Architecture, Music, Etc.

YALL CANT PICK UP DAT SHIT HERE CUZ ITS FAKE YALL. SORRY B.

Ugh.

“Sexy Sadie.” Yes, the chord progression to “Karma Police” is very nearly identical to that of the singular Beatles song; the band has acknowledged this. The fact that they took Lennon’s clever slam against Maharishi Yogi, the man whose religious standing was supposedly a façade to get women, and turned it into a screed against the British government, is, uh, audacious of them. 

And yes, it is specifically directed against the government. Yorke orders the karma police to arrest those that make him feel uncomfortable, whether they be a man that “buzzes like a fridge” (he is out of place in the public sphere) or a girl with a “Hitler hairdo” (she challenges societal norms in an almost innocuous way; who gives a shit if she happens to have a hairdo that resembles Hitler’s? It’s a clear overreaction). He uses the song satirically, to lambast the government for going after those it deems unsuitable in pursuit of a false utopia.

The song depends, musically, on interplay between guitar and piano. The drums are slow and plodding, but lighter percussion snakes along higher up in the mix to produce a sense of unease. Much like Interpol’s “Untitled,” the song employs a sliding guitar line to simulate the sound of a car rushing by. This is used to show the singer’s placement in society; he cannot move forward. He remains situated in one place.

Interestingly, this lends the song to be sympathetic to the man. After all, much of OK Computer beholds the conceit that those who resist change are simply beaten down by society out of horror or desperation. Therefore, we can conclude that the man is not “evil,” but has simply been transformed by modern society into a complete misanthrope. His ability to call the police on those he hates cements this idea: the government encourages his behavior.

Lyrics

Karma police, arrest this man 
He talks in maths 
He buzzes like a fridge 
He’s like a detuned radio 

Karma police, arrest this girl 
Her Hitler hairdo is 
Making me feel ill 
And we have crashed her party 

This is what you get 
This is what you get 
This is what you get when you mess with us 

Karma Police 
I’ve given all I can 
It’s not enough 
I’ve given all I can 
But we’re still on the payroll 

This is what you get 
This is what you get 
This is what you get when you mess with us 

And for a minute there, I lost myself, I lost myself 
And for a minute there, I lost myself, I lost myself 

For for a minute there, I lost myself, I lost myself 
For for a minute there, I lost myself, I lost myself 
Phew, for a minute there, I lost myself, I lost myself