Radiohead – Paranoid Android (Chords)

EatMyUke’s cover of all the songs on OK Computer inspired me to write up the chords for Paranoid Android. The versions of the chords around the net I’ve seen are very simplified. So I’ve gone in the other direction and made them as true to the original as I could manage. Which means there are lots of unfamiliar chord shapes all over the neck.

The song is split into three main sections so I’ve also split up the chords into three sections.

Opening Section

This section has the biggest leaps up and down the neck. So pay close attention to the fret numbers at the right of the chord diagrams.

If you have trouble playing Gm6 (like I did) you can play it as 0767 and that’ll work just fine. And you can also play E7 as 4445. The only downside of those changes is you don’t get the constant drone on the g- and A-strings.

Riff Section

The least uke friendly section. For the riff I’m using mostly power chords. That means each chord only has two notes so I’m blocking the E- and A-strings from ringing with the underside of my index finger.

It gets much easier when it switches to straight chords for C – G# – Bb. Except the time signature becomes and off-kilter 7/8. The strumming I use goes:

C: d – d – d u d
G#: u – u d u
Bb: d

Rain Down Section

The third section is mercifully straightforward on uke. It’s all standard chord shapes and you can use this strum all the way through:

d – d – d u d u

Then it’s a return to the riff section for the extended outro.

Radiohead – Paranoid Android (Chords)