The Axe is a very striking song. I found it ironic that the same people who created
OK Computer now seem to be advocating taking on modern machinery with an axe. Does this express great disappointment about new technology?
Nigel: Was
OK Computer so optimistic over new technology? I don't think so.
Thom: Funny, at the time we were accused of being such Luddites, but that's besides the point.
The Axe... The reason why I've been making music since I was 12 is because it was my way of processing things and then moving on. Not in a 'direct' manner like, "this has to get out of my system, let me write a song about it", it's more like: if I can create a piece of music that means something to me at that moment, then that's a way to deal with what's going on in my life. But sometimes I go to my machinery, which can be a piano, drum machine or a synthesiser, and I see all these beautiful, twinkling lights, and the child in me is really excited to use it, but the machinery doesn't give me what I want. The supercomputer doesn't give the answer I want. It gives the wrong outcome. That's what I meant with that song. Like someone suffering hoping in vain to get help from the thing that always helped him in life. But now it doesn't. Instead, the machinery stands there like a bunch of toy soldiers performing meaningless moves. That's what I meant!
