Line #37 Music/PabloHoney


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1_pablo_honey.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:''"What the hell am I doing here?"'']]
3
4	->''"You are''
5	->''The sun and moon''
6	->''And stars are you''
7	->''And I could never run away''
8	->''From you."''
9	-->-- '''"You"'''
10
11	''Pablo Honey'', released in 1993 through Creator/ParlophoneRecords in the UK and Creator/CapitolRecords in the US, is the debut studio album by English AlternativeRock group Music/{{Radiohead}}.
12
13	Coming out nearly a decade after the band's initial formation as On a Friday in 1985 (owing to the fact that it took 6 years for the band to snag a record deal), it stands as perhaps one of the most conspicuous cases of EarlyInstallmentWeirdness by a British alternative band since Music/DepecheMode put out ''Music/SpeakAndSpell''. Rather than being a melancholic, experimental effort commenting on sociopersonal decay, economic malaise, and/or political corruption, ''Pablo Honey'' is an introspective affair that wears its {{grunge}} and [[AlternativeRock alt-rock]] influences on its sleeve -- and across the whole damn shirt for that matter.
14
15	''Pablo Honey'' was supported by three singles: "Creep", "Anyone Can Play Guitar", and "Stop Whispering". Of these three, "Creep" acted as a brief BreakthroughHit for Radiohead, catapulting them into the mainstream and by vocalist Thom Yorke's admission fueling the sheer egotism the band suffered from while promoting the album.
16
17	!!Tracklist:
18	# "You" (3:29)
19	# "Creep" (3:56)
20	# "How Do You?" (2:12)
21	# "Stop Whispering" (5:26)
22	# "Thinking About You" (2:41)
23	# "Anyone Can Play Guitar" (3:38)
24	# "Ripcord" (3:10)
25	# "Vegetable" (3:13)
26	# "Prove Yourself" (2:25)
27	# "I Can't" (4:13)
28	# "Lurgee" (3:08)
29	# "Blow Out" (4:40)
30
31	!!''Here we are, with our troping and confusion'':
32	* AlbumTitleDrop: A barely audible one appears in the song "How Do You?"-- the album was named after part of a PrankCall by the comedy group The Jerky Boys, and the relevant quote ("Pablo, honey? Please come to Florida!") appears as SpokenWordInMusic near the end of the song.
33	* AudienceParticipationSong: "Creep" has been a rather big one on the occasions Radiohead have performed it, largely owing to its popularity.
34	* {{Bowdlerise}}: The radio edit of "Creep" replaces the "so fucking special" with "so very special".
35	* CaptainErsatz: Thom Yorke was [[https://i.redd.it/pm3rtqxhvsc21.jpg a dead-ringer]] for Music/KurtCobain during the era surrounding this album, with bleached-blonde mop-top hair and an "acidic rebel" image consciously lifted from the reluctant Seattle zeitgeist-leader.
36	* CarefulWithThatAxe: In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXUBE_wiPtU this]] ''memorable'' live performance of "Anyone Can Play Guitar," at the second verse Thom takes the "anywhere" in the "and I don't see no confusion anywhere" line and ''screams'' it, before just violently screaming at the camera. The zooms on his face don't help.
37	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: This is probably the weirdest album Radiohead ever put out in that it's not weird at all; likewise for ''Drill'', the 1992 EP before it. The only song on ''Pablo Honey'' that bears a resemblance to what Radiohead would become better known for is the closing track, "Blow Out", which the band as a whole consider to be its high point (it's the only song from the album besides "Creep" that has been performed live since 2003).
38	* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: To this day, the album has no [[https://www.riaa.com/resources-learning/pal-standards/ Parental Advisory]] sticker on it, despite being widely distributed AND bearing an incredibly famous and explicit lead single.
39	* {{Grunge}}: Compared to the prog-lite alternative rock of Radiohead's later output, ''Pablo Honey'' is a straight dive into the sound of Seattle.
40	* InsecureLoveInterest: "Creep," which proved that {{stalker\|WithACrush}}s can be insecure, too.
41	-->"You're so fucking special / I wish I was special."
42	* InternalizedCategorism: "Creep" is narrated by someone filled with self-loathing thanks to their perception of themselves as, well a creep and a weirdo, believing that they don't belong where they are. This is in turn contrasted with the verses, which show them drunkenly stalking a beautiful girl from afar.
43	* IncrediblyLongNote: The bridge of "Creep" ends with several ("She runs, run, run, RUUUUUUUUUUN!"), but it gets even more impressive with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2M9aeMBV1w one very memorable live performance]].
44	* LargeHam: Performances during this era tended to be rather... over the top. Special notice goes to the infamous MTV Beach House 1993 performance, where Thom repeatedly belted his lungs out and threw himself into a swimming pool, almost drowning because of his heavy Doc Martens. While attempting to drag himself out of the water, he also came close to grabbing a live wire.
45	* MasturbationMeansSexualFrustration: "Thinking About You" is about the singer longing for a woman that he used to be close with, but they drifted apart when she became a famous star. The lyrics heavily imply he's masturbating in bed as he thinks about her.
46	* MyGreatestFailure: If not ''Music/HailToTheThief'', this album tends to get this reputation among the band (save for Jonny Greenwood, who considers it underrated).
47	* ObsessionSong: "Creep". According to Thom Yorke, it's about a drunk guy following around a woman he's attracted to, lacking the self-confidence to actually approach her. However, many listeners think it's a straightforward unrequited-love song from the perspective of a guy with self-esteem issues... which is perfectly reasonable from the lyrics themselves, ''except'' that it provides no explanation for the line "she's running out the door", making it a bit of a BreadEggsMilkSquick. In fairness, that's the least intelligible part of the song, so a lot of people probably didn't even know that's what he was saying. Going by the "unrequited love song from the POV of a guy with self-esteem issues" interpretation, "she's running out the door" could mean that said guy attempted to admit his feelings but only succeeded in scaring her.
48	* NonAppearingTitle: "Lurgee"
49	* OneWordTitle: "You", "Creep", "Ripcord", "Vegetable", "Lurgee".
50	* RearrangeTheSong: "You", "Thinking About You", and "Prove Yourself" are all re-recordings of songs from the 1992 EP ''Drill''; the one other song on it, "Stupid Car", was not re-recorded for this album for reasons unknown. While "You" is relatively unchanged between the 1992 and 1993 versions, the re-recordings of "Thinking About You" and "Prove Yourself" are noticeably different, the former changing from an Music/ElvisCostello-inspired NewWaveMusic song into an acoustic ballad and the latter featuring multi-tracked vocals instead of processed ones during the chorus.
51	* RockStarSong: Satirized on "Anyone Can Play Guitar", which mocks the "rock star" image and mythos; particular ire is given towards the lingering influence of Music/TheDoors and the constant pressure for rock musicians to draw from frontman Jim Morrison. Unlike most of ''Pablo Honey''[='s=] stylistic trademarks, the distaste towards rock idolization would stick throughout Radiohead's lifetime, and it would serve as an influence on the electronic direction of ''Music/KidA'' in 2000.
52	* SmallNameBigEgo: Thom has come to view the band's behavior during this album's era as this, being at a time when the success of "Creep" made them feel like they were on top of the world despite the fact that A) they had only one hit single by that point, and B) it was their ''debut'' single, with plenty of room to trip up immediately after. Particular mention goes to Thom's attempts to play himself up as a British Music/KurtCobain and the infamous MTV Beach House 1993 performance, both of which factor into the ''Pablo Honey'' era's in-universe OldShame status for the band and for Thom especially. Thom went on to describe himself during that point as "unbearable," stating that "as soon as you get any success, you disappear up your own arse."
53	* SpringtimeForHitler: Supposedly, the guitar "crunches" just before the chorus of "Creep" were an attempt by a very disgruntled Jonny Greenwood to ruin the song. It wound up being one of the most distinctive parts... [[ZigZaggingTrope and then people (and the band) started disliking it after it got waaay too much exposure compared to the rest of their material.]]
54	* SurprisinglyGentleSong: Most of the album is heavy Grunge-influenced AlternativeRock, but has a couple more gentle pieces in "Thinking About You" and "Lurgee."
55	* TakeThat: "Anyone Can Play Guitar" is a big one towards rock idolization, particularly in regards to the constant pressure to live up to the legacy of Music/TheDoors. Thom had previously stated in interviews that he had a "pathological disrespect" for frontman Jim Morrison and his posthumous deification, dismissing him as "a fat, talentless bastard [who's] dead"[[note]]note that this specific interview was just one year after Creator/OliverStone's [[Film/TheDoors1991 eponymous biopic]] on the Doors and Morrison in particular, which was credited for a large-scale revival of public interest in them[[/note]]. Thom would double down on this further in the band's infamous MTV Beach House 1993 performance of "Anyone Can Play Guitar", during which he ad-libbed the line "FAT. UGLY. ''DEAD.''" shortly after namedropping Morrison.
56	* UncommonTime: "You" has three measures of 6/8 followed by one measure of 5/4.
57	----

Context Music / PabloHoney