"Fake Plastic Trees" is a song by the English
alternative rock
Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...
band
Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass) ...
, released on their second album, ''
The Bends'' (1995). It was the third single from the album in the UK, and the first in the US. It charted on the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
, the
New Zealand Singles Chart
The Official New Zealand Music Chart ( mi, Te Papa Tātai Waiata Matua o Aotearoa) is the weekly New Zealand top 40 singles and albums charts, issued weekly by Recorded Music NZ (formerly Recording Industry Association of New Zealand). The Music ...
, the US
Modern Rock Tracks
Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks (1988–2009) and Alternative Songs (2009–2020)) is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-played ...
chart, and the Canadian
Rock/Alternative chart.
Writing
Singer
Thom Yorke
Thomas Edward Yorke (born 7 October 1968) is an English musician and the main vocalist and songwriter of the rock band Radiohead. A multi-instrumentalist, he mainly plays guitar and keyboards and is noted for his falsetto. He has been describe ...
said "Fake Plastic Trees" was "the product of a joke that wasn't really a joke, a very lonely, drunken evening and, well, a breakdown of sorts".
[Black, Johnny.]
The Greatest Songs Ever! Fake Plastic Trees
. Blender.com. 15 May 2003. Retrieved on 10 March 2010. He said the song arose from a melody he had "no idea what to do with". He did not take his usual approach of either keeping note "of whatever my head's singing at the particular moment" or forcing "some nifty phrases" he devised onto the melody. Instead, "That was not forced at all, it was just recording whatever was going on in my head, really. I mean, I wrote those words and laughed. I thought they were really funny, especially that bit about polystyrene."
Recording
Guitarist
Ed O'Brien
Edward John O'Brien (born 15 April 1968) is an English guitarist, songwriter and member of the rock band Radiohead. He releases solo music under the name EOB.
O'Brien attended Abingdon School in Oxfordshire, England, where he met the other mem ...
described early attempts to record "Fake Plastic Trees" at London's
RAK Studios as sounding "like
Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1985. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band comprised vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKa ...
' '
November Rain
"November Rain" is a song by the American hard rock band Guns N' Roses. Written by the band's lead vocalist Axl Rose, it was released as a single in 1992 from their third studio album, ''Use Your Illusion I'' (1991).
"November Rain" peaked ...
'. It was so pompous and bombastic." Frustrated at being at the studio for a prolonged period one day, Yorke "threw a wobbly" in his own description, after which producer
John Leckie
John William Leckie (born 23 October 1949) is an English record producer and recording engineer. His production credits include Magazine's ''Real Life'' (1978), XTC's ''White Music'' (1978) and Dukes of Stratosphear's '' 25 O'Clock'' (1985), t ...
sent the rest of the band away while Yorke recorded a guide track for featuring only guitar and vocals. Yorke performed three takes of the song and cried afterwards, according to guitarist
Jonny Greenwood
Jonathan Richard Guy Greenwood (born 5 November 1971) is an English musician and composer. He is the lead guitarist and keyboardist of the alternative rock band Radiohead, and has written numerous film scores.
Along with his elder brother, th ...
.
One source of frustration for the band at the time was their US record label,
Capitol
A capitol, named after the Capitoline Hill in Rome, is usually a legislative building where a legislature meets and makes laws for its respective political entity.
Specific capitols include:
* United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.
* Numerous ...
, which wanted a strong track for American radio to follow the success of their previous hit single, "
Creep". Surprised that the slow-paced "Fake Plastic Trees" was seen as a potential single to follow up "Creep", Yorke realised that Capitol had
Bob Clearmountain
Bob Clearmountain (born January 15, 1953) is an American recording engineer, mixer and record producer. He has worked with many major acts, including Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones, Toto, Bon Jovi and Bryan Adams, with whom he has a very ...
remix the track without the band's approval: "I said 'No way'. All the ghost-like keyboard sounds and weird strings were completely gutted out of his mix, like he'd gone in with a razor blade and chopped it all up. It was horrible."
Critical reception
Writing for ''
NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' in May 1995, John Mulvey felt that "Fake Plastic Trees" lacked substance, and drew comparisons with the
stadium rock
Arena rock (also known as AOR, melodic rock, stadium rock, anthem rock, pomp rock, corporate rock and dad rock; ; ) is a style of rock music that originated in the mid-1970s. As hard rock bands and those playing a softer yet strident kind of po ...
of
U2.
It placed at number 385 on ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
's'' list of the
500 Greatest Songs of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" is a recurring survey compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and industry figures. The first list was published in December 2004 in ...
, and at number 28 on
Triple J
Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian Radio in Australia, radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greate ...
Radio's
Hottest 100 of All Time countdown. The acoustic version of "Fake Plastic Trees" was used in the 1995 film ''
Clueless
''Clueless'' is a 1995 American coming-of-age teen comedy film written and directed by Amy Heckerling. It stars Alicia Silverstone with supporting roles by Stacey Dash, Brittany Murphy and Paul Rudd. It was produced by Scott Rudin and Robert La ...
'' and is credited for introducing Radiohead to a larger American audience.
Music video
The song's
music video
A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...
, directed by
Jake Scott
Jacob E. Scott III (July 20, 1945 – November 19, 2020) was an American professional football player who was a free safety and punt returner from 1970 to 1978 for the Miami Dolphins and Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NF ...
, is set inside a
supermarket
A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. This kind of store is larger and has a wider selection than earli ...
, where the band are pushed around in
shopping carts
A shopping cart (American English), trolley (British English, Australian English), or buggy (Southern American English, Appalachian English), also known by a variety of other names, is a wheeled cart supplied by a shop or store, especially ...
among several other characters, including clerks, children, an old man with a large beard who plays with toy guns, a woman in a large black hat, art director Stanley Donwood in basketball jersey who shaves his head with an electric razor, a young man playing with a shopping cart, etc. The director has said about the video: "The film is actually an allegory for death and reincarnation, but if you can read that into it you must be as weird as the people who made it."
Track listings
All tracks are written by Radiohead (
Thom Yorke
Thomas Edward Yorke (born 7 October 1968) is an English musician and the main vocalist and songwriter of the rock band Radiohead. A multi-instrumentalist, he mainly plays guitar and keyboards and is noted for his falsetto. He has been describe ...
,
Jonny Greenwood
Jonathan Richard Guy Greenwood (born 5 November 1971) is an English musician and composer. He is the lead guitarist and keyboardist of the alternative rock band Radiohead, and has written numerous film scores.
Along with his elder brother, th ...
,
Ed O'Brien
Edward John O'Brien (born 15 April 1968) is an English guitarist, songwriter and member of the rock band Radiohead. He releases solo music under the name EOB.
O'Brien attended Abingdon School in Oxfordshire, England, where he met the other mem ...
,
Colin Greenwood
Colin Charles Greenwood (born 26 June 1969) is an English musician and the bassist for the rock band Radiohead. Along with bass guitar, Greenwood plays Double bass, upright bass and Electronic musical instrument, electronic instruments.
With h ...
,
Philip Selway
Philip James Selway (born 23 May 1967) is an English musician and the drummer of the English rock band Radiohead. Along with the other members of Radiohead, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019.
Selway released his debut ...
).
* UK and European single (CD1)
* UK and New Zealand single (cassette)
* Australian single (CD)
# "Fake Plastic Trees" – 4:52
# "India Rubber" – 3:26
# "How Can You Be Sure?" – 4:21
* UK and European single (CD2)
# "Fake Plastic Trees" – 4:52
# "Fake Plastic Trees" (acoustic) – 4:41
# "Bullet Proof..I Wish I Was" (acoustic) – 3:34
# "
Street Spirit (Fade Out)
"Street Spirit (Fade Out)" is a song by the English alternative rock band Radiohead. It is the final track on their second studio album, '' The Bends'' (1995). It was released as a single on 22 January 1996 and reached number five on the UK Sing ...
" (acoustic) – 4:26
* UK and US promo (CD)
# "Fake Plastic Trees" (edit) – 4:11
# "Fake Plastic Trees" (album version) – 4:50
* US single (CD)
# "Fake Plastic Trees" (album version) – 4:50
# "
Planet Telex" (Hexidecimal Mix) – 6:44
# "Killer Cars" – 3:02
# "Fake Plastic Trees" (acoustic version) – 4:45
* US jukebox single (7")
# "Fake Plastic Trees" – 4:50
# "
The Bends" – 4:03
* Dutch single (CD)
# "Fake Plastic Trees" – 4:52
# "India Rubber" – 3:26
# "How Can You Be Sure?" – 4:21
# "Fake Plastic Trees" (acoustic) – 4:43
Personnel
*
Thom Yorke
Thomas Edward Yorke (born 7 October 1968) is an English musician and the main vocalist and songwriter of the rock band Radiohead. A multi-instrumentalist, he mainly plays guitar and keyboards and is noted for his falsetto. He has been describe ...
– vocals, acoustic guitar
*
Jonny Greenwood
Jonathan Richard Guy Greenwood (born 5 November 1971) is an English musician and composer. He is the lead guitarist and keyboardist of the alternative rock band Radiohead, and has written numerous film scores.
Along with his elder brother, th ...
– electric guitar, Hammond organ
*
Ed O'Brien
Edward John O'Brien (born 15 April 1968) is an English guitarist, songwriter and member of the rock band Radiohead. He releases solo music under the name EOB.
O'Brien attended Abingdon School in Oxfordshire, England, where he met the other mem ...
– electric guitar
*
Colin Greenwood
Colin Charles Greenwood (born 26 June 1969) is an English musician and the bassist for the rock band Radiohead. Along with bass guitar, Greenwood plays Double bass, upright bass and Electronic musical instrument, electronic instruments.
With h ...
– bass
*
Philip Selway
Philip James Selway (born 23 May 1967) is an English musician and the drummer of the English rock band Radiohead. Along with the other members of Radiohead, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019.
Selway released his debut ...
– drums
* Caroline Lavelle – cello
* John Matthias – viola, violin
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
See also
* Artificial trees used for
Notes
Footnotes
Citations
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fake Plastic Trees
Radiohead songs
1995 singles
Parlophone singles
Environmental songs
Rock ballads
Songs written by Thom Yorke
Songs written by Colin Greenwood
Songs written by Jonny Greenwood
Songs written by Philip Selway
Songs written by Ed O'Brien
Song recordings produced by John Leckie
Music videos directed by Jake Scott (director)
1990s ballads