No Surprises
ocmcocmcocmk**no surprises.

k**no surprises.

a heart thats full up like a landfill. a job that slowly kills you.
bruises that wont heal.

you look so tired_nhappy. bring down the government. they dont.
theydontspeak for us.

ill take a quiet life. a handshake some carbon monoxide.+
no alarms and
no surprises. no alarms and no surprises. no alarms and no surprises
silent.
silent.

this is my final fit. my final bellyache. with
no alarms and no surprises. no alarms and no surprises.
no alarms and no surprises please.

sucha pretty house. such a pretty garden.
no alarms and no surprises. no alarms and no surprises.
no alarms and no surprises please.
version originale
21 mai 1997, OK Computer
12 janvier 1998, No Surprises
3:48
diverses reprises
26 juin 2001, Anyone Can Play Radiohead
Paige
3:46
23 octobre 2001, Strung Out
3:57
Ari Hest, live Blah Blah
4:08
?, Keeper Of The Flame
Luka Bloom
3:03

Thom a présenté cette chanson aux quatre autres et aux membres de R.E.M. dans les coulisses à Oslo, le 3 août 1995, lors de leur tournée commune. La première version, jouée en soundcheck, avait des paroles très différentes, voyez à droite. 

He was sick
of his clock stopping
Wind it up
That girl said sleeping next to him 
The watch stops, the batteries run down 
He started his broken sentence
No alarms...

The watch stops,
the batteries run down, 
He started his broken sentence

No alarms and no surprises

He was sick of her excuses 
To not take off her dress when
Bleedin' in the bathroom 

He was sick
of his clock stopping
Wind it up
No alarms and no surprises
No alarms and no surprises
No alarms and no surprises, please

C'est la première chanson enregistrée d'OK Computer, de la première prise du premier jour d'enregistrement aux studios d'Oxford, Canned Applause. Inspirée librement de Sad and Beautiful World de Sparklehorse, elle a été inaugurée en décembre 1995 dans une version acoustique appelée No Surprises Please; elle sonnait très différemment. Depuis, la partie de Jonny au xylophone a été rajoutée, et la chanson parait plus joyeuse (enfin, ce n'est pas de la musette non plus...). Thom maintient toujours que ça ne parle pas de suicide (et pourtant, vous avez vu le clip ?).

Colin
We'd like it to be a single at some point but we're not making any promises. We are the New Labour of Rock, after all.
 

À sa sortie comme troisième single d'OK Computer, les dirigeants de Parlophone ont dit qu'il serait "facilement numéro un".

Thom
The first song we recorded - that, erm, haunting, child-like guitar sound set the mood for the whole album. We were going for that 'Pet Sounds' vibe.
Select, juillet 1997
Thom
I spent a lot of time trying not to do voices like mine. The voices on Karma Police, Paranoid Android and Climbing up the Walls are all different personas. I think Lucky, the lyric and the way it's sung, is really positive, really exciting. No Surprises is someone who's trying hard to keep it together but can't. Electioneering is a preacher ranting in front of a bank of microphones.
a heart that
is full up like a landfill
a job that slowly kills you
bruises that won't heal

you look so
tired and unhappy
bring down the government they don't
they don't speak for us

i'll take
a quiet life. a handshake
some carbon
monoxide

no alarms and no surprises
no alarms and no surprises
no alarms and no surprises
silent
silent

this is
my final fit
my final bellyache with
no alarms and no surprises
no alarms and no surprises
no alarms and no surprises please

such a pretty house
such a pretty garden
no alarms and no surprises
no alarms and no surprises
no alarms and no surprises please.
Phil
With No Surprises, we just said we have that very first take and then we thought, "Well, you know, it can't be that!" So we went on and filled three reels of tape with different versions of No Surprises and eventually came back to the very first one.
Colin
No Surprises is our 'stadium-friendly' song. The idea was: First frighten everyone with Climbing Up The Walls and then comfort them again with a popsong with a chorus that sounds like a lullaby.
Scare the living daylights out of 'em, then soothe their brow: that's the Radiohead way.
 
listereprises

clip
enregistrement
Canned Applause
équipement mobile
production
Nigel Godrich
ingénieur
Nigel Godrich
mixage
Mayfair, Abbey Road, Air Lyndhurst, Courtyard
and the church using the wonders of a digital and analog age
master
Chris Blair
Abbey Road