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Radiohead — Let Down
Album: OK Computer
Avg rating:
7.8

Your rating:
Total ratings: 3120









Released: 1997
Length: 4:56
Plays (last 30 days): 6
Transport, motorways and tram lines
Starting and then stopping, taking off and landing
The emptiest of feelings, disappointed people, clinging on
To bottles and when it comes it's so, so, disappointing

Let down and hanging around
Crushed like a bug in the ground
Let down and hanging around

Shell smashed, juices flowing, wings twitch, legs are going
Don't get sentimental, it always ends up drivel
One day, I am gonna grow wings, a chemical reaction
Hysterical and useless, hysterical and

Let down and hanging around
Crushed like a bug in the ground
Let down and hanging around

Let down, let down, let down

You know, you know where you are with, you know where you are with
Floor collapsing, falling, bouncing back
And one day, I am gonna grow wings a chemical reaction (you know where you are)
Hysterical and useless, hysterical and (you know where you are)

Let down and hanging around, crushed like a bug in the ground
Let down and hanging around
Comments (335)add comment
Still...the goosebumps and the lump in one's throat...all these days and listens later...
Hard to find much better….. by Radiohead or anyone else.
 Fishman wrote:

To me this is the last great album



At the risk of comparing apples to oranges, I've heard 2 perfect "10" rock albums since OK Computer: Willie Nile, "Streets of New York" and Mark Seymour, "Slow Dawn". Different sub-genres of rock perhaps, but not a bad track on either. 
 Fishman wrote:

To me this is the last great album



Interesting view; and as I reflected a bit you may very well be right actually! I'm curious what this highly experienced community might share about this... 
To me this is the last great album
 cely wrote:

This song reminds me of the Beach Boys on a bad acid trip.



Had to really search your brain for that one, of course it shouldn't have taken too long!
 Synth80s wrote:

Maybe the best song on maybe the best album of the ‘90s



Best album ever.
Magnificent
 damonlazer wrote:


While I disagree with the critic's take on Radiohead, if he is actually a legitimate music critic, then it's not a fallacy.  The appeal to authority is only a logical fallacy if the authority in question is not an authority on the subject at hand.  I assume that "the album doctor" is, in fact, an authority on music criticism and analysis, even though I disagree with this particular assessment.  Now, if he was, say, a medical doctor who had no expertise in music appreciation or composition, then you would be correct and it would be an "appeal to authority" logical fallacy.  But if the good doctor gave medical advice within his field of expertise, it would not be a fallacy.

But that's not what appeal to authority means; 


The appeal to authority fallacy is a type of informal fallacy that occurs when someone uses the authority, reputation, or expertise of a person or a source as the sole or primary reason to support their argument, without providing any other evidence or reasonin
g.

In the original post to which I was replying, the original poster used a "music critic" as an authority but without any further evidence, the inference being that the "music critic", by virtue merely of being a music critic, provided some kind of empirical evidence.

I apologise for the interruption.  Let us now return to enjoying Radiohead, or PSD-ing Radiohead, whichever is your jam.
26 years ago yesterday. Ya know? 
 HectorPascal wrote:

For the last 15+ years I have been saying that I consider this to be the most complete piece of contemporary music I have heard. Nothing has changed my mind in the meantime.

It's perfection.



agreed.









Toot's cover is SO much better!!
Just realized Radiohead's Thom Yorke, sounds a lot like the style of Rufus Wainwright.  NTTAWWT.
Always stood still when TY goes  left ear and right; transcendent
 Synth80s wrote:

Maybe the best song on maybe the best album of the ‘90s




The best song on The best album of the ‘90s, there I fixed it :)

 Edweirdo wrote:


This is the logical fallacy Appeal to Authority.


While I disagree with the critic's take on Radiohead, if he is actually a legitimate music critic, then it's not a fallacy.  The appeal to authority is only a logical fallacy if the authority in question is not an authority on the subject at hand.  I assume that "the album doctor" is, in fact, an authority on music criticism and analysis, even though I disagree with this particular assessment.  Now, if he was, say, a medical doctor who had no expertise in music appreciation or composition, then you would be correct and it would be an "appeal to authority" logical fallacy.  But if the good doctor gave medical advice within his field of expertise, it would not be a fallacy.
Where did the history of the songs go? I liked being able to see when they were released, etc.
 MassivRuss wrote:

Tried... really tried... really I did. But what is the appeal of this poorly composed, droning dreck? And this was 15 years ago? Before they really ran out of ideas?

For a more professional analysis: https://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9786324/the-album-doctor-prescriptions-jay-z-adele-radiohead-more-artists-need-better-new-albums

"Still one of the most popular and respected rock bands going, Radiohead currently specializes in highly anticipated albums that people desperately want to hear exactly once. 2011's The King of Limbs was Radiohead's crowning achievement in this regard: It had its moments — the drum sound on "Little by Little" is nice — but in retrospect it seems weirdly predictable in its willful inscrutability. Let's be honest: After two decades of pushing at the boundaries of what stadium rock can be, Radiohead has fallen into a rut of self-consciously "difficult" laptop Muzak that sounds a lot less daring in 2013 than it did in 2000."



I try too, I don't get the RH attraction
BTW Bill - a couple of tracks from The Smile are begging to be included to the RP list..? 
 ace-marc wrote:

The 70's had London Calling.
The  80's had Joshua Tree.
The 90's had OK Computer.


The 70's had Horses
Great song.  Toots made it  even better.
 Edweirdo wrote:


This is the logical fallacy Appeal to Authority.


I hope you feel better now !
Thanks Bill for reminding me how good the early Radiohead albums are. I may even revisit the later ones in to see if my appreciation has changed
 MassivRuss wrote:

Tried... really tried... really I did. But what is the appeal of this poorly composed, droning dreck? And this was 15 years ago? Before they really ran out of ideas?

For a more professional analysis: https://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9786324/the-album-doctor-prescriptions-jay-z-adele-radiohead-more-artists-need-better-new-albums

"Still one of the most popular and respected rock bands going, Radiohead currently specializes in highly anticipated albums that people desperately want to hear exactly once. 2011's The King of Limbs was Radiohead's crowning achievement in this regard: It had its moments — the drum sound on "Little by Little" is nice — but in retrospect it seems weirdly predictable in its willful inscrutability. Let's be honest: After two decades of pushing at the boundaries of what stadium rock can be, Radiohead has fallen into a rut of self-consciously "difficult" laptop Muzak that sounds a lot less daring in 2013 than it did in 2000."



This is the logical fallacy Appeal to Authority.
 ace-marc wrote:

The 70's had London Calling.
The  80's had Joshua Tree.
The 90's had OK Computer.


"Joshua Tree"?

--ahem--Meat is Murder>cough<-The Smiths-sniff->cough<

The 70s is a hard call. "London Calling" maybe. "Never Mind The Bollocks" could be tied for first place.
 Synth80s wrote:

Maybe the best song on maybe the best album of the ‘90s



Those are 2 unnecessary maybe  
 jmsmy wrote:

after 20 years and I still don't get it
 



Try again in 20 more. You will get it someday
 kcar wrote:
Toots and the Maytals did it better. 
 
I prefer the original, but Toots and the Maytals do a great cover. It's just a great song IMHO.
 rdo wrote:


Explain.
 

 The abbreviation for Oklahoma is OK, hence OK Computer. They're implying that Oklahoma is so backward they don't have computers. So they're dissing Oklahoma. An unfair shot at them because it's a conservative state. I betcha they have plenty of computers and Radiohead fans too.
This defines a "10" for me. F'n Brilliant (...the whole album)
Stands the hairs on the back of my neck every time I hear this track.
 kcar wrote:
Toots and the Maytals did it better. 
 

I don't get it - I listened to Toots and the Maytals from your recommendation, but I can't see any similarities?  What am I missing?
<3 <3 <3 <3

For all those who are let down

<3 <3 <3
Jesus!!!!! Right after Elbow's Magnificent?!?!?!?!?  - Two brilliant songs. This is one of my favorites from Radiohead.
 Synth80s wrote:
Maybe the best song on maybe the best album of the ‘90s
 
The 70's had London Calling.
The  80's had Joshua Tree.
The 90's had OK Computer.
 jmsmy wrote:
after 20 years and I still don't get it
 
 
It took me decades to understand Monk.  My friends raved about him.  Finally, thankfully, it clicked. 
11
This song reminds me of the Beach Boys on a bad acid trip.
We are getting....)
For the last 15+ years I have been saying that I consider this to be the most complete piece of contemporary music I have heard. Nothing has changed my mind in the meantime.

It's perfection.
 jmsmy wrote:
after 20 years and I still don't get it
 
 
I've recently started liking RH even more....just went +4 on this one to a 6...with more room to go....LLRP!!
I'm not their biggest fan but I simply cannot understand how anyone can mark this down.  Beautiful. 
 Synth80s wrote:
Maybe the best song on maybe the best album of the ‘90s
 

well, there're "No surprises" and "Karma Police" too, in that album...

Clearly Muse borrowed a thing or two from Radiohead
after 20 years and I still don't get it
 
One of my favorite songs by Radiohead
Was amazing, is amazing and will always be amazing.  What a song. What a record!
Man, I love it when the little synth arpeggio kicks in
We always love it when Bill plays one of our "wedding songs" but especially when it was recently our anniversary.
Maybe the best song on maybe the best album of the ‘90s
 maboleth wrote:

Yes, he's a typical radiohead fan in fact. Nothing to worry about, all normal.

 
I'll take one of these so-called typical Radiohead fans over the people who feel some curious need to expound at great length on their distaste for the band.
One of my favourite songs from my favourite band on my birthday. Thank you Bill and RP :) Cheers {#Bananajam}
Seldomly beautiful.
Great album overall.
Uploaded this to RP in 2005... Where has the time gone?  Volume way up.
Seldom performed in concert, we got lucky in Chicago at Lollapalooza this year. 
Genius. Layers, and layers of seeming ugly visions. Laid down in beautiful music.


 zurcronium wrote:
RH is a refined taste not for the riffraff. You either get it you do not. If you do then this song as with so many others from RH 
sound and feel incredible. For the rest, there is reggae and classic rock choices.  
 
Not at all for the riffraff indeed.  Surely they're more for the unique, impeccably cultured people who attend 50,000-seat arenas all over the world to see their shows, or the millions of refined, highly discerning gentry who buy their albums.  Wait, maybe you were just making a joke.
 Chrisjea wrote:

How much longer....I am 65 and fading

 
You are so right !
beautiful piece of music
 maboleth wrote:
Criminally overrated and overhyped band.
Please hire him at funerals. Class weeping, moaning and whining with his thin voice.

 
see Bill!!       This guy is so right - thxs
 kcar wrote:
Toots and the Maytals did it better. 

 
Abso"Freaking"lutely!!!
Great
 dwhayslett wrote:

Does the over-inflated impression of yourself come from listening to Radiohead too?

 
Yes, he's a typical radiohead fan in fact. Nothing to worry about, all normal.
I don't mind Radiohead in the abstract, but I had to take my headphones off for a few seconds and saw no particular reason to put them back on until the track changed.
 zurcronium wrote:
RH is a refined taste not for the riffraff. You either get it you do not. If you do then this song as with so many others from RH 
sound and feel incredible. For the rest, there is reggae and classic rock choices.  

 
Does the over-inflated impression of yourself come from listening to Radiohead too?
RH is a refined taste not for the riffraff. You either get it you do not. If you do then this song as with so many others from RH 
sound and feel incredible. For the rest, there is reggae and classic rock choices.  
Toots and the Maytals did it better. 
Criminally overrated and overhyped band.
Please hire him at funerals. Class weeping, moaning and whining with his thin voice.
 Aazara wrote:
It takes time and effort to really appreciate Radiohead. I know when a new album arrives I have to listen to it 7 or 8 times and then I love it forever. Try harder and you'll love them too. : )

 
How much longer....I am 65 and fading
These guys are just to frigging whiny.  Music is good, lyrics are just horrid and the delivery is piss poor.  Sounds like a teenage girl.
So hoping their upcoming album will be on par with this and In Rainbows?!  Fingers crossed...
 usajpl wrote:

Probably not, but does there need to be?

Just try a different artist if you need help pulling that knife away from your wrist.

 
I do try different artists and I often resort to PSD when RH and TY start droning. I have no knife at my wrist. The universe invented The Beatles, Santana, The Who and so on for high energy tracks but I'm puzzled that RH seems to not have composed at least a few upbeat songs to accompany its frequent dirge-like offerings.  
  kingart wrote:
I liked the music. Then I read the lyrics. 
Is this guy a chronic depressive?
Are there any upbeat tracks in the RH catalogue?
niccca wrote:

try In Rainbows album.

 
That album has some of the most depressing songs ever released. Beautiful, but lord almighty...
 MargaretRose wrote:
Definitely Godlike. {#Notworthy}
 
Hard to imagine how anyone could argue.  😎
Very Cool!
This is what things sound like when they wear out.
 kingart wrote:
I liked the music. Then I read the lyrics. 
Is this guy a chronic depressive?
Are there any upbeat tracks in the RH catalogue? 

 

 
Probably not, but does there need to be?

Just try a different artist if you need help pulling that knife away from your wrist.
 kingart wrote:
I liked the music. Then I read the lyrics. 
Is this guy a chronic depressive?
Are there any upbeat tracks in the RH catalogue? 

 

 
try In Rainbows album.
I liked the music. Then I read the lyrics. 
Is this guy a chronic depressive?
Are there any upbeat tracks in the RH catalogue? 

 
buggar, psd doesn't seem to work  {#Grumpy}
No volume loud enough.
He's still whining ...
Definitely Godlike. {#Notworthy}
 jules44 wrote:
This song is orgasmic!
 

 
Ditto....beautiful song.
This song is orgasmic!
 

 

Dislike - very much so!


It takes time and effort to really appreciate Radiohead. I know when a new album arrives I have to listen to it 7 or 8 times and then I love it forever. Try harder and you'll love them too. : )
Seems like this song gets heavy rotation on RP. Maybe it's just I notice it more because I don't like the song that much.
 finoufk wrote:


which ones are fantastic ?

 
15 Step
Weird Fishes
Subterranean Homesick Alien
Just
The Tourist
Lucky
Planet Telex

Depth + accessibility 
 CCinSB wrote:
Just so horrid.

 
No worries - the PSD button is just to the right of the PLAY button!  {#Yes}{#Stop}
Just so horrid.
Oooh! I really liked that transition from S. Earle's Transcendental Blues!  Well done Bill !  {#Clap}   .....uhm, MASTERFUL and BRILLIANT song this is, just to be clear about this tune.  ;-)
 MassivRuss wrote:
Tried... really tried... really I did. But what is the appeal of this poorly composed, droning dreck? And this was 15 years ago? Before they really ran out of ideas?

For a more professional analysis: https://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9786324/the-album-doctor-prescriptions-jay-z-adele-radiohead-more-artists-need-better-new-albums

"Still one of the most popular and respected rock bands going, Radiohead currently specializes in highly anticipated albums that people desperately want to hear exactly once. 2011's The King of Limbs was Radiohead's crowning achievement in this regard: It had its moments — the drum sound on "Little by Little" is nice — but in retrospect it seems weirdly predictable in its willful inscrutability. Let's be honest: After two decades of pushing at the boundaries of what stadium rock can be, Radiohead has fallen into a rut of self-consciously "difficult" laptop Muzak that sounds a lot less daring in 2013 than it did in 2000."

Simply because it is a "professional analysis" does not mean that the writer understands the point of the song, the band, the music, any of it. That is an opinion. My opinion is that this is a 10. Haven't thought too much about why I feel that way. 
Tried... really tried... really I did. But what is the appeal of this poorly composed, droning dreck? And this was 15 years ago? Before they really ran out of ideas?

For a more professional analysis: https://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9786324/the-album-doctor-prescriptions-jay-z-adele-radiohead-more-artists-need-better-new-albums

"Still one of the most popular and respected rock bands going, Radiohead currently specializes in highly anticipated albums that people desperately want to hear exactly once. 2011's The King of Limbs was Radiohead's crowning achievement in this regard: It had its moments — the drum sound on "Little by Little" is nice — but in retrospect it seems weirdly predictable in its willful inscrutability. Let's be honest: After two decades of pushing at the boundaries of what stadium rock can be, Radiohead has fallen into a rut of self-consciously "difficult" laptop Muzak that sounds a lot less daring in 2013 than it did in 2000."
 gillespp wrote:
For me, there are some Radiohead songs that are just fantastic, but others—like this one— 

"...are kind of a Let Down?"
I just love this song.
 gillespp wrote:
For me, there are some Radiohead songs that are just fantastic, but others—like this one—I just can't stand. I can take only so much.

 

which ones are fantastic ?
 leafmold wrote:
I have no idea what the lyrics are to this song, but love it anyway.

 
See the Lyrics button?
From 7 to 8!! {#Bananapiano}
Make it stop. I you want me to slit my wrists, play this song one more time! Just one more!
For me, there are some Radiohead songs that are just fantastic, but others—like this one—I just can't stand. I can take only so much.
Thanks for playing one of our wedding songs on our anniversary, Bill.
 unclehud wrote:
Man, these guys are NOT HAPPY.

 
You noticed? RH's music is very good, but they seem to be chronically forlorn. 
I have no idea what the lyrics are to this song, but love it anyway.
I've thought of this album as the 90's equivelent of Dark Side of the Moon ever since i first got hooked on it in '97 or 98... Brilliant album, hard to take any one song out. Should be listned to as a complete composition.
I agree wholeheartedly.  I was there, too, and we were culturally deprived by the whole "popular" music thing.  Creative depth like this was never heard among regular folks like us.  Obscure bands never made the Top 20 as we cheered the likes of Slade. Seeing Radiohead live in '97 changed my whole view of what music was about.  A lot of it was good fun in the '70's, but I am only now starting to appreciate some really diverse stuff.  Thanks RP, for enlightening me in my 50's.

Charlie_rijsel wrote:

I love Radiohead and this album is possibly their best - my view is that in future years this album will be viewed in the same light as 'Dark Side of the Moon' - I think they're way ahead of their time.

Every generation has the music of its time -then theres the music that lasts - the music with value.

I grew up in England in the 70s and amongst BayCity Rollers, Abba and Showaddywaddy I never did get to hear much Neil Young...

But when we hear 70s music now thats what we get to hear (mercifully)

 

This goes to 11.
The best Radiohead song ever.

Thom's new stuff all sounds the same to me.
Anybody heard "Judge, Jury, Executioner" by Atoms for Peace"? {#Snooty}
Sounds just like the last 3 albums he's put out.
 johnjconn wrote:
I laugh at publications like Spin, Rolling Stones, etc who rank the greatest rock bands all time. 
They typically say , Beatles, Stones, Elvis, Beach Boys, Clapton, Zepplin, Hendrix and so on.

Where I agree those are great bands, Radiohead tops all of them. 
Excellent band

 
I think you're trying to reach a new high in hyperventilating hyperbole. 

After one deducts points for the often semi-intelligible lyrics delivered by Yorke's thin, off-key voice, and the moony and sometimes torpid arrangements, I must admit that you are absolutely right, they're a great band.  
 

I love Radiohead and this album is possibly their best - my view is that in future years this album will be viewed in the same light as 'Dark Side of the Moon' - I think they're way ahead of their time.

Every generation has the music of its time -then theres the music that lasts - the music with value.

I grew up in England in the 70s and amongst BayCity Rollers, Abba and Showaddywaddy I never did get to hear much Neil Young...

But when we hear 70s music now thats what we get to hear (mercifully)


Man, these guys are NOT HAPPY.
This whole album is a 10. One of the few albums I still listen too over and again.
Best song on their best CD.
10.  {#Cowboy}
Not very memorable for Radiohead.
 arserocket wrote:
I just can't get enough of his voice - I could listen to him solo
 
And fingernails on a blackboard get you really going, huh? {#Fight}
I just can't get enough of his voice - I could listen to him solo
{#Whisper}  Pssst - Radiohead bites.

More Aimless noodling in support of Thom Yorke's truly dreadful vocals.
That last verse just kills me every time.

Best song on an album of straight tens.