"I Think I'm Paranoid" is a song written, performed and produced by rock band

Garbage Garbage, trash (American English), rubbish (British English), or refuse is waste material that is discarded by humans, usually due to a perceived lack of utility. The term generally does not encompass bodily waste products, purely liquid or ...

and was the second single released from their second album '' Version 2.0''. The song was released internationally in July 1998, following up on the success of the band's prior hit, " Push It". "I Think I'm Paranoid" reached the Top Ten on the UK Singles chart and Airplay charts, while across the Atlantic also becoming a hit on ''Billboard'''s

Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks between 1988 and 2009, and Alternative Songs between 2009 and 2020) is a music chart published in the American magazine ''Billboard'' since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-playe ...

chart. "I Think I'm Paranoid" became the biggest hit from ''Version 2.0'' in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, where it featured on a 30-second advert campaign for Breil Watches and was placed in rotation by

MTV Italy MTV is an Italian pay television network, owned by Paramount Networks EMEAA. History Prior to the launch of a 24-hour Italian speaking MTV, MTV viewers in Italy received the pan-European version of MTV Europe, MTV. Regionalization of MTV in Eur ...

.''Version 2.0: International Sales Report'', internal document published by Mushroom Records UK distributed to shareholders and relevant stakeholders, published June 2001 In 2007, "I Think I'm Paranoid" was

remastered A remaster is a change in the sound or image quality of previously created forms of media, whether Mastering (audio), audiophonic, Cinematography, cinematic, or Videography, videographic. The resulting product is said to be remastered. The term ...

and included on Garbage's

greatest hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...

album '' Absolute Garbage''.

Composition and recording

began writing their second album, which would go under the working title of ''Sad Alcoholic Clowns'', in March 1997 in the band's label-head

Jerry Moss Jerome Sheldon Moss (May 8, 1935 – August 16, 2023) was an American recording executive, best known for being the co-founder of A&M Records, along with trumpet player and bandleader Herb Alpert. Music career Early stages (1958–60) After gr ...

's Friday Harbor,

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

, vacation house. The group demoed and made rough outlines for new songs, of which "Bend Me", the working title of I Think I'm Paranoid, was one. When they felt they had made a good start, Garbage took the work they made in Washington back to their

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is the List of municipalities in Wisconsin by population, second-most populous city in the state, with a population of 269,840 at the 2020 Uni ...

base at

Smart Studios Smart Studios was a recording studio located in Madison, Wisconsin. It was set up in 1983 by Butch Vig and Steve Marker to produce local bands. The studio produced bands such as Killdozer, The Smashing Pumpkins, L7, Tad, Nirvana, Hawthorne H ...

and begin fleshing out the ideas and rough sketches over the following year. Garbage intended their second album to build upon the framework, music style and musical template laid down by their first release; to create a rapprochement between the "high-tech and low-down, the now sound and of golden memories" and wear musical references to the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Garbage recorded all of their work for the second album through a 48-track digital system digitally, direct to

hard drives A hard disk drive (HDD), hard disk, hard drive, or fixed disk is an electro-mechanical data storage device that stores and retrieves digital data using magnetic storage with one or more rigid rapidly rotating platters coated with magnet ...

using a 24bit

Pro Tools Pro Tools is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed and released by Avid Technology (formerly Digidesign) for Microsoft Windows and macOS. It is used for music creation and production, sound for picture (sound design, audio post-productio ...

rig: the production of "Bend Me" would feature almost 120 audio tracks.

Duke Erikson Douglas Elwin "Duke" Erikson (born January 15, 1951) is an American musician, songwriter, screenwriter, film producer and record producer, best known as a co-founder and guitarist of the alternative rock band Garbage. Garbage has sold more than 1 ...

created the opening

guitar riff A riff is a short, repeated motif or figure in the melody or accompaniment of a musical composition. Riffs are most often found in rock music, punk, heavy metal music, Latin, funk, and jazz, although classical music is also sometimes based on ...

and

arranged In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestratio ...

the backing chords, over which

Shirley Manson Shirley Ann Manson FRSA (born 26 August 1966) is a Scottish singer, songwriter, and musician who is the lead singer of the rock band Garbage. Known for her distinctive deep voice, forthright style, and rebellious attitude, her accolades include ...

sang. Manson's vocal was manipulated in various parts of the song by running the feed to the

mixing console A mixing console or mixing desk is an electronic device for Audio mixing (recorded music), mixing audio signals, used in sound recording and reproduction and sound reinforcement systems. Inputs to the console include microphones, signals fro ...

through a filter or a stomp box to provide

distortion In signal processing, distortion is the alteration of the original shape (or other characteristic) of a signal. In communications and electronics it means the alteration of the waveform of an information-bearing signal, such as an audio signal ...

and by using Pro Tools plug-ins to time-stretch the vocal take. Much of the percussion was recorded in a disused candy factory located in Madison;

Butch Vig Bryan David "Butch" Vig (born August 2, 1955) is an American musician, record producer, and songwriter who is the drummer and co-producer of the rock band Garbage. Producer of the diamond selling Nirvana album ''Nevermind'' (1991), Vig also pro ...

Steve Marker Steven W. Marker (born March 16, 1959) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer, best known as the co–founder and guitarist of the alternative rock band Garbage. Previously an audio engineer for the band Fire Town with future ...

and sound engineer Billy Bush set up a

drum kit A drum kit or drum set (also known as a trap set, or simply drums in popular music and jazz contexts) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and sometimes other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one p ...

within the empty building and recorded various fills, using the favourable acoustics therein. Forced to stop after local police officers responded to complaints about the noise, some of the percussion was later incorporated into the chorus of "Bend Me" (and also found its way into " Temptation Waits" and "Hammering in My Head"). The intro section made use of many percussive loops of

kick A kick is a physical strike using the leg, in unison usually with an area of the knee or lower using the foot, heel, tibia (shin), ball of the foot, blade of the foot, toes or knee (the latter is also known as a knee strike). This type of ...

snare SNARE proteins – "Soluble NSF attachment protein, SNAP REceptors" – are a large protein family consisting of at least 24 members in yeasts and more than 60 members in mammalian and plant cells. The primary role of SNARE proteins is to m ...

and

hi-hat A hi-hat (hihat, high-hat, etc.) is a combination of two cymbals and a pedal, all mounted on a metal stand. It is a part of the standard drum kit used by drummers in many styles of music including rock music, rock, popular music, pop, jazz, an ...

sounds. Some loops were flipped backwards, filtered and ran through an amp to create some

white noise In signal processing, white noise is a random signal having equal intensity at different frequencies, giving it a constant power spectral density. The term is used with this or similar meanings in many scientific and technical disciplines, i ...

effects. Garbage employed touring bassist

Daniel Shulman Daniel Shulman (born February 9, 1967) is a Canadian sportscaster with Sportsnet as well as the American network ESPN. Shulman serves as the play-by-play announcer and the moderator for the Toronto Blue Jays telecasts on Sportsnet. During 20 ...

to perform

electric bass The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an electric but with a longer neck and scale leng ...

on the song, while Vig approached a DJ he met in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, Todd Malcolm Michelles, to provide a record scratching effect under the

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song), the part of a song that is repeated several times, usually after each verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in whic ...

.''Keyboard'', "Case Study: The Making of ''Version 2.0''", by Greg Rule, published August 1999 issue. Garbage completed recording, producing and mixing of their second album in mid-February 1998, and the album was given the title '' Version 2.0''. "Bend Me", which had by now had its official title finalized as "I Think I'm Paranoid", was track listed as the album's second song. ''Version 2.0'' was released worldwide on May 11 of that year; despite a slow start, ''Version 2.0'' went on to equal its predecessor, selling over four million copies and achieving platinum-certification in many territories, including United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Europe and Australia.

Song history

Garbage debuted "I Think I'm Paranoid" live on May 15, 1998, at a concert at Ryan's Ballroom in Combined Locks, Wisconsin; the first date of the Version 2.0 World Tour. Garbage took to

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

from June 1 to join the

festival A festival is an event celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, Melā, mela, or Muslim holidays, eid. A ...

circuit, as well as perform a number of their own

headline The headline is the text indicating the content or nature of the article below it, typically by providing a form of brief summary of its contents. The large type ''front page headline'' did not come into use until the late 19th century when incre ...

shows, helping support the single release for "I Think I'm Paranoid". The single was preempted by a televised performance of both "..Paranoid" and " Push It" on French show ''Nulle Part Ailleurs'', and on

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

entertainment show ''

TFI Friday ''TFI Friday'' (Thank Four it's Friday) is an entertainment show that was broadcast on Channel 4 television in the United Kingdom. It was produced by Ginger Productions, written by Danny Baker, and hosted by Chris Evans, for the first five ...

''. Like its preceding single, "I Think I'm Paranoid" was A-listed at Radio One and

XFM Radio X is a British national commercial radio station focused on alternative music, primarily indie rock, and owned by Global. The station launched in 1989 as a pirate radio station named Q102, before being renamed Xfm in 1992. The station b ...

, reaching number 14 in the UK Airplay chart."'' beautifulgarbage'' promotional history press release" (Retrieved - October 29, 2010) On July 6, 1998,

Mushroom Records Mushroom Records was an Australian flagship record label, founded in 1972 in Melbourne. It published and distributed many successful Australian artists and expanded internationally, until it was merged with Festival Records in 1998. Festival ...

issued "I Think I'm Paranoid" in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

in a two-part

CD single A CD single is a single (music), music single in the form of a compact disc (CD). Originally the ''CD single'' standard (as defined in the Rainbow Books, Red Book) was an 8 cm (3-inch) "mini CD" (''CD3''); later on the term referred to any si ...

set and

cassette single A cassette single (CS), also known by the trademark cassingle, or capitalised as the trademark Cassette Single, is a music single (music), single supplied in the form of a Compact Cassette. The cassette single was introduced in 1980 in music, 1 ...

formats, backed with

b-sides The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or ...

"Deadwood" and "Afterglow" and

remixes A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...

of "...Paranoid" by Purity and

The Crystal Method The Crystal Method is an American electronic music act formed in Las Vegas Valley, Las Vegas, Nevada, by Ken Jordan and Scott Kirkland in 1993. They were pioneers of the big beat genre and their music has appeared in numerous TV shows, films, v ...

spread across the two CDs. The song debuted at number 9 on the UK Singles Chart the following Sunday, becoming Garbage's fourth UK top ten hit in a row. On the same day (July 12), Garbage completed their European tour with a "homecoming" slot at

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

T In The Park T in the Park festival was a major Scottish music festival that was held annually from 1994 to 2016. It was named after its main sponsor, Tennents. The event was held at Strathclyde Park, Lanarkshire, until 1996. It then moved to the disused ...

festival. On July 13, Mushroom then released the single as a

collectible A collectable (collectible or collector's item) is any object regarded as being of value or interest to a collector. Collectable items are not necessarily monetarily valuable or uncommon. There are numerous types of collectables and terms t ...

3-inch CD in a

blister pack A blister pack is any of several types of pre-formed plastic packaging used for small consumer goods, foods, and for pharmaceuticals. The primary component of a blister pack is a cavity or pocket made from a formable web, usually a thermoform ...

as a limited edition of 3,000. This special format collected together all the tracks onto one single disc; however the release was only on sale for one week and its sales were chart ineligible. Garbage appeared on British chart show ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British record chart television programme, made by the BBC and broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its histo ...

'' to mark its high chart placing. Across Europe, Mushroom Records then-distributor BMG released "I Think I'm Paranoid" on

CD maxi A maxi single, maxi-single, or maxi CD (sometimes abbreviated to MCD or CDM) is a music single release with more than the usual two tracks of an A-side song and a B-side song. Maxi singles are often mistaken for extended plays (EPs), especiall ...

and

formats in various territories from July 6. In

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, "...Paranoid" placed a single week at number 98 on August 3, in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, the song spent the single week of August 8 at number 94 following heavy rotation from

Kink FM Kink FM was a commercial radio channel in the Netherlands dedicated entirely to alternative music. In 1992 Dutch radio station RTL Radio started broadcasting. After this station failed to be a success, its format and name was first changed to R ...

and TMF, while in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, the song debuted at number 100 on September 19, peaking in its second week of three at number 80 (it also reached number 21 on the French airplay charts). In

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

, "...Paranoid" spent eighteen weeks on the airplay charts, and reached the Top 20 on their sales chart; in

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, the single was heavily supported by FM4 radio, and licensed to a ''Megacard'' sampler CD as a youth incentive from

Bank Austria UniCredit Bank Austria AG, branded and widely referred to as Bank Austria, is an Austrian bank, 99,9965% owned by Milan-based pan-European banking group UniCredit. Bank Austria was formed in 1991 by merger of Vienna's Länderbank and Zentralspa ...

; in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, "...Paranoid" was heavily supported by stations

Studio Brussel Studio Brussel is a Dutch-speaking radio station in Belgium, owned by the VRT. The music played is considered more alternative than the other big radio stations, and is aimed mainly at a youth audience. The channel is an initiative of the Fle ...

(where it was voted listener's number-one choice) and Radio 21; in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, "I Think I'm Paranoid" topped their airplay chart for a single week in September 1998. In Italy, "I Think I'm Paranoid" featured on a 30-second advert campaign for Breil and received heavy rotation from

, shifting 9,000 sales of the single there. Other major supporters of "I Think I'm Paranoid" were

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

NRJ Nouvelle Radio Jeune, (Acronym: NRJ, , ) is a private France, French radio station created by Jean-Paul Baudecroux and Max Guazzini in June 1981 in France, 1981. Widely popularized by its "godmother", singer Dalida, who prevented it from closi ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

's Radio 3 and Atomic TV, Portugal's RDP Antena 3, Antena 3, Sweden's ZTV (Sweden), ZTV, Switzerland's DRS 3 and One FM ("...Paranoid" was the number 2 newcomer on Swiss radio the week of airplay impact) who all playlisted the track. "I Think I'm Paranoid" reached number 25 on the European Top 50 Airplay chart and number 35 on the European Hot 100, European Top 100 sales chart. In Argentina, BMG released "I Think I'm Paranoid" as a commercial single, where it had reached number 4 on their airplay charts. Argentina was the only Latin American country to see a commercial release. In Chile, "..Paranoid" reached number 4 and spent five weeks in the airplay top ten; while in Venezuela the single spent thirteen weeks on their airplay charts. In Mexico, "...Paranoid" reached the airplay top five. Over in South Africa, "..Paranoid" was the number-one track on two radio stations, including 5FM. Mushroom Records, White Records released "I Think I'm Paranoid" in Australia and New Zealand on July 27 as a two-CD set. In Australia, the song peaked at number 57, spending five weeks in the top 100 ARIA Charts, ARIA singles chart, however in New Zealand, the song debuted at number 29, before peaking on its second of five weeks at number 19. Australia's Channel V and Triple-J radio heavily supported "...Paranoid". In North America, Almo Sounds opted to give "I Think I'm Paranoid" an airplay-only release, where it debuted on the ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' Alternative Airplay, Modern Rock chart at number 30 on July 18, and peaking for five weeks at number 6 across September of that year, eventually registering twenty six weeks on the chart. On August 15, the same week that "I Think I'm Paranoid" broke into the Modern Rock Top 10, the song made its debut appearance on the Hot 100 Airplay chart, peaking at number 70 on the fourth of six consecutive weeks on that chart. Remixes of the song by The Crystal Method (in which the song was retitled "I Think I'm Crystalized") would later be given a physical distribution on 12" vinyl on a double A-side release with remixes of "Push It" by Victor Calderone. The song's North American chart run was concurrent with the band's headline tour of the United States and Canada, which ran from September to December.

After release

An acoustic recording of "I Think I'm Paranoid" recorded by the band for Seattle rock compilation ''The End Sessions, Vol 2'' was released in November 1999. "I Think I'm Paranoid" was licensed for inclusion on the 1999 PlayStation videogame ''Gran Turismo 2'', and eight years later, on the 2007 video game ''Rock Band (video game), Rock Band'' as a playable track. In May 2001, New York City, New York-based Music publisher (popular music), music publisher Helios Music Corporation filed a copyright infringement suit against Garbage, the band's own publisher Rondor Music, its North American record label Almo Sounds, and seven other Defendant, co-defendants in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, Allegation, alleging that "I Think I'm Paranoid" copied "significant elements of both lyrics and music" from the 1967 Scott English and Larry Weiss Musical composition, composition "Bend Me, Shape Me" (a hit in the U.S. for The American Breed and in the U.K. for Amen Corner (band), Amen Corner), and that by failing to give "credit to the writers and publisher of ["Bend Me, Shape Me"], the defendants had falsely represented to the public that [Garbage] had independently created and are the authors of ["I Think I'm Paranoid"], in its entirety." Helios contendend that the chorus to "Bend Me, Shape Me" ("Bend me, shape me/Anyway you want me") was similar to that of the Garbage lyric ("Bend me, break me/Anyway you need me"); Helios sought Credit (creative arts), credit for "I Think I'm Paranoid", as well as damages, including Music royalties, all profits generated by the song and for the defendants to cease "any further sale, distribution or exploitation" of the song". Garbage considered the legal action a "nuisance suit".

Music video

film director, Directed by Matthew Rolston in

' Occidental Studios, the Music video, video clip for "I Think I'm Paranoid" premiered in the United States on July 12 and was modified shortly after release to soften some of the strobe lights, strobing within the video. The concept behind the video was simplicity, contrasting with the band's previous special effects, effects-heavy video for "Push It"; it was shot in black and white in order to appear "almost photographic". Rolston used mylar to create effects on-screen, and shot the band in close up, inspired by the cover of The Beatles' album ''With the Beatles''. The "I Think I'm Paranoid" video was first made commercially available in 1999 on the Italian CD-ROM sampler CD, sampler ''All About Garbage''. A remastered version of the video was included on Garbage's 2007 greatest hits DVD '' Absolute Garbage'', and made available as a Music download, digital download via Online music store, online music services the same year.

Track listings

*UK cassette Mushroom MUSH35MCS *European CD single BMG 74321 57438 2 #"I Think I'm Paranoid" – 3:37 #"Deadwood" – 4:22 *Australia CD1 White MUSH01785.2 *UK CD1 Mushroom MUSH39CDS #"I Think I'm Paranoid" – 3:37 #"Deadwood" – 4:22 #"Afterglow" – 2:32 *Australia CD2 White MUSH01785.5 *UK CD2 Mushroom MUSH39CDSX #"I Think I'm Paranoid" – 3:37 #"I Think I'm Crystalized (Extended edit)" – 7:39 #"I Think I'm Paranoid (Purity mix) – Jill Stark" – 5:32 *European CD maxi BMG 74321 57837 2 #"I Think I'm Paranoid" – 3:37 #"Deadwood" – 4:22 #"Afterglow" – 2:32 #"I Think I'm Crystalized (Extended edit)" – 7:39 *UK 3" CD Mushroom MUSH35CDSXXX #"I Think I'm Paranoid" – 3:37 #"Deadwood" – 4:22 #"Afterglow" – 2:32 #"I Think I'm Crystalized (Radio edit)" – 4:30 #"I Think I'm Paranoid (Purity mix) – Jill Stark" – 5:32

Remixes

In 2007, Crystal Method's mix was remastered and included on the '' Absolute Garbage'' bonus disc ''Garbage Mixes''.

Charts

Release history

References

External links

"I Think I'm Paranoid" music video

"I Think I'm Paranoid" lyrics

"I Think I'm Paranoid" release discography
{{Authority control 1998 singles Black-and-white music videos Garbage (band) songs Music videos directed by Matthew Rolston Song recordings produced by Butch Vig Songs involved in plagiarism controversies Songs written by Shirley Manson Songs written by Duke Erikson Songs written by Steve Marker Songs written by Butch Vig