The “singer” from Fitter, Happier and Satisfaction are the same person

In 1997 Radiohead released OK Computer which touched on a variety of themes relating to life at the end of the 20th Century including social anxiety, consumerism, and the perils of modernization. Fitter, Happier is perhaps one of the best examples of this, presenting a number of slogans and cliches associated with a good life as seen through the lens of the 90’s, all recited by a Macintalk computer voice over music.

Fitter, Happier is more of a poem or spoken word piece than a song, and not just because of the monotone of the computer voice. As the singer continues the stale cadence of these slogans reads like a death march to the new millennium, ending with the bleak epitaph for our new society, “A pig, in a cage, on antibiotics.”

The fact that it reads like a poem is significant because it feels to me like the writings of a high school student around that time period. I don’t mean that it sounds juvenile, but rather that for young people facing oncoming adulthood during this time period, this worldview would probably be pretty common. We see in works of the time like American Beauty or Fight Club the critique of the soulless, bland life in the suburbs commonly held up as aspirational and the time. It wouldn’t be out of the question for this computer voice (who I will henceforth refer to as “Computer Boy”) to grapple with these anxieties and craft a poem to express itself.

Fast-forward to 2002 and the release of Benny Benassi’s Satisfaction. There’s nothing that sounds quite like it and it’s credited for starting electrohouse and by extension dubstep, but most famously it also has a male Macintalk voice. This time though Computerboy is joined by a female MacInTalk voice, and the focus of the song is on the physical pleasures of life and the repetitive lyrics and instruments are meant to be danced to, not agonized over.

I posit that Computerboy, having written depressing poetry while in high school has mow graduated, started taking antidepressants, is in college, meeting women and partying. He started experimenting with electronic music and composed Satisfaction, a party anthem celebrating self care and self discovery.

The timeline makes sense, although I might be projecting a bit based on my own experience. So maybe things are working out for him where he can now focus on his own Satisfaction. To which I say Computerboy, I salute you! As a fellow millennial I hope you’re doing ok.