� Polyethylene (parts 1 & 2) 4:21

 
Originally released: May 1997

Available on: Airbag/How Am I Driving? (EP), Paranoid Android (single)

 
go

tears of joy now scare ourselves of all that you want to be
just got paid and now you're going, how inside you please
if i get scared I'll just call you and I'll miss your glow as I unsettle
oh, and I'll always feel, I will always be

right, one, two, three, four

so sell your suit and tie and come and live with me
leukemia schizophrenia polyethylene
there is no significant risk to your health
she used to be beautiful once as well

plastic bag, middle class, polyethylene
decaffeinate, unleaded, keep all surfaces clean
if you don't believe this, sell your soul
if you don't get into it, no one will

 

This opens as a short acoustic number (part 1) before blowing up into an incredible rock song. Recorded at Radiohead's Bath studios along with the rest of OK Computer, this song very nearly made it on to the album. The lyrics perpetuate Thom's health fixation, but the actual meaning of the song isn't clear. There is much debate about the actual words in Part One, and when questioned, Thom just laughed and said he couldn't actually remember.