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Let Down (Radiohead song)
1997 song by Radiohead From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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"Let Down" is a song by the English rock band Radiohead, released on their third studio album, OK Computer (1997). It contains multilayered arpeggiated guitars and electric piano in different time signatures, and lyrics inspired by a disconnection from emotion.
"Let Down" was released as a promotional single in September 1997 and reached number 29 on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart. It was included on Radiohead: The Best Of (2008). In 2025, after it became popular on the social media platform TikTok, it debuted in the top 20 of the US Bubbling Under Hot 100 and Hot Rock & Alternative Songs charts.
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Recording
Radiohead recorded "Let Down" at 3 am in the ballroom of St Catherine's Court in Bath, Somerset, with the producer Nigel Godrich.[1] The guitarist Ed O'Brien said it was influenced by Phil Spector, a producer and songwriter known for his reverberating "Wall of Sound" recording techniques.[2] It contains multilayered arpeggiated guitars and electric piano.[3] Jonny Greenwood plays his guitar part in a different time signature to the other instruments, creating a phasing effect inspired by the American composer Steve Reich.[4]
The singer, Thom Yorke, originally recorded vocals two additional verses, but neither felt right for the song. Instead, the band combined both vocals to create the final verse, with the overlapping "you know where you are with..." and "one day I am gonna grow wings" verses.[5] Yorke and Greenwood felt the song was too long, and wanted to fade it out during the instrumental bridge, but were persuaded against it by Godrich and the other band members.[5] Greenwood added an electronic arpeggio generated with a ZX Spectrum computer.[5]
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Lyrics
Yorke said the lyrics were about a fear of being trapped,[6] and "about that feeling that you get when you're in transit but you're not in control of it—you just go past thousands of places and thousands of people and you're completely removed from it".[7] Of the line "Don't get sentimental / It always ends up drivel", Yorke said: "Sentimentality is being emotional for the sake of it. We're bombarded with sentiment, people emoting. That's the Let Down. Feeling every emotion is fake. Or rather every emotion is on the same plane whether it's a car advert or a pop song."[8] Yorke felt that scepticism of emotion was characteristic of Generation X and that it had informed OK Computer.[9]
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Release
"Let Down" was intended to be the first single from OK Computer, but "Paranoid Android" was chosen instead, which, along with "Karma Police", solidified Radiohead's popularity.[10] It was not released as a single because the band was unsatisfied with the music video.[10] "Let Down" reached No. 29 in the US Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart.[11] In 2006, it was covered by the Easy Star All-Stars on Radiodread, a cover album of OK Computer in ska, dub and reggae styles.[12]
In June 2025, after it became popular on the social media platform TikTok, "Let Down" debuted at number 20 on the US Bubbling Under Hot 100 and Hot Rock & Alternative Songs charts. It was Radiohead's first entry on the Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart since their debut single, "Creep" (1992).[13]
Live performances
Radiohead has rarely performed "Let Down" live. After a 2006 performance, it was not performed until the tour for Radiohead's album A Moon Shaped Pool (2016).[14] The multi-track recording used in the studio version makes the song difficult to recreate live, especially with respect to the layering of multiple simultaneous vocal parts sung by Yorke. When it has been played live, Yorke has typically opted to skip the final verse and sing the accompanying background vocal part instead.[15]
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Track listing
CD promo single[16]
- "Let Down" – 4:59
- "Let Down" (edit) – 4:27
- "Karma Police" – 4:21
Charts
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Certifications
References
Bibliography
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