The Tourist
it barks at noone else but me
like it's seen a ghost.
I guess it's seen the sparks a-flowin',
noone else would know.
sometimes I get over charged
that's when you see sparks.
they ask where the hell I'm going?
at 1000 feet per second.
hey man slow down.
idiot slow down.
version originale
21 mai 1997, OK Computer
5:24
reprise
23 octobre 2001, Strung Out
4:01

Cette chanson a été écrite par Jonny à Canned Applause.

Jonny
Thom n'a rien joué, il s'est contenté d'écouter. C'est une chanson plutôt nerveuse, avec beaucoup d'espace. Elle a une carrure de dernière chanson d'album.
Jonny
Nous voulions juste une chanson où nous ne ferions pas maladivement quelque chose de plus toutes les trois secondes, que nous pourrions enregistrer avec de l'espace.
Colin
But not record it with Space. That would never have worked, frankly.
Jonny
Je suis toujours surpris que tous les autres l'aient mis sur l'album. Elle était un peu tardive. Nous étions en train de ranger pour partir quand nous avons décidé de la faire.
Thom
Ah, one of Jonny's songs. The lyrics come from being in a beautiful square in France on a sunny day, and watching all these American tourists being wheeled around, frantically trying to see everything in ten minutes. You know: We've got to be in Paris tomorrow morning! And then I saw this old bloke on telly, saying that he couldn't work out why the world had got so fast and in a hurry. I just had an image of him standing on a street corner, watching the traffic hurl by.
 **the tourist.523654357374743743747333764375497569700

it barks at no-one else but me  like its seen a ghost. i guess its seen
the sparks a-flowin, no-one else would know.
sometimes i get over charged thats when you see sparks. they ask
where the hell im going?? at 1000 feet per second.
hey man slowdown. idiot slow down.
Jonny était dans un square magnifique en France, un jour radieux; il regardait tous ces touristes américains qu'on promenait, essayant frénétiquement de tout voir en dix minutes.
Select, juillet 1997

Jonny était choqué par le fait que ces gens puissent être dans un endroit si beau et si spécial, et ne pas s'en rendre compte parce qu'ils ne prenaient pas le temps de regarder.

Thom
It's the same with a lot of the vocals on OK Computer - they're first takes because after that I'd start to think about it and they would sound lame. I really like the vocal on The Tourist and I don't remember doing it. It was something we left on the shelf for months. When I listened to it again it had obviously been, "Go Out and sing a rough vocal so we can work on it". There's no emotional involvement in it. I mean, I'm not emoting, I'm just, "Yeah, yeah, sing the song and walk off."
listemenu
enregistrement
Canned Applause
équipement mobile
production
Nigel Godrich
ingénieur
Nigel Godrich
mixage
Mayfair, Abbey Road, Air Lyndhurst, Courtyard
and the church using the wonders of a digital and analog age
master
Chris Blair
Abbey Road