The lyrical moods are quantitatively compared with the previous album, The Bends, and subsequent album, Kid A as a way of establishing if the lyrics of OK Computer address specific themes or are merely the continuing focal point of principal songwriter and lyricist Thom Yorke, often simplified as concerning alienation (Lampert, 2009)and anxiety (Hesselink, 2013). In terms of lyrics, a strong emphasis has been noted concerning the human body (Greif, 2009 Griffiths, 2004), and in this paper specialist computer assisted textual analysis software is used to interpret the mood of the lyrics in the album, objectively. This paper discusses ways in which those gaps can be filled, namely by focusing on the lyrics and artwork, including in the singles and associated ‘b-sides’ from the album and from the 1998 tour documentary Meeting People is Easy, rather than the music itself. Put another way, the concept is unclear, and it’s down to the listener to ‘fill gaps’ should they be so inclined. Though demonstrating elements of the narrative concept album, both musically and lyrically, the case is made that OK Computer can be more convincingly thought of as a resistant concept album – if at all. Does OK Computer have to be a concept album to be a good album? Letts (2005) identifies three types of concept album: narrative thematic and resistant. This invites analysis on what constitutes a concept album, the focus of this paper. Released thirty years later, Radiohead’s lauded third album OK Computer is also often thought of as a concept album – despite the band insisting that it is not.
Yet, there is widespread disagreement about both claims.
Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is often cited as a concept album, even the first concept album. ‘It Was Twenty Years Ago Today’: Is OK Computer a Concept Album?
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