Karma Police

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For the surveillance program, see Karma Police (surveillance program).

"Karma Police"
KarmaPolice.jpg
Single by Radiohead
from the album OK Computer
B-side
  • "Meeting in the Aisle"
  • "Lull"
Released25 August 1997
GenreAlternative rock[1]
Length4:24
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Radiohead singles chronology
"Paranoid Android"
(1997) 		"Karma Police"
(1997) 		"Let Down"
(1997)
Audio sample
Menu
0:00
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Music video
"Karma Police" on YouTube

"Karma Police" is a song by the English alternative rock band Radiohead, released as the second single from their third studio album OK Computer (1997) on 25 August 1997. It reached number 8 on the UK Singles Chart and 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.

Composition[]

"Karma Police" is in a 4
4 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...').[2] The second half (starting with the line "For a minute there") is in B minor.[3] Acoustic guitar and piano are the most prominent instruments.[4]

The song progresses from the intro into a mid-tempo section which alternates between two verses. The first verse begins with the line "Karma police", and the other 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.[5] In the final minute, Ed O'Brien distorts his guitar by driving a delay effect to self-oscillation, then turning the delay rate to a low frequency, creating a "melting" effect.[6]

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.[7] Yorke explained that the song was about stress and "having people looking at you in that certain [malicious] way".[8] He said: "It's for someone who has to work for a large company. This is a song against bosses. Fuck the middle management!"[9]

Yorke and Jonny Greenwood emphasised in interviews that the song was humorous and "not entirely serious".[8] 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.[10] "Karma Police" also shares themes of insanity and dissatisfaction with capitalism.[11]

Release and reception[]

"Karma Police" was released as the second single from OK Computer on 25 August 1997.[12] The song was released on three formats in the United Kingdom: two CD singles and a 12-inch vinyl single.[12] The single peaked at number eight on the UK Singles Chart.[13] In late March 2010, almost thirteen years after its initial single release, the song went to number fifteen on the Danish Singles Chart.[14] AllMusic referred to Karma Police as "haunting, mystifying, and exquisite", labelling it "one of the cornerstones of one of the greatest albums of the '90s."[5] Daily Record called it a "superb song".[15] Sunday Mirror commented, "Smiley boys make misery sound fun with a rock anthem about the chaps who maintain culinary standards in Indian takeaways."[16] Early versions of "Karma Police" were released on the 2019 compilation MiniDiscs [Hacked].[17]

Music video[]

Yorke in the 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)".[18] The video is shot from the perspective of the driver of a car pursuing a man along a dark road. Yorke sits 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 conceived the video for the 1997 Marilyn Manson 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.[18] After Manson rejected Glazer's concept, video commissioner Dilly Gent recommended it to Radiohead for "Karma Police".[18] According to Manson 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."[19]

Glazer said he wanted to "shoot something very simple ... Where the whole narrative could be contained within a single sentence."[18] The running man was played by Hungarian actor Lajos Kovács. Kovács 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 of lighting the book of matches behind his back.[18]

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".[20] 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.[21]

Track listings[]

All songs written by Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, Ed O'Brien, Colin Greenwood and Philip Selway.

Personnel[]

Charts[]

Certifications[]

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[43] Platinum 80,000double-dagger
Italy (FIMI)[44] Platinum 50,000double-dagger
United Kingdom (BPI)[45] Gold 400,000double-dagger

double-dagger Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References[]

  1. ^ Richin, Leslie (12 January 2017). "20 Alternative Rock Hits Turning 20 in 2017". Billboard. Retrieved 29 November 2018.
  2. ^ Philip, Selway; Jonathan, Greenwood; Thom, Yorke; Colin, Greenwood; Edward, O'Brien; Radiohead (20 October 2008). "Karma Police". Musicnotes.com. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  3. ^ Griffiths, 2004. p. 92.
  4. ^ Footman, 2007. p. 79
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b Huey, Steve. "Karma Police". allmusic.com. Retrieved 30 October 2010.
  6. ^ Randall 2000, p. 224
  7. ^ Sutherland, Mark (31 May 1997). "Return of the Mac!". Melody Maker.
  8. ^ Jump up to: a b Randall 2000, p. 223
  9. ^ Webb, Robert (15 September 2006). "Story Of The Song: 'Karma Police' Radiohead (1997)". The Independent. Accessed on 15 October 2008.
  10. ^ Footman 2007, p. 140
  11. ^ Footman 2007, pp. 144–147
  12. ^ Jump up to: a b "New Releases: Singles" (PDF). Music Week. 23 August 1997. p. 33. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  13. ^ Randall 2000, p. 248
  14. ^ "Radiohead - Karma Police (Song)". danishcharts.dk. Retrieved 30 October 2010.
  15. ^ "Chart Slot". Daily Record. 5 September 1997. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  16. ^ Sunday Mirror. 24 August 1997. p. 43. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
  17. ^ "Radiohead's 'OK Computer' demos reveal the makings of a masterpiece". NME | Music, Film, TV, Gaming & Pop Culture News. 13 June 2019. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  18. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e Dombal, Ryan (21 March 2017). "This is what you get: an oral history of Radiohead's "Karma Police" video". Pitchfork. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  19. ^ Moss, Corey (16 August 2004). "Without proper video planning, you wouldn't see Eminem naked". MTV News. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  20. ^ Tobias, Scott (4 April 2014). "Director Jonathan Glazer on Under The Skin's complex honesty". The Dissolve. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  21. ^ Indiewire; Indiewire (12 June 2001). "INTERVIEW: Shooting the "Beast"; Jonathan Glazer Tames the Gangster Genre". IndieWire. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  22. ^ Karma Police (UK CD1 liner notes). Radiohead. Parlophone. 1997. CDODATAS 03, 7243 8 84555 2 7.CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  23. ^ Karma Police (UK CD2 liner notes). Radiohead. Parlophone. 1997. CDNODATA 03, 7243 8 84556 2 6.CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  24. ^ Karma Police (UK 12-inch vinyl sleeve). Radiohead. Parlophone. 1997. 12NODATA 03.CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  25. ^ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988-2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
  26. ^ "Ultratop.be – Radiohead – Karma Police" (in Dutch). Ultratip. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
  27. ^ "Ultratop.be – Radiohead – Karma Police" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
  28. ^ "Radiohead Chart History (Canadian Digital Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  29. ^ "Danishcharts.com – Radiohead – Karma Police". Tracklisten. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
  30. ^ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 14 no. 37. 13 September 1997. p. 12. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  31. ^ "Radiohead: Karma Police" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
  32. ^ "Lescharts.com – Radiohead – Karma Police" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
  33. ^ "Íslenski Listinn NR. 236 Vikuna 28.8. '97 – 4.9. '97". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). 29 August 1997. p. 22. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
  34. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Karma Police". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  35. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Radiohead" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  36. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Radiohead – Karma Police" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
  37. ^ "Charts.nz – Radiohead – Karma Police". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
  38. ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  39. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
  40. ^ "Radiohead Chart History (Radio Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
  41. ^ "Radiohead Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
  42. ^ "Árslistinn 1997 – Íslenski Listinn – 100 Vinsælustu Lögin". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). 2 January 1998. p. 25. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  43. ^ "Canadian single certifications – Radiohead – Karma Police". Music Canada. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  44. ^ "Italian single certifications – Radiohead – Karma Police" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 2 December 2019. Select "2019" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Select "Karma Police" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Singoli" under "Sezione".
  45. ^ "British single certifications – Radiohead – Karma Police". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 29 March 2021.

Bibliography[]

External links[]

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