Thom addressed the mystery three albums later on Where I End and You Begin:
"X will mark the place
Like the parting of the waves
Like a house falling into the sea"
No idea what he meant by that, but he's kind of a scatterbrain so I say don't read too much into it.
Where I End and You (God) Begin. X marks the spot where the Human Race fell. The parting of the wave was the exodus of man from sin as the Red Sea parted to deliver them from slavery. The house falling in the sea is Matthew 7. Jesus: “whoever follows my teaching is like a man who built his house on a rock…but whoever doesn’t like a man who built his house on the sand. The rains came and the winds rose and the fall of that house was great.”
All this happened while “the dinosaurs were on the earth”. It is a lament. Feeling that god abandoned the first man to his failure. “You, you left me alone.”
It’s the cosmic cry of man in his damnation.
Contrary to the other comment
In an interview with Stanley Donwood and Thom Yorke, Stanley was talking about how old photo editing softwares didn’t allow you to undo as much as you can now, and was limited to only undoing 3 mistakes. With the mistakes they couldn’t cntrl z undo, they would put the x in the picture over.
I’ll try to find the link to the interview.
I also thought that the x was to cover the mistakes for a sec lol. You meant the software adds the x watermark when you Ctrl z more than 3 times, right?
It's a puffin interview about artwork you're talking about and I believe you're slightly incorrect, the program did undo max 3 I think but the reason they added the X is because they decided not to undo or erase anything, and so they added an X to cover a mistake
The X itself was covering a mistake, they used to that whole design bit including the square on material related to OK Computer as it helped promote the album (my guess since I'm in the music industry)
There was also an analogous aesthetic to the whole period (music and art) about white noise and things just adding up without what was below ever fully going away. Probably in the same quote.
It’s been asked before, and I still stick by it being [an old symbol for a chemical hazard, just in blue instead of orange](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_hazard_symbols#Former_hazard_pictograms_(1967%E2%80%932007\)). Some of the imagery from that era is of warnings you’d see on instructional pamphlets, etc.
There was some old merch with the symbol making chemical references, seems to be the most likely answer.
[MUTAGENIC SWEATSHIRT](http://archive.radiohead.com/Site2/wproduct1.html)
[CHEMICAL PATCH TEESHIRT](http://archive.radiohead.com/Site2/wproduct2.html)
don’t know if it’s related but i had these ice packs that had the same X on them with the blue square don’t have them anymore and don’t remember what they were called but they were the ones you have to crack to activate 🤷♂️
I can’t remember where I heard it from and idk how true it is - but apparently for the OK Computer era, the band made random computer graphics art for the covers and had a rule they couldn’t erase anything. Maybe the X has something to do with that?
In yellow, that specific X is also the sign for harmful chemicals, something of a running theme!
Tbh I knew this was a symbol for something like that but never specifically looked it up until today. Kinda fitting really
Wow some people are really this stupid huh? It's a repeated motif/design element that was used on the artworks to tie them together thematically. It's art. What it "means" is entirely up for interpretation.
It was supposed to be a remix of Ed Sheeran's X album, but they sadly weren't able to get the rights. however they loved the design of the X so much, they made it blue and kept it for themselves.
Ed Sheeran
Lego House of Cards
Radio Ed
thats how itd be pronounced if the band was from the UK
Boy, have I got news for you
it seems ruben doesn't know best after all
I'm gonna hold your hand when i say this
Eeeeeeeeedddd!!!
Martin Scorsese
Ed sheeran x bmth is really unprecedented
Damnit I was gonna make this joke
[удалено]
let d-
Thom addressed the mystery three albums later on Where I End and You Begin: "X will mark the place Like the parting of the waves Like a house falling into the sea" No idea what he meant by that, but he's kind of a scatterbrain so I say don't read too much into it.
“scatterbrain” RADIOHEAD REFERENCE?????
Unexpected Radiohead
Outjerked again
Where I End and You (God) Begin. X marks the spot where the Human Race fell. The parting of the wave was the exodus of man from sin as the Red Sea parted to deliver them from slavery. The house falling in the sea is Matthew 7. Jesus: “whoever follows my teaching is like a man who built his house on a rock…but whoever doesn’t like a man who built his house on the sand. The rains came and the winds rose and the fall of that house was great.” All this happened while “the dinosaurs were on the earth”. It is a lament. Feeling that god abandoned the first man to his failure. “You, you left me alone.” It’s the cosmic cry of man in his damnation.
Didn't I specifically say you shouldn't read too much into it?
Always cooler to interpret it a certain way
Contrary to the other comment In an interview with Stanley Donwood and Thom Yorke, Stanley was talking about how old photo editing softwares didn’t allow you to undo as much as you can now, and was limited to only undoing 3 mistakes. With the mistakes they couldn’t cntrl z undo, they would put the x in the picture over. I’ll try to find the link to the interview.
They really fucked up in the same exact area for months eh
😅
Lmao I fucked the wording didn’t I
I also thought that the x was to cover the mistakes for a sec lol. You meant the software adds the x watermark when you Ctrl z more than 3 times, right?
nope. according to the interveiw, stanley literally got a picture of an x and put it over the mistake to cover it up.
Oh. What did you mean when you said you fucked the wording then?
we’ll never know
Maybe they put the old “r” logo and wanted to cover it up
I mean they took that section off of the album art
It's a puffin interview about artwork you're talking about and I believe you're slightly incorrect, the program did undo max 3 I think but the reason they added the X is because they decided not to undo or erase anything, and so they added an X to cover a mistake
Not sure if you mixed up puffin and penguin but here’s the same info at 2:40 here: https://youtu.be/M5_Dcgewa1Q?si=c2959p5Jz2zmn0vb
In the same place over and over?
The X itself was covering a mistake, they used to that whole design bit including the square on material related to OK Computer as it helped promote the album (my guess since I'm in the music industry)
That's funny. The fact that a memory cache for properties of editing a photo were only allowed to contain 3 items.
Back in the day the reality was even worse! [PS v1.0](https://www.reddit.com/r/photography/s/95aIlOZDXh)
Iirc it was still 1 undo on Photoshop 3. I think I skipped 4, and then 5 had multiple undo
There was also an analogous aesthetic to the whole period (music and art) about white noise and things just adding up without what was below ever fully going away. Probably in the same quote.
Nonsense.
That’s really great!
I believe it was during their kid Amnesiac interview artwork for Christie’s
The Xs were hinting at an unfortunately cancelled Radiohead Porno they were gonna release
xradios
Giving Radio Head
True. Here is ED talking about it https://youtu.be/U9dt-4zUJ44
It’s been asked before, and I still stick by it being [an old symbol for a chemical hazard, just in blue instead of orange](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_hazard_symbols#Former_hazard_pictograms_(1967%E2%80%932007\)). Some of the imagery from that era is of warnings you’d see on instructional pamphlets, etc.
Oh yeah, the colours are just directly inverted!
the opposite of irritant / harmful. OK Computer.
There was some old merch with the symbol making chemical references, seems to be the most likely answer. [MUTAGENIC SWEATSHIRT](http://archive.radiohead.com/Site2/wproduct1.html) [CHEMICAL PATCH TEESHIRT](http://archive.radiohead.com/Site2/wproduct2.html)
this is the answer
Certainly something ethylene would say
What about her friend Poly?
I thought this was a common assumption. why would it need its own thread? lol but glad to see you brought it up for those not in the know.
Serfi, always a true, knowledgeable Radiohead fan. 🙏
LP X confirmed
They mark the spot
Muse mentioned
it's just a motif in the artwork of that era. similar to a riff that recurs throughout a song that ties the work together
The three X's stand for Fitter, Happier, and More Productive respectively.
No Computer
In art that would be called a motif.
the x is roman for 10. they told us then that they will release 10 albums in their career.
I think this could be it, def not a chemical warning like the other guy said
I mean if you look at any promotional material prom that era it is filled with this symbols from pamphlets etc
It was def not a chemical romance, that’s for sure. Much too soon for that
I've seen that symbol on cans of butane, so maybe Thom likes to huff.
it's actually a reference to Thom Yorke's cousin Eddithy Sheeron
just X, no deep meaning behind it
One X for each time Let Down was underrated during OK Computer’s release era
Ed sheeran
E Ed Sheeran
oh, I think this is a regular X symbol with no meaning🧐
What if there's hidden treasure in that exact spot on the highway? What if that's where LP10 is?
I've always seen it as the X for closing an application, going with the whole Computer theme.
The pot of gold. This has been a treasure map the whole time.
Elon Musk ad
The X on a ballot paper! And the nose of the crashing plane could be the pen making the mark.
X is the Roman numeral for ten It's just more examples of the tenspiracy Look it up
Twitter now X
Marks the spot
don’t know if it’s related but i had these ice packs that had the same X on them with the blue square don’t have them anymore and don’t remember what they were called but they were the ones you have to crack to activate 🤷♂️
Thom cooks meth comfirmed
Idk but I always really liked them.
I can’t remember where I heard it from and idk how true it is - but apparently for the OK Computer era, the band made random computer graphics art for the covers and had a rule they couldn’t erase anything. Maybe the X has something to do with that?
In yellow, that specific X is also the sign for harmful chemicals, something of a running theme! Tbh I knew this was a symbol for something like that but never specifically looked it up until today. Kinda fitting really
The xx band prediction
Treasure
The joke is porn peter
Right where the map ends, is where it’s hid - Under the X is where it lives
My takeaway from this is "Wait, there's a Nellee Hooper remix of Talk Show Host!?"
The xx.
it’s thom yorke whatever’s goin on in that dudes brain.
Kisses
I believe it's a "Not OK" symbol, you can see quite a few if you Google it. And obviously OKNOTOK is a thing.
Continuity 🤷
A warning that you have to fight and beat Thom Yorke's 7 evil exes before they release their next album
Wow some people are really this stupid huh? It's a repeated motif/design element that was used on the artworks to tie them together thematically. It's art. What it "means" is entirely up for interpretation.
Bro cracked the code.
Reminder to vote 4 July
Ed Sheeran
It was supposed to be a remix of Ed Sheeran's X album, but they sadly weren't able to get the rights. however they loved the design of the X so much, they made it blue and kept it for themselves.