Fake Plastic Trees
| "Fake Plastic Trees" | |||||||||||
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| Single by Radiohead | |||||||||||
| from the album The Bends | |||||||||||
| Released | 15 May 1995 | ||||||||||
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| Recorded | 1994 | ||||||||||
| Genre | Alternative rock | ||||||||||
| Length | 4:52 | ||||||||||
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| Writer(s) | Radiohead | ||||||||||
| Producer(s) | John Leckie | ||||||||||
| Radiohead singles chronology | |||||||||||
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"Fake Plastic Trees" is a song by the English alternative rock band Radiohead from their second studio album The Bends (1995). It was the third single to be released from that album in the UK, but in the US, it was released as the band's first single from the album. "Fake Plastic Trees" marked a turning point in the band's early career, moving away from the grunge sound of their earlier hit single "Creep".
The song was inspired by Canary Wharf which was landscaped with numerous artificial plants.
Radiohead singer Thom Yorke 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". He said the song arose from a melody he had "no idea what to do with". Unlike 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, Yorke said that creating "Fake Plastic Trees" was the opposite. He said, "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". The song incorporates the melodic leap heard on the word 'high' in Rocket Man by Elton John.
The band were finding it difficult to finalize the song's composition and decided to attend a Jeff Buckley concert at Highbury. When they returned to the studio mesmerized by Buckley's set, Yorke sang the song twice before breaking down into tears.
Guitarist Ed O'Brien described early attempts to record "Fake Plastic Trees" at London's RAK Studios as sounding "like Guns N' Roses' 'November Rain'. It was so pompous and bombastic". When recording sessions for The Bends resumed at Manor Studios in July 1994, producer John Leckie convinced Yorke to record a take of the song. Frustrated at being at the studio for a prolonged period that day, Yorke "threw a wobbly" in his own description, after which Leckie sent the rest of the band away while Yorke recorded a guide track for "Fake Plastic Trees" featuring only guitar and the singer's vocals. Yorke performed three takes of the song and then cried afterwards, according to guitarist Jonny Greenwood.
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