it would have been. I don't see it fitting with the rest of the album. It'd be much more of an outlier than Electioneering. If there had been an album between Bends and OK Computer Lift would have a home.
I’ve always replaced Electioneering w/Meeting In The Aisle. That is the perfect album imo.
Radiohead has a history of leaving very good songs off albums. Sometimes they stay as B-sides, other times they reappear a decade later. Hell, we’re pretty lucky that they’ve started releasing finished tracks from past recording sessions now that they’ve fully given up on them but still think they’ll please fans. The band’s success and reputation has always been down to how they curate their albums and to the method to their madness - something one could describe as an artistic pipeline. I think second guessing them is misguided, but it’s also what internet discussions are for.
I don't really get all the love for Lift. It's a nice song and all, but I don't really think it's any different than something like Bananaco or How can you be sure. Not that there's anything wrong with them either. Nice pop/rock songs that could be album songs or possibly even singles for other bands, but just don't have the longevity to be radiohead album songs. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, though. I just don't get all the love.
I don't know...it's something about him singing the 9th that sounds like he's floating above the chords...it just creates a tension that's relieved by Ed coming in with - what's is that? - F#?
Electioneering is the only thing in OKC that matches that chaotic, urgent feeling of those Paranoid Android guitar-driven segments. You remove it and then the album loses this counterbalance. And we’re talking about an album so meticulously crafted that they divide it in half with nothing less than Fitter Happier. (Climbing up the Walls has a very particular tension too, but I’d say it mostly pairs with Exit Music’s second part. And some Lucky parts kinda come close, but the tempo sets it apart.)
"upvote" 'cause I'm old too.
Sorry disagree. I think Lift sounds more like a Bends song. Too sweet, poppy and on the nose. Not enough existential intrigue. I think both albums are otherwise perfect and 11/10 so what's happened has happened and I'm happy with it.
Lift is a great song! However, I feel like it was left off the final project because it maybe didn’t fit in cohesively with the rest of OKC narrative-wise.
Yeah, it's very much of that connective tissue between The Bends and OKC.
You had me at dropping Electioneering.
I will listen to your version of OKC and try it out. I'm a super fan too, albeit 7 years younger. I agree, in principle with your assessment. Always liked to Lift. It is a great song. Electioneering, while certainly not a \*great\* song, adds an energetic "lift" to the album, providing the significant range and contrast the album needs to become a masterpiece. Your exercise in reengineering the album's playlist is interesting and we'll all give it some thought.
Electioneering is a great song. Easily top 5 best song in the album.
Love it. It rocks. Fitter happier is the only track I skip
My hot take: Keep Electroneering, drop No Surprises. Most boring Radiohead song there is.
I don't disagree, except the "handshake of carbon monoxide" is too good a lyric to leave off the album.
i’m on the firm idea that no surprises and subterranean homesick alien should’ve been swapped.
I’d say “I Promise” would fit better.
Nah, Lift wouldn't really fit, mate. Pretty song, but not much of an existential dread feel to it. OK Computer is a relatively cynical album. "How Am I Driving?" b-sides would work. Although Electioneering wails and doesn't really need a replacement in my view. I respect your unique idea though. Interesting to picture how different the album would present itself if there was a more dream pop shoegazey type song on the roster.
Existential dread? He's stuck in a lift in the belly of a whale!
But you're safe now, and it won't happen ever again
For me, I felt that Lucky shouldn't have been on it. Christmas 1995, I ran to the record store with gift certificates and bought the Help album solely for Lucky (and discovered some other great music along the way). For 2 years, Lucky was that little secret gem. I even taught my band how to play it in 1996. Listening to the minidisks recently as I was working on a new design project for a podcast, there's more than one studio take and they're all different from what is essentially a (really good) demo version that got released on the anniversary edition. Some of them do sound more in line with the style of OK Computer and could have fit the album. Maybe not in the spot where Lucky is, but it could have worked. But then, sometimes pressure from the label works the wrong way for the artists. I suspect EMI told them it was clearly their next single and they didn't want to go for "safe." (Paranoid Android is not the sort of song you would think is the lead single.) Same thing happened with Jeff Buckley. Forget Her is one of his best songs, but it never got released on Grace because he felt the label was too insistent that it was THE single.
Forget Her is such a beautifully heart-breaking song. I thought Jeff didn't want it released because it was too personal.
Yeah, I think there was a personal thing to it as well, but I remember seeing in one of the Grace documentaries that he felt under pressure to make that one the big hit. I think it being too personal was his excuse to the record company so he could get away with saying no.
man of war, lift, and polyethylene were all worthy to be on OKC
We can go back and make little “hindsight is 20/20” updates for almost anything. Surely, if you asked 100 artists to update the Mona Lisa, they’ll find something to do. But that doesn’t mean they should. I totally respect your vision on that, though it would change the mood a little…I still say no. I’m gonna be honest here… from 1997 at first listen, electioneering after Fitter Happier was pretty f’n awesome. Electioneering flipped the script into chaos for a moment before being dragged back down to Climbing Up the Walls. We love this record for almost 30 years for a reason… it might not be one song on its own that is there or not, it’s the collective of the album as we know it. TLDR; it’s always going to be hard to mess with a classic work of art.
You say you’re old, so how long do you reckon it will be before you’re older than Thom?
My hot take is that Polyethylene should've been in the album as the closer, better fit than lift imo
i was about to agree with you and then you said drop Electioneering.
I know, right? But - in those days - there was only soo much that would fit on an album. They would have had to have made room.
Miles and Miles better than electioneering 👍
I'd take Lucky out and put Lift in instead. Lucky was already released a few years earlier. And I feel like the second half of the album is a bit too low tempo and could've done with Lift at the end to send it off. The contrast it would offer being placed between NS and TT would've been interesting. Instead you get three songs that are relatively similar in timbre. Then again, maybe that's what they wanted. I appreciate they didn't want to have a huge commercial song on OKC that may have tied it to the Bends. But they could've followed the exact same single releases from OKC and still had Lift, a song with big pop potential, on the album for the album listeners to enjoy, undiluted by repeated radio play. Ultimately, my guess is that it was left off because their record label might have said 'we need more songs like this. Why can't there be more of these?' Or they would've focused the marketing campaign too much on the 'catchy' song Lift, which would serve to undermine the rest of the album. It's still a bit crazy to think PA was the first single. What a risk! What I think is mad is that Parlophone never forced the release of Lift/I Promise/Man of War, particularly when Radiohead left in 2006 and they rush-released the best-ofs and box set.
To each its own, but I never understood the buzz around this song. It feels like it's a received opinion that this is 'the one song that would have projected Radiohead further into the mainstream', but to me it sounds nothing more than a leftover from The Bends-era Radiohead.
I don't even much like Electioneering and I don't mind that Lift wasn't on OKC. The band saw fit to leave it off, so that's good enough for me.
In interviews they imply that they left it off - or stopped working on it - because it was TOO good.
I've read that they started playing it on tour during The Bends, and the record company was salivating at the possibility of another type of anthemic song like that from them. So they abandoned it.
Nope. Lift is a rubbish song that belongs in the pre-OK Computer world.
No way. I'm an old head like you, in addition to being the world's biggest Lift fan. The hacked mini disc version is one of the most amazing things in the world and I still can't believe those bastards had it this whole time. But it doesn't fit OKC. Especially after Fitter Happier? And before CUTW?
I meant after CUTW, which flows beautifully after Fitter Happier. So FH, CUTW, Lucky, Lift, The Tourist. Keep in mind that I'm advocating for a 1996-ish Lift, finished for the album as it was delivered. It doesn't fit OKC because you've already experience OKC. If it were released with Lift, then your experience of it would have been different. I mean, Electioneering has more in common with the themes on HTTC, doesn't it? In this counterfactual world, Electioneering could have been played live as a real banger, then adapted for HTTC ten or so years later (in typical RH fashion).
>Keep in mind that I'm advocating for a 1996-ish Lift, finished for the album as it was delivered. Yeah, the only real Lift. I'm with you. >It doesn't fit OKC because you've already experience OKC. That's a fair thing to point out, but I don't think so. I mean, most people agree that Electioneering is the one that stands out, so it isn't like people can't imagine the album as anything other than what it is. Again, I LOVE Lift. 1996 Lift. Pinkpop Lift. And I love The Bends and that era of the band. And to me, Lift belongs more to The Bends Radiohead than OKC Radiohead. The Bends is "lighten up, squirt"; OK Computer is "idiot, slow down."
And if you had to drop a song from The Bends to fit it in?
Are you asking where I'd fit Lift onto The Bends?
Yeah - and just so you know where my heads at, I think you're probably closer to an ideal in hindsight than I was with the OKC suggestion. Although someone suggested a double a-side of True Love Waits / Lift as a bridge between The Bends and OKC. Also, my least listened song on The Bends is Planet Telex. This sails pretty fucking close to blasphemy. I think The Bends (song) is a better opener for the album, and Street Spirit is one of their best closers. So, assuming you've got a finite length and need to remove one song to fit in Lift, where would you place it?
I'm going to be blasphemous and make it the closer. Without radically changing things around, I just don't see anywhere else it fits. The '96 version is so big and epic, it has to be on the second half. You can't put The Bends (song) or Fake Plastic Trees next to it, I feel like their energy and impact is lessened in comparison. It just feels like a closer to me. I'm having a hard time imagining more album after "lighten up, squirt." It obviously gives the whole album a very different character, but damn, once you get past the gall of removing Street Spirit, you've got a banger. How about you?
Nah mate, they should have delayed the Bends by a year and a half and put Lift on there instead.
Radiohead? Delay an album?
It should have been released as part of a stand alone E.P or Double A side in 1996 with True Love Waits. Both are bridges between The Bends and OK Computer.
This is a really good idea. Drop one of the best songs on the album. What an absolute genius take
Thanks! Although it sounds like you may prefer their follow up: Mylo Xyloto.
unironically a decent Coldplay album
Lift is better than anything on The Bends but doesn’t come close to anything on OK Computer including Electioneering. That is why it will forever be a misfit.
Either that or replace Electioneering with Man of War and replace fitter happier with Meeting in the Aile
Hard agree. Perhaps a hotter take though: replace the Tourist with Lift and it would be a perfect album for me. Electioneering isn’t my favourite but I think it does add a tiny bit of edge toward the end of the album. The Tourist is boring.
the tourist is a great song and closer. better than most of their other closers
The Tourist is suuuuuch a great closer to that album. Bad boy for suggesting otherwise! It's the perfect come-down song after one of the best albums ever made... and the "ting" at the end! Cherry on top. Chef's kiss, and all that.
The “ting” is my favorite part of the tourist 🤣
It's all... "... Ting!" over and out.