EVERYTHING IN ITS RIGHT PLACE

"'Everything in Its Right Place'" is a song by the band Radiohead. It first appeared as the opening track on their 2000 album ''Kid A''.
The song was written late one night by singer/guitarist Thom Yorke on a piano at home. According to Yorke, "I bought a piano for my house, a proper nice one - a baby grand. And this was the first thing I wrote on it. And I'm such a shit piano player. I remember this Tom Waits quote from years ago, that what keeps him going as a songwriter is his complete ignorance of the instruments he's using. So everything's a novelty. That's one of the reasons I wanted to get into computers and synths, because I didn't understand how the fuck they worked. I had no idea what ADSR meant."^[1]
The recording was largely finished in another night by Yorke together with drummer Phil Selway and producer Nigel Godrich. The final composition featured neither guitar, piano, nor drums, but electric piano, drum machine and computer manipulations of Yorke's voice. Another distinguishing feature was its marriage of an unconventional time signature (10/4) to a dance/house groove. The feel of the song, especially when played live, has been seen as akin to house music and minimal techno due to its keyboard part, which plays an ascending chord sequence in a syncopated rhythm, alongside a steady, synthetic bass drum.
Though not all band members contributed directly to the sound, all are credited equally on the track, as always. Thom Yorke and guitarist Ed O'Brien have both cited "Everything in Its Right Place" as the moment their frustrations with a year of contentious recording sessions began to give way, and they felt they were actually getting somewhere with their experimental approach, which had initially been worrisome to O'Brien. After the completion of the song in early 2000, the album was finished in only a few more months in an atmosphere of greater cooperation and understanding between Yorke and the other band members. Thus it formed a natural opening track for ''Kid A'', the first album compiled from these recording sessions.
Yorke is reported to have written this song in the shadow of their 1997-1998 ''OK Computer'' tour. Specifically, as he recalled in an interview, it was their show in Birmingham, England that affected him the most, as he was beginning to fully realize the band's sudden and unexpected fame. Yorke reportedly left the stage for his dressing room, feeling burned out and helpless.
The line, "Yesterday I woke up sucking a lemon," apparently refers to the face one makes in reaction to a lemon's sourness. Yorke revealed in an interview that while promoting ''OK Computer'', he was told he frequently exhibited a sour-faced look. Other lyrics are said to have been drawn randomly from a hat in a process inspired by artist Tristan Tzara, whose instructions for "How to make a Dada poem" appeared on Radiohead's website at this time.
The electronic sound and abstract, repeated lyrics of "Everything in Its Right Place" came as a shock to many listeners, introducing Radiohead's change in musical style on ''Kid A''. No singles were taken from ''Kid A'', but Yorke has since said he regrets not releasing "Everything in Its Right Place" as lead single for the album.
The song continues to be played in an extended more rave-like version at nearly every Radiohead concert. Live performances feature Thom Yorke singing and playing keyboard, Colin Greenwood playing bass and guitarists Jonny Greenwood and Ed O'Brien doing live manipulations of the vocal part. Jonny uses an effects pedal (the KORG Kaoss Pad) that changes Yorke's vocals, while O'Brien usually samples Thom's keyboard to create a loop, and he will often use a Whammy Bar for pitch effects. Phil Selway starts the song off with a shaker (that looks strangely like a lemon), and eventually picks up a snare drum beat. O'Brien sometimes samples the drum too. As the song nears its end, band members file offstage one by one until the stage is empty, but their sampled performances continue. It has often been Radiohead's set closer, or closed the main set before encores. A version can be found on the band's 2001 album ''I Might Be Wrong: Live Recordings''.
Another aspect of the live performance is the fact that sometimes another song segues into it. Yorke will sing a portion of something over the keyboard drone before the song begins. In 2001 he referenced the Manics' "If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next", 2003 saw Neil Young's "After the Gold Rush" played before it, and in 2006 unrecorded Radiohead fan favourites "True Love Waits" and "Follow Me Around" were sometimes played before.

Contents

Remixes and re-interpretations

Trivia

References

Remixes and re-interpretations

"Everything in Its Right Place" has been covered by other artists working in various musical genres. Club remixes were created by Paul Oakenfold and Josh Wink, among others. Classical pianist Christopher O'Riley and jazz pianist Brad Mehldau have both recorded interpretations in their styles. Jazz pianist Robert Glasper has recorded versions of the song melded with Herbie Hancock's jazz standard "Maiden Voyage" on two separate occasions. Hip-hop band The Roots have performed the song live on various occasions with Bilal or Osunlade, the latter of whom contributed his own dance-friendly version with Erro (Eric Roberson) to a 2006 Radiohead tribute album. Thom Yorke himself has altered the song by playing it live occasionally on solo piano in sessions for radio stations and for Neil Young's Bridge School Benefit in 2002, stripping away the electronic soundscape and emphasizing the haunting melody.

Trivia

★ "Everything in Its Right Place" was appropriated for the opening of the 2001 film ''Vanilla Sky'' starring Tom Cruise and Penélope Cruz and also appears on its soundtrack. In fact the title of the first chapter in the DVD chapter selection is "Everything in its Right Place". Also during the movie, while Tom Cruise is driving in his car he asks co-star Jason Lee what band he would like to listen to, pulls out a tape and says "Radiohead?" just before he is about to get in a crash. Director Cameron Crowe and his cast were enamored of ''Kid A'' during the filming and played it during scenes to get into character.^[2]

★ "Everything in Its Right Place" was the opening song to the psychedelic planetarium feature ''SonicVision'', organized by Moby. It is played in the opening, as viewers enter a spaceship and are launched into the stars.

References

1. http://radiohead1.tripod.com/songs/album/everything.htm
2. http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2002/01/24/cameron_crowe_vanilla_sky_interview.shtml