Songs → Fitter Happier
Released on OK Computer. This song seems to be the result of studio experimentation and features the Macintosh text-to-speech voice Fred speaking lyrics.
While there were no rehearsal or early versions on the MiniDiscs prior to the studio version, the MiniDiscs do include a dubbed copy of Jonny's piano demo which served as the main musical bed for the track, and also includes the sampled dialogue from Three Days Of The Condor which is looped throughout the song.
Recording Chronology
Older Recordings
Winter 1997: Mixing Sessions
Recordings → Piano! Lie Down In The Middle Of The Road
Rough demo of a piano instrumental apparently recorded by Jonny to a Dictaphone or a similar cassette recorder and later dubbed to MiniDisc.
The source recording is being fast-forwarded at the beginning of the dub and begins abruptly.
This is a monophonic recording that was dubbed to MiniDisc, likely from a dictaphone or similar cassette-based source.
Assumed to predate the MiniDiscs, although it is possible that Thom used a cassette recorder available as a backup in case the MiniDisc was out of batteries or out of blank discs.
Discs → MD119 → Piano! Lie Down In The Middle Of The Road {part 1} <aka Fitter Happier · released on OKNOTOK in edited form>
Transcription
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Discs → MD119 → Piano! Lie Down In The Middle Of The Road {part 2} <aka Fitter Happier · released on OKNOTOK in edited form>
Transcription
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Recordings → Fitter, Happier More Productive
Studio mix. Similar to the final version from the album, however the sampled dialogue is soft panned vs on the album it is hard panned, and the outro is slightly longer in this mix than on the final version.
Discs → MD127 → Fitter, Happier More Productive * <near-finished mix - soft pan on Panic Room sample, longer outro>
Transcription
Fitter, happier, more productive / Comfortable / Not drinking too much / Regular exercise at the gym 3 days a week / (this is the panic office, section nine-seventeen may have been hit, activate the following procedure) / Getting on better with your associate employee contemporaries / At ease / Eating well / No more microwave dinners and saturated fats / (this is the panic office, section nine-seventeen may have been hit, activate the following procedure) / A patient better driver / A safer car / Baby smiling in back seat / Sleeping well / No bad dreams / No paranoia / (this is the panic office, section nine-seventeen may have been hit, activate the following procedure) / Careful to all animals / Never washing spiders down the plughole / Keep in contact with old friends / Enjoy a drink now and then / (this is the panic office, section nine-seventeen may have been hit, activate the following procedure) / Will frequently check credit at moral bank / Hole in wall / Favors for favors / Fond but not in love / (this is the panic office, section nine-seventeen may have been hit, activate the following procedure) / Charity standing orders on Sundays ring road supermarket / No killing moths or putting boiling water on the ants / Car wash also on Sundays / (this is the panic office, section nine-seventeen may have been hit, activate the following procedure) / No longer afraid of the dark or midday shadows / Nothing so ridiculously teenage and desperate / Nothing so childish / (this is the panic office, section nine-seventeen may have been hit, activate the following procedure) / At a better pace / Slower and more calculated / No chance of escape / Now self-employed / Concerned but powerless / (this is the panic office, section nine-seventeen may have been hit, activate the following procedure) / An empowered and informed member of society / Pragmatism not idealism / Will not cry in public / Less chance of illness / (this is the panic office, section nine-seventeen may have been hit, activate the following procedure) / Tires that grip in the wet / Shot of baby strapped in back seat / A good memory / Still cries at a good film / Still kisses with saliva / No longer empty and frantic / Like a cat tied to a stick that's driven into frozen winter shit / The ability to laugh at weakness / Calm / Fitter, healthier and more productive / A pig in a cage on antibiotics
Recordings → Fitter Happier
Studio mix. This seems to be the final album mix, or very similar to it.
Discs → MD126 → Fitter Happier † <finished mix without segue>
Transcription
Fitter, happier, more productive / Comfortable / Not drinking too much / Regular exercise at the gym 3 days a week / (this is the panic office, section nine-seventeen may have been hit, activate the following procedure) / Getting on better with your associate employee contemporaries / At ease / Eating well / No more microwave dinners and saturated fats / (this is the panic office, section nine-seventeen may have been hit, activate the following procedure) / A patient better driver / A safer car / Baby smiling in back seat / Sleeping well / No bad dreams / No paranoia / (this is the panic office, section nine-seventeen may have been hit, activate the following procedure) / Careful to all animals / Never washing spiders down the plughole / Keep in contact with old friends / Enjoy a drink now and then / (this is the panic office, section nine-seventeen may have been hit, activate the following procedure) / Will frequently check credit at moral bank / Hole in wall / Favors for favors / Fond but not in love / (this is the panic office, section nine-seventeen may have been hit, activate the following procedure) / Charity standing orders on Sundays ring road supermarket / No killing moths or putting boiling water on the ants / Car wash also on Sundays / (this is the panic office, section nine-seventeen may have been hit, activate the following procedure) / No longer afraid of the dark or midday shadows / Nothing so ridiculously teenage and desperate / Nothing so childish / (this is the panic office, section nine-seventeen may have been hit, activate the following procedure) / At a better pace / Slower and more calculated / No chance of escape / Now self-employed / Concerned but powerless / (this is the panic office, section nine-seventeen may have been hit, activate the following procedure) / An empowered and informed member of society / Pragmatism not idealism / Will not cry in public / Less chance of illness / (this is the panic office, section nine-seventeen may have been hit, activate the following procedure) / Tires that grip in the wet / Shot of baby strapped in back seat / A good memory / Still cries at a good film / Still kisses with saliva / No longer empty and frantic / Like a cat tied to a stick that's driven into frozen winter shit / The ability to laugh at weakness / Calm / Fitter, healthier and more productive / A pig in a cage on antibiotics
Discs → MD126 → <tape blip: Fitter Happier>
Transcription
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