Fake Plastic Trees

"Fake Plastic Trees" is a song by the English rock band Radiohead, released in May 1995 by Parlophone from their second album, '' The Bends'' (1995). It was the third single from ''The Bends'' in the UK, and the first in the US.

Radiohead recorded "Fake Plastic Trees" at RAK Studios, London, with the producer John Leckie. They struggled to settle on an arrangement, and dismissed one version as "pompous and bombastic". The final version was influenced by the American singer-songwriter Jeff Buckley.

"Fake Plastic Trees" reached the top 50 on the UK singles chart, the New Zealand Singles Chart, the US Modern Rock Tracks chart and the Canadian Rock/Alternative chart. In 2003, ''Rolling Stone'' included "Fake Plastic Trees" at number 385 on its list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".

Writing

Thom Yorke, Radiohead's songwriter, 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 keeping note "of whatever my head's singing at the particular moment" or forcing "some nifty phrases" he devised onto the melody, and instead "just recorded whatever was going on in my head". He said: "I wrote those words and laughed. I thought they were really funny, especially that bit about polystyrene."

Recording

Radiohead recorded "Fake Plastic Trees" for their second album, '' The Bends'', in 1994 at RAK Studios, London, with the producer John Leckie. The sessions were strained, as Radiohead were under pressure from their record label, EMI, to record a single to match the success of their debut, " Creep". The guitarist Ed O'Brien likened one early version of "Fake Plastic Trees" to the Guns N' Roses song "November Rain", saying it was "pompous and bombastic ... just the worst".

One evening, Radiohead attended a concert by the American singer-songwriter Jeff Buckley at the Garage, London. Yorke later said that Buckley gave him the confidence to sing in falsetto, and Leckie said: "It made homrealise you could sing in a falsetto without sounding dripping."'''' Inspired by Buckley, Yorke recorded a performance of "Fake Plastic Trees" alone on acoustic guitar. According to the bassist, Colin Greenwood, Yorke played three takes, then burst into tears. Yorke initially did not want to use the takes, saying they were too "vulnerable", but was persuaded by his bandmates.

Radiohead created the final version of "Fake Plastic Trees" by overdubbing their parts onto Yorke's performance. The drummer, Philip Selway, described following Yorke's fluctuating tempo: "Part of the beauty was the way it would actually slip in and out, but trying to follow it was a nightmare."

Reception

Reviewing ''The Bends'', the European magazine ''Music & Media'' wrote that "Fake Plastic Trees" "best illustrates adiohead'sambitions". Writing for ''NME'' in May 1995, John Mulvey felt that it lacked substance. Both critics drew comparisons with the rock band U2. Mark Frith from ''Smash Hits'' gave "Fake Plastic Trees" two out of five, writing: "Mournfully slow and really unremarkable, this will probably only appeal to die-hard fans."

The Canadian singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette, whom Radiohead supported on tour in 1996, said "Fake Plastic Trees" was one of her favourite songs, writing: "It's this intangible, spiritual thing. It's a mood piece but lyrically orkedelves into his own vulnerability and talks about materialism and fallibility ... His voice is fragile, but there's nothing premeditated about the way he performs." Morissette covered the song on her 1996 tour.

In 2003, ''Rolling Stone'' included "Fake Plastic Trees" at number 385 on its "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list. In 2011, ''Rolling Stone'' readers voted it the third-best Radiohead song, with the critic Andy Greene writing that it was "one of Radiohead's most anthemic songs". In 2009, "Fake Plastic Trees" was voted the 28th-best song on the Triple J Hottest 100 of All Time list.

An acoustic version was used in the 1995 film '' Clueless'' and introduced Radiohead to a larger American audience. In 2017, ''Pitchfork'' credited "Fake Plastic Trees" and another ''Bends'' song, " High and Dry", for influencing the "airbrushed" post-Britpop of Coldplay and Travis. It was covered by the singers Hayley Williams and Vance Joy.

Track listings

All tracks are written by Radiohead (Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, Ed O'Brien, Colin Greenwood, Philip Selway).

* 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 Version) – 4:41
# "Bullet Proof..I Wish I Was" (Acoustic Version) – 3:34
# " Street Spirit (Fade Out)" (Acoustic Version) – 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 Version) – 4:43

Personnel

Radiohead
* Thom Yorke – vocals, acoustic guitar, string arrangements
* Jonny Greenwood – electric guitar, Hammond organ, string arrangements
* Ed O'Brien – electric guitar
* Colin Greenwood – bass
* Philip Selway – drums

Additional performers
* Caroline Lavelle – cello
* John Matthias – viola, violin

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Notes

Footnotes

Citations

External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fake Plastic Trees
Radiohead songs
1990s ballads
1995 singles
Environmental songs
Music videos directed by Jake Scott (director)
Parlophone singles
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