Discover the story of the song > No Surprises – Radiohead

- No Surprises is the third single from Radiohead's 1997 album OK Computer.
- The song is recognizable by its soft electric guitar riff played by Ed O'Brien and the use of Jonny Greenwood's glockenspiel.
- The quiet, melodic atmosphere of the song contrasts with Thom Yorke's sad, resigned lyrics.
- These lyrics deal with the complexity of modern life and the desire for a simpler, quieter life.
- The video for No Surprises (directed by Grant Gee) shows a still shot of the band's lead singer, Thom Yorke, whose head is enclosed in a plastic jar that gradually fills with water until it is completely submerged.
- Yorke spends 57 seconds with his head underwater until the jar empties and he begins to sing again, with a slight ironic smile.
- This scenario seems to illustrate the words of the song's narrator, who gradually collapses under the weight of an exhausting life.
- Finally, the moment when the jar empties and Thom Yorke begins to sing again seems to illustrate the calmer, happier life described in the last verse.
- This interpretation attributes to the narrator the thesis of suicide, which Thom Yorke has always denied.
- In the documentary Meeting People Is Easy, also directed by Grant Gee, we can see images of the shooting of this video, made by speeding up the soundtrack so that Thom Yorke spends less time with his head submerged in water.