Radiohead signed to EMI in 1991 and released their debut album, Pablo Honey, in 1993; their debut single, "Creep", became a worldwide hit. Radiohead's popularity and critical standing rose with the release of The Bends in 1995. Radiohead's third album, OK Computer (1997), brought them international fame; noted for its complex production and themes of modern alienation, it is acclaimed as a landmark record and one of the best albums in popular music.
Radiohead's fourth album, Kid A (2000), marked a dramatic change in style, incorporating influences from electronic music, jazz, classical music and krautrock. Though Kid A divided listeners, it later attracted wide acclaim. It was followed by Amnesiac (2001), recorded in the same sessions. Hail to the Thief (2003), with lyrics addressing the War on Terror, was Radiohead's final album for EMI.
Radiohead self-released their seventh album, In Rainbows (2007), as a download for which customers could set their own price, to critical and chart success. Their eighth album, The King of Limbs (2011), an exploration of rhythm, was developed using extensive looping and sampling. A Moon Shaped Pool (2016) prominently featured Jonny Greenwood's orchestral arrangements. Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, Selway, and O'Brien have released solo albums; in 2021, Yorke and Jonny Greenwood debuted a new band, the Smile.
By 2011, Radiohead had sold more than 30 million albums worldwide. Their awards include six Grammy Awards and four Ivor Novello Awards, and they hold five Mercury Prize nominations, the most of any act. Seven Radiohead singles have reached the top 10 on the UK Singles Chart: "Creep" (1992), "Street Spirit (Fade Out)" (1996), "Paranoid Android" (1997), "Karma Police" (1997), "No Surprises" (1998), "Pyramid Song" (2001), and "There There" (2003). "Creep" and "Nude" (2008) reached the top 40 on the US Billboard Hot 100. Rolling Stone named Radiohead one of the 100 greatest artists of all time, and Rolling Stone readers voted them the second-best artist of the 2000s. Five Radiohead albums have been included in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time lists. Radiohead were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019.
Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiohead
Studio albums
Pablo Honey (1993)
The Bends (1995)
OK Computer (1997)
Kid A (2000)
Amnesiac (2001)
Hail to the Thief (2003)
In Rainbows (2007)
The King of Limbs (2011)
A Moon Shaped Pool (2016)
Pearly
Radiohead Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Get your
Teeth so
Pearly?
Dew-drop
Dentures
Whitewashed
FacesShe runs from
The third world, pearly
Vanilla (feel it crawl to me)
Milkshakes (crawl back again)
From Hard Rock (whatever you say)
Cafes (it won't go away)
That's where (I feel it crawl to me)
She got her (crawls back again)
Sweet tooth (it won't go away)
For white boys (whatever you say)
She runs from
The third world, pearly
Hurts me
Darling hurts me
Darling hurts me
Darling hurts me
The lyrics to Radiohead's song Pearly suggest a commentary on societal and cultural expectations surrounding beauty and race. The song begins with the question "How'd you get your teeth so pearly?" which serves as a metaphor for the privileged whiteness that the subject embodies. The lyrics then suggest that this whiteness is a mask that is whitewashing the faces of those who seek to emulate it. The use of dew-drop dentures and sweet tooth for white boys are direct references to the amoral attempts of non-white individuals to assimilate into a society that privileges whiteness, despite the knowledge that it is enmeshed in structural racism.
The chorus of "She runs from the third world, pearly" captures a sense of both the desire to escape from oppressive conditions while also pointing out the privilege of the white world she is running to. These lyrics suggest a commentary on beauty and race that supports the idea that a person's beauty is determined by Eurocentric standards, and those who do not fit into those standards are subject to constant pressure to conform. The lyrics Hurts me, Darling hurts me, Darling hurts me use repetition to express the pain and harm that societal expectation can inflict on an individual.
Line by Line Meaning
How'd you
How did you
Get your
Obtain your
Teeth so
Your teeth look so
Pearly?
White and shiny?
Dew-drop
Small drops of fresh morning dew
Dentures
The set of teeth that are either natural or artificial
Whitewashed
Whiten with some sort of solution or paint on the surface
Faces
Just faces
She runs from
She escaped from the dire conditions of
The third world, pearly
A developing country where people struggle to make ends meet and live in poverty, but she managed to get out of there
Vanilla (feel it crawl to me)
The feeling of something slowly moving toward me, like vanilla flavor
Milkshakes (crawl back again)
And then retreat slowly like milkshakes
From Hard Rock (whatever you say)
Even from a place like Hard Rock Café and
Cafes (it won't go away)
in any cafes, The feeling of something crawling towards her won't go away
That's where (I feel it crawl to me)
That's where she experiences this sensation of crawling towards her like an unpleasant force
She got her (crawls back again)
She keeps experiencing this, and then it goes away only to return again
Sweet tooth (it won't go away)
She has an insatiable craving that won't stop
For white boys (whatever you say)
She has this craving to be loved by white men (despite whatever others may say)
She runs from
She escapes from the dire conditions of
The third world, pearly
The same developing country where white men are more likely to be found
Hurts me
It causes me pain
Darling hurts me
Even though she calls ('Darling'), it still hurts her
Darling hurts me
It's extremely painful when he isn't there anymore
Darling hurts me
Even though I call out ('darling'), it still hurts me deeply
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: COLIN CHARLES GREENWOOD, EDWARD JOHN O'BRIEN, JONATHAN RICHARD GUY GREENWOOD, PHILIP JAMES SELWAY, THOMAS EDWARD YORKE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Me me
on No Surprises
The way i interpret the lyrics: ; Once excitement of youthful perspective,, hopes, dreams are broken, into an almost nihilistic acceptance of patterns world, we coast,….. become a part of the dull hum we swore we never would become part of. Time pulls us forward, wears and tears until we accept. Can not fight against the current yet knowing we swore we would never.
no
on Radio Head - no surprises
heylo aaa