Editing OK Computer (section)

===Lyrics===
The album's lyrics, written by Yorke, are more abstract compared to his personal, emotional lyrics for ''The Bends''. Critic [[Alex Ross (music critic)|Alex Ross]] said the lyrics "seemed a mixture of overheard conversations, [[technobabble|techno-speak]], and fragments of a harsh diary" with "images of [[riot control|riot police]] at political rallies, anguished lives in tidy suburbs, [[yuppie]]s freaking out, sympathetic aliens gliding overhead."{{sfn|Ross|2010|p=88}} Recurring themes include transport, technology, insanity, death, modern British life, [[globalisation]] and [[anti-capitalism]].{{sfn|Footman|2007|pp=142–150}} Yorke said: "On this album, the outside world became all there was&nbsp;... I'm just taking [[instant camera|Polaroids]] of things around me moving too fast."<ref>
{{citation
 | first = Mark
 | last = Sutherland
 | title = Rounding the Bends
 | date = 24 May 1997
| magazine = [[Melody Maker]]
}}</ref> He told ''Q'': "It was like there's a secret camera in a room and it's watching the character who walks in—a different character for each song. The camera's not quite me. It's neutral, emotionless. But not emotionless at all. In fact, the very opposite."<ref name="SUTCLIFFE">
{{citation
 | first = Phil
 | last = Sutcliffe
 | title = Death is all around
 | date = 1 October 1997
| magazine = [[Q (magazine)|Q]]}}</ref> Yorke also drew inspiration from books, including [[Noam Chomsky]]'s political writing,<ref name="SAKAMOTO">{{citation
 | last = Sakamoto
 | first = John
 | author-link = John Sakamoto
 | title = Radiohead talk about their new video
 | magazine = [[Jam!]]
 | date = 2 June 1997
}}</ref> [[Eric Hobsbawm]]'s ''[[The Age of Extremes]]'', [[Will Hutton]]'s ''The State We're In'', [[Jonathan Coe]]'s ''[[What a Carve Up! (novel)|What a Carve Up!]]'' and [[Philip K. Dick]]'s ''[[VALIS]]''.<ref name=LYNSKEYq>{{citation
 | first = Dorian
 | last = Lynskey
 | title = Welcome to the Machine
 | date = February 2011
 | magazine = [[Q (magazine)|Q]]|ref=none}}</ref>

The songs of ''OK Computer'' do not have a coherent narrative, and the album's lyrics are generally considered abstract or oblique. Nonetheless, many musical critics, journalists, and scholars consider the album to be a [[concept album]] or [[song cycle]], or have analysed it as a concept album, noting its strong thematic cohesion, aesthetic unity, and the structural logic of the song sequencing.<ref group="nb">Conversely, other critics have also argued that ''OK Computer'' is a concept album only in part, or in a nontraditional or qualified sense, or is ''not'' a concept album at all. See [[#CITEREFLetts2010|Letts 2010]], pp. 28–32</ref> Although the songs share common themes, Radiohead have said they do not consider ''OK Computer'' a concept album and did not intend to link the songs through a narrative or unifying concept while it was being written.<ref name="Request">{{citation
 | first = Sandy
 | last = Masuo
 | title = Subterranean Aliens
 | date = September 1997
 | magazine = Request
}}</ref><ref name="WADSWORTH">{{citation|first=Tony|last=Wadsworth|title=The Making of OK Computer|date=20 December 1997|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref>{{sfn|Letts|2010|pp=32}} Jonny Greenwood said: "I think one album title and one computer voice do not make a concept album. That's a bit of a red herring."{{sfn|Clarke|2010|p=124}} However, the band intended the album to be heard as a whole, and spent two weeks ordering the track list. O'Brien said: "The context of each song is really important&nbsp;... It's not a concept album but there is a continuity there."<ref name="WADSWORTH"/>