Let Down
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| ""Let Down"" | ||
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| Song by Radiohead | ||
| from the album OK Computer | ||
| Released | 16 June 1997 | |
| Recorded | 1996, 1997 | |
| Genre | Alternative Rock | |
| Length | 4:59 | |
| Label | Parlophone | |
| Producer(s) | Nigel Godrich with Radiohead | |
| OK Computer track listing | ||
| "Exit Music (For a Film)" (4) |
""Let Down"" (5) |
"Karma Police" (6) |
- For the let-down reflex, see: Breastfeeding.
- "Let down" may also refer to a feeling of disappointment.
"Let Down" is a song on Radiohead's 1997 album OK Computer. It was intended to be the first single off of the album, but "Paranoid Android" was chosen instead, which, along with "Karma Police", solidified the band's popularity. The track was ultimately not released as a single because the band were unsatisfied with the video they had produced, and ended up losing a lot of money.
The song is about the alienation and emptiness of life in modern society, and is often considered one of the most melancholy songs on the album. The song is also considered one of their finest. Thom Yorke apparently was inspired to write the song while sitting in a pub, noting the customers "clinging on to bottles" and sensing in them the "emptiest of feelings," a sense of disappointment. The song is renowned for its chorus:
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The song's multiple references to insects and growing wings suggest an allusion to Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis.
In 2006, the song was covered by reggae legends Toots and the Maytals, for the album Radiodread, a complete, song for song makeover of OK Computer into ska, dub and reggae.
[edit] Trivia
- Let Down came second in an NME poll which asked fans to vote for the Radiohead song that they most wanted to hear at V Festival 2006. "Just" came first.
