Editing Kid A (section)

== Music ==
=== Style and influences ===
{{listen
 | filename11    = Kid A.ogg
 | title11       = "Kid A"
 | description11 = The title track, a heavily processed electronic piece, demonstrates both Radiohead's increasing ambient electronic influences and the distortion of Yorke's voice, extensively done on the album.
 | filename12    = The National Anthem (Radiohead).ogg
 | title12       = "The National Anthem"
 | description12 = This song, featuring a horn section improvising over a repetitive bassline, demonstrates the band's increasing influence from jazz during this time period. Yorke cited Charles Mingus as his main inspiration here.
}}

''Kid A'' has been described as a work of [[electronica]],<ref name="AllMusic" /><ref>{{cite news |last=Segal |first=David |date=6 June 2001 |title='Amnesiac': Radiohead To Remember |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2001/06/06/amnesiac-radiohead-to-remember/458e4be5-6034-43d7-a931-b01fdffed103/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170827091532/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2001/06/06/amnesiac-radiohead-to-remember/458e4be5-6034-43d7-a931-b01fdffed103/ |archive-date=27 August 2017 |access-date=10 March 2019 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Cross |first=Alan |author-link=Alan Cross |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y_HODgAAQBAJ |title=Radiohead: the secret history |publisher=Joe Books |year=2012 |isbn=9781927002308}}</ref> [[experimental rock]],<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Paoletta, Michael |date=7 October 2000 |title=Reviews & Previews – Albums |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uhAEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA22 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160504124713/https://books.google.com/books?id=uhAEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA22&lpg=PA22&dq=%22Kid+A%22+%22experimental+rock%22&source=bl&ots=bropjAsXC-&sig=NfkL4JoxHGVOFnTlCvCNaxj2Owk&hl=en&sa=X&ei=iY2rVKvfGsmBygScj4GgAw&ved=0CEIQ6AEwBzgK#v=onepage&q=%22Kid%20A%22%20%22experimental%20rock%22&f=false |archive-date=4 May 2016 |access-date=19 January 2015 |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]}}</ref> [[post-rock]],<ref>{{cite web |last=Welsh |first=April Clare |date=2 October 2015 |title=Radiohead's 'Kid A' – The Album's Tracks Ranked In Order Of Greatness |url=https://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/radioheads-kid-a-turns-15-the-albums-tracks-ranked-in-order-of-greatness-1188414 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181215232950/https://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/radioheads-kid-a-turns-15-the-albums-tracks-ranked-in-order-of-greatness-1188414 |archive-date=15 December 2018 |access-date=13 December 2018 |website=[[New Musical Express|NME]]}}</ref><ref name="SPIN">{{cite magazine |last=Reynolds |first=Simon |date=October 2000 |title=Radio Chaos |url=http://www.followmearound.com/presscuttings.php?year=2000&cutting=88 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927211400/http://www.followmearound.com/presscuttings.php?year=2000&cutting=88 |archive-date=27 September 2007 |access-date=23 April 2007 |magazine=[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]}}</ref> [[alternative rock]],<ref name="sputnikmusic">{{cite web |title=Radiohead – Kid A |url=https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/5439/Radiohead-Kid-A/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120702224241/http://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/5439/Radiohead-Kid-A/ |archive-date=2 July 2012 |access-date=20 November 2018 |website=Sputnikmusic}}</ref> [[Post-progressive|post-prog]],<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Kearney |first=Ryan |date=31 May 2016 |title=The Radiohead Racket |url=https://newrepublic.com/article/133773/radiohead-racket |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161108133640/https://newrepublic.com/article/133773/radiohead-racket |archive-date=8 November 2016 |magazine=[[The New Republic|New Republic]] |df=dmy-all}}</ref> [[Ambient music|ambient]],<ref name=":1">{{cite magazine |date=18 April 2020 |title=The 40 greatest stoner albums |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/the-40-greatest-stoner-albums-20130607/radiohead-kid-a-19691231 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160117130642/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/the-40-greatest-stoner-albums-20130607/radiohead-kid-a-19691231 |archive-date=17 January 2016 |access-date=6 January 2016 |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]}}</ref> [[electronic rock]],<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Nicholas, Taylor |date=11 May 2001 |title=Recovering the Memory of Pop Radiohead's 'Amnesiac' |url=https://www.popmatters.com/010511-radiohead-2496101503.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924100840/http://www.popmatters.com/feature/010511-radiohead/ |archive-date=24 September 2015 |access-date=1 September 2015 |magazine=[[PopMatters]]}}</ref> [[art rock]],<ref>{{cite web |last=Saunders |first=Luke |date=12 March 2020 |title=10 records to introduce you to the world of art-rock |url=https://happymag.tv/10-records-to-introduce-you-to-the-world-of-art-rock/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210719162008/https://happymag.tv/10-records-to-introduce-you-to-the-world-of-art-rock/ |archive-date=19 July 2021 |access-date=28 June 2020 |website=Happy Mag}}</ref> and [[art pop]].<ref name="Fricke" /> Though guitar is less prominent than on previous Radiohead albums, guitars were used on most tracks.<ref name="REYNOLDS" /> "Treefingers", an ambient instrumental, was created by digitally processing O'Brien's guitar loops.<ref name="mixing-it" /> Many of Yorke's vocals were manipulated with effects; for example, his vocals on the title track were simply spoken, then [[Vocoder|vocoded]] with the ondes Martenot to create the melody.<ref name="REYNOLDS" />

''Kid A'' incorporates influences from electronic artists on [[Warp Records]],<ref name="monsters" /> such as the 1990s [[Intelligent dance music|IDM]] artists [[Aphex Twin]] and [[Autechre]];<ref name="ZORIC" /> 1970s [[Krautrock]] bands such as [[Can (band)|Can]];<ref name="monsters" /> the [[jazz]] of [[Charles Mingus]],<ref name="JUICE">{{cite web|last=Zoric |first=Lauren |work=Juice Magazine |date=1 October 2000 |access-date=19 May 2007 |title=Fitter, Happier, More Productive |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160309014557/http://followmearound.com/presscuttings.php?cutting=91&year=2000 |url-status=dead |archive-date=9 March 2016 |url=http://www.followmearound.com/presscuttings.php?year=2000&cutting=91 }}</ref> [[Alice Coltrane]] and [[Miles Davis]];<ref name="REYNOLDS" /> and [[abstract hip hop]] from the [[Mo'Wax]] label, including [[Blackalicious]] and [[DJ Krush]].<ref>{{cite interview|last=Greenwood|first=Jonny|url=http://nepasavaler.net/bio/jg/index.html|title=Jonny Greenwood interview|work=Ne Pas Avaler|access-date=1 April 2007|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070401081718/http://www.nepasavaler.net/bio/jg/index.html|archive-date=1 April 2007|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Yorke cited ''[[Remain in Light]]'' (1980) by [[Talking Heads]] as a "massive reference point".<ref>{{cite web |date=1 November 2000 |title=No more Thom for guitar rock |url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/radiohead-393-1309133 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201182054/http://www.nme.com/news/music/radiohead-393-1309133 |archive-date=1 December 2017 |access-date=30 November 2017 |website=[[NME]]}}</ref> [[Björk]] was another major influence,<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rehGAQAAQBAJ&q=bjork+%22kid+a%22|title=Radiohead's Kid A|last=Lin|first=Marvin|date=2010|publisher=[[A & C Black]]|isbn=978-0-8264-2343-6|access-date=20 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160216154004/https://books.google.com/books?id=rehGAQAAQBAJ&dq=bjork+%22kid+a%22&hl=es&source=gbs_navlinks_s|archive-date=16 February 2016|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="mc22" /> particularly her 1997 album ''[[Homogenic]]'',<ref>{{cite web|url=http://deadspin.com/5842521/how-a-14-year-old-bjork-album-is-still-defining-alternative-pop-and-hip-hop-today|title=Put A Björk In It: How A 14-Year-Old Album Is Still Influencing Music|last=Dickey|first=Jack|date=22 September 2011|work=Musicweek2011|publisher=[[Deadspin]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141115182252/http://deadspin.com/5842521/how-a-14-year-old-bjork-album-is-still-defining-alternative-pop-and-hip-hop-today|archive-date=15 November 2014|url-status=live|access-date=20 November 2014|df=dmy-all}}</ref> as was [[the Beta Band]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KPOsu8JOHO8C&q=the+beta+band+1999&pg=PA32|title=The A to X of Alternative Music|last=Taylor|first=Steve|date=27 September 2006|publisher=A&C Black|isbn=0-8264-8217-1|location=London|page=32}}</ref> Radiohead attended an [[Underworld (band)|Underworld]] concert which helped renew their enthusiasm in a difficult moment.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wordmagazine.co.uk/content/radiohead-escape-artists-part-two |title=Radiohead: The Escape Artists, Part Two|work=[[The Word (UK magazine)|The Word]]|date=7 May 2008|access-date=6 November 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081207062918/http://www.wordmagazine.co.uk/content/radiohead-escape-artists-part-two|archive-date=7 December 2008}}</ref>

The string orchestration for "How to Disappear Completely" was influenced by the Polish composer [[Krzysztof Penderecki]].<ref name="ZORIC" /> Jonny Greenwood's use of the [[ondes Martenot]] was inspired by [[Olivier Messiaen]], who popularised the instrument and was one of Greenwood's teenage heroes.<ref name="GILL">{{cite news| last = Gill| first = Andy| title = So long to Jonny guitar| work = The Independent| date = 31 October 2003| url = https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/jonny-greenwood-so-long-to-jonny-guitar-93830.html| access-date = 18 June 2017| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170813205922/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/jonny-greenwood-so-long-to-jonny-guitar-93830.html| archive-date = 13 August 2017| url-status = live}}</ref> Greenwood described his interest in mixing old and new music technology,<ref name="GILL" /> and during the recording sessions Yorke read [[Ian MacDonald]]'s ''[[Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties|Revolution in the Head]]'', which chronicles [[the Beatles]]' recordings with [[George Martin]] during the 1960s.<ref name="REYNOLDS" /> Radiohead also sought to combine electronic manipulations with jam sessions in the studio, saying their model was the German band Can.<ref name="monsters" />

=== Lyrics ===
Yorke's lyrics on ''Kid A'' are less personal than on earlier albums, and instead incorporate abstract and surreal themes.<ref name="when-do-I-start">{{cite web |last=Adams |first=Tim |date=23 February 2013 |title=Thom Yorke: 'If I can't enjoy this now, when do I start?' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/feb/23/thom-yorke-radiohead-interview |access-date=26 April 2015 |website=[[The Guardian]] |archive-date=28 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150628075705/http://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/feb/23/thom-yorke-radiohead-interview |url-status=live }}</ref> He [[Cut-up technique|cut up]] phrases and assembled them at random, combining [[Cliché|cliches]] and banal observations; for example, "Morning Bell" features repeated contrasting lines such as "Where'd you park the car?" and "Cut the kids in half".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mitchum |first=Rob |date=25 August 2009 |title=Radiohead: ''Kid A: Special Collectors Edition'' |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/13385-kid-a-special-collectors-edition/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150703063410/http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/13385-kid-a-special-collectors-edition/ |archive-date=3 July 2015 |access-date=4 July 2015 |website=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]] |df=dmy-all}}</ref> Yorke denied that he was "trying to get anything across" with the lyrics, and described them as "like shattered bits of mirror ... like pieces of something broken".<ref name="Yamasaki-2000" /> 

Yorke cited [[David Byrne]]'s approach to lyrics on ''Remain in Light'' as an influence: "When they made that record, they had no real songs, just wrote it all as they went along. Byrne turned up with pages and pages, and just picked stuff up and threw bits in all the time. And that's exactly how I approached ''Kid A''."<ref name="REYNOLDS" /> Radiohead used Yorke's lyrics "like pieces in a collage ... [creating] an artwork out of a lot of different little things".<ref name="monsters" /> The lyrics are not included in the liner notes, as Radiohead felt they could not be considered independently of the music,<ref name="NYROCK2">{{cite interview|subject=Radiohead|interviewer=''NY Rock''|date=December 2000|url=http://www.nyrock.com/interviews/2000/radiohead.asp|access-date=1 April 2007|archive-date=31 December 2005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051231222751/http://www.nyrock.com/interviews/2000/radiohead.asp|url-status=dead|title=Radiohead: They're Not So Angst-ridden Once You Get to Know Them}}</ref> and Yorke did not want listeners to focus on them.<ref name="REYNOLDS" />

Yorke wrote "Everything in Its Right Place" about the depression he experienced on the ''OK Computer'' tour, feeling he could not speak.<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/radiohead-making-music-that-matters-84574/|title=Radiohead: Making Music That Matters|last=Fricke|first=David|author-link=David Fricke|date=2 August 2001|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|language=en-US|access-date=6 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190106104332/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/radiohead-making-music-that-matters-84574/|archive-date=6 January 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> The refrain of "How to Disappear Completely" was inspired by [[R.E.M.]] singer [[Michael Stipe]], who advised Yorke to relieve tour stress by repeating to himself: "I'm not here, this isn't happening".<ref>{{cite magazine|url = https://www.rollingstone.com/music/pictures/readers-poll-the-10-best-radiohead-songs-20111012/10-how-to-disappear-completely-0823981|title = 'How To Disappear Completely' – Readers' Poll: The 10 Best Radiohead Songs|magazine = [[Rolling Stone]]|date = 12 October 2011|access-date = 8 March 2015|url-status = live|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150117193945/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/pictures/readers-poll-the-10-best-radiohead-songs-20111012/10-how-to-disappear-completely-0823981|archive-date = 17 January 2015|df = dmy-all}}</ref> The refrain of "Optimistic" ("try the best you can / the best you can is good enough") was an assurance by Yorke's partner, [[Rachel Owen]], when Yorke was frustrated with the band's progress.<ref name="monsters" /> The title ''Kid A'' came from a filename on one of Yorke's [[Music sequencer|sequencers]].<ref name="Yamasaki-2000" /> Yorke said he liked its "non-meaning", saying: "If you call [an album] something specific, it drives the record in a certain way."<ref name="SMITH"/>