Karma Police

"Karma Police" is a song by English alternative rock band Radiohead from their 1997 third studio album OK Computer. The song's title and lyrics derive from an in-joke among the band, referring to the Hindu theory of cause and effect, known as karma.

"Karma Police" was released as the second single from OK Computer, and became a commercial success, charting at number eight on the UK Singles Chart and number fourteen on the US Hot Modern Rock Tracks. Critical reception to the single was also favourable.

In 2008 the song was featured on the Radiohead: The Best Of collection.

Background and recording

"Karma Police", like several other songs that would make up OK Computer, was debuted live in 1996, when the band briefly supported Alanis Morissette on tour. A live version of "Karma Police", performed with a Rhodes piano on the Late Show with David Letterman, is captured in the Radiohead documentary Meeting People Is Easy.

Composition and lyrics

"Karma Police" is in a 4/4 time signature and played in standard tuning. The first half of the song is in the key of E minor, and would feature a Neapolitan chord (F). The second half (starting with the line "For a minute there") is in B minor.Acoustic guitar and piano are the most prominent instruments in the song, and the chord progression owes an audible debt to The Beatles song "Sexy Sadie".

Karma

Karma (Sanskrit: कर्म; IPA: [ˈkərmə]; Pali: kamma) means action, work or deed; it also refers to the spiritual principle of cause and effect where intent and actions of an individual (cause) influence the future of that individual (effect). Good intent and good deed contribute to good karma and future happiness, while bad intent and bad deed contribute to bad karma and future suffering. Karma is closely associated with the idea of rebirth in many schools of Asian religions. In these schools, karma in the present affects one's future in the current life, as well as the nature and quality of future lives - one's saṃsāra.

With origins in ancient India, karma is a key concept in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, and Taoism.

Definition and meanings

Karma is the executed "deed", "work", "action", or "act", and it is also the "object", the "intent". Halbfass explains karma (karman) by contrasting it with another Sanskrit word kriya. The word kriya is the activity along with the steps and effort in action, while karma is (1) the executed action as a consequence of that activity, as well as (2) the intention of the actor behind an executed action or a planned action (described by some scholars as metaphysical residue left in the actor). A good action creates good karma, as does good intent. A bad action creates bad karma, as does bad intent.

Police

A police force is a constituted body of persons empowered by the state to enforce the law, protect property, and limit civil disorder. Their powers include the legitimized use of force. The term is most commonly associated with police services of a sovereign state that are authorized to exercise the police power of that state within a defined legal or territorial area of responsibility. Police forces are often defined as being separate from military or other organizations involved in the defense of the state against foreign aggressors; however, gendarmerie are military units charged with civil policing.

Law enforcement, however, constitutes only part of policing activity. Policing has included an array of activities in different situations, but the predominant ones are concerned with the preservation of order. In some societies, in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, these developed within the context of maintaining the class system and the protection of private property. Many police forces suffer from police corruption to a greater or lesser degree. The police force is usually a public sector service, meaning they are paid through taxes.

OK Computer

OK Computer is the third studio album by the English alternative rock band Radiohead, released in 1997 on Parlophone and Capitol Records. OK Computer was the first self-produced Radiohead album, with assistance from Nigel Godrich. Radiohead recorded the album in Oxfordshire and Bath between 1996 and early 1997, with most of the recording completed in the historic mansion St Catherine's Court. The band made a deliberate attempt to distance themselves from the guitar-oriented, lyrically introspective style of their previous album, The Bends. OK Computer's abstract lyrics, densely layered sound and wide range of influences laid the groundwork for Radiohead's later, more experimental work.

OK Computer received unanimous critical acclaim and has since been cited by critics and musicians as one of the greatest rock albums of the 1990s. The album was nominated in the Album of the Year and Best Alternative Music Performance categories at the 1998 Grammy Awards, ultimately winning the latter. The album initiated a shift away from the popular Britpop genre of the time to the more melancholic and atmospheric style of alternative rock that would be prevalent in the next decade. Critics and fans have commented on the underlying themes found in the lyrics and album artwork, emphasising Radiohead's views on rampant consumerism, social alienation, emotional isolation, and political malaise; in this capacity, OK Computer is often interpreted as having prescient insight into the mood of 21st-century life, and many critics have described it as one of the greatest albums ever released.

Kendra Morris

Kendra Morris (born April 10, 1981) is a soul singer-songwriter based in New York City, originally from St. Petersburg, Florida. She was a contestant on Fuse TV's Redemption Song. She is signed to Wax Poetics, and in 2011 released her first single, "Concrete Waves" (which later received a remix from DJ Premier). Also in 2011, she joined Dennis Coffey on tour, performing lead vocals. Her debut album, Banshee, was released in August 2012 from Naïve Records. With her sophomore release Mockingbird, a covers record coming out on Wax Poetics July 30, 2013.

In 2013, her cover of Pink Floyd's "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" was featured in early trailers for the film Dead Man Down. The use of the song was well received, with Movieline calling it "kind of amazing", ScreenCrush saying it "lends the movie an eerie and beautiful grandeur", and BuzzSugar said the "powerful" song was what made the trailer "pop".

2013 also saw the use of Kendra's song titled Banshee on Season one of SHOWTIME Series Ray Donovan. The song was featured at the end of episode 10 entitled "Fite Nite".