music.wikisort.org - Composition

Search / Calendar

"Pop Is Dead" is a song by the British alternative rock band Radiohead. It was released as a non-album single on 10 May 1993, several months after their debut album Pablo Honey. It reached number 42 on the UK Singles Chart.[2] It was included in the 2009 Pablo Honey reissue.[3]

"Pop Is Dead"
Single by Radiohead
Released10 May 1993
StudioChipping Norton Recording Studios[1]
GenreAlternative rock
Length2:10
Label
  • Parlophone
  • EMI
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Jim Warren
  • Radiohead
Radiohead singles chronology
"Anyone Can Play Guitar"
(1993)		 "Pop Is Dead"
(1993)		 "Stop Whispering"
(1993)

Background and lyrics


"Pop Is Dead" is driven by a chromatic riff played by guitarist Jonny Greenwood.[4] Similar to Radiohead's previous single, "Anyone Can Play Guitar", the lyrics criticise the media and music industry.[4][5]

The B-side, the acoustic track "Banana Co.", was described as "a mildly Beatlesque tune" with lyrics that hinted at a general loathing of multinational corporations. The electric version of the track was later included on the "Street Spirit (Fade Out)" single.[4][6] The live version of the "Ripcord" from the B-side was recorded at a Town and Country Club gig in London in February 1993, when Radiohead opened for Belly. This version contains extra lyrics, added after the second chorus: "They can kiss my ass!"[7]


Reception


"Pop Is Dead" reached number 42 on the UK Singles Chart,[2] below expectations. It was not released in the US.[8] Following the release of Radiohead's second album, The Bends, in 1995, Melody Maker editor Robin Bresnark wrote: "If they came out with ["Pop is Dead"] now, it would be a top five single."[4] Five years after its release, Radiohead guitarist Ed O'Brien called the track "a hideous mistake".[4] Similarly, drummer Phil Selway has remarked that if he could time travel and tell his earlier self something, it would be to not release the track.[9]

Reviewing the 2009 Pablo Honey reissue, IGN critic Finn White described "Pop is Dead" as a "clever and humorous rock satire".[10] However, Pitchfork's Scott Plagenhoef found the track "dreadful".[11] In 2019, Vulture critic Marc Hogan named it the worst Radiohead song.[12]


Music video


Singer Thom Yorke as a dandified vampire in a glass coffin in the music video
Singer Thom Yorke as "a dandified vampire in a glass coffin" in the music video

The music video was directed by Dwight Clarke, based on a treatment by singer Thom Yorke. It features Yorke portraying the character of Pop as "a dandified vampire in a glass coffin", accompanied by other band members.[13] According to Clarke, "We had the entire Radiohead fan club carrying him across the Oxford Downs ... In the early '90s, we probably thought those videos were all right, but looking back at them now, we all just want to die."[14] Stereogum likened the video to those of Nirvana.[13]


Track listing


  1. "Pop Is Dead" – 2:13
  2. "Banana Co." (acoustic) – 2:27
  3. "Creep" (live) – 4:11
  4. "Ripcord" (live) – 3:08

Personnel


Radiohead

Technical personnel


Chart performance


Chart (1993) Peak
position
UK Singles Chart[2] 42

References


  1. "Radiohead – Pop Is Dead". Discogs. Retrieved 7 September 2016.
  2. "Radiohead - UK Singles Chart". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  3. Fitzmaurice, Larry (15 January 2009). "Radiohead's First Three Albums Reissued with Extras". Spin. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  4. Randall, Mac (2011). Exit Music - The Radiohead Story: The Radiohead Story. Omnibus. ISBN 978-0857126955.
  5. Wallace, Wyndham (3 March 2015). "World Class: How Radiohead Gave Us The Bends". The Quietus. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  6. Gaerig, Andrew (12 May 2005). "Playing god: Radiohead: Pablo Honey". Stylus Magazine. Stylus Magazine. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  7. Hale, Jonathan (1999). Radiohead: From a Great Height. ECW Press. ISBN 1550223739.
  8. Mac Randall (1 April 1998). "The Golden Age of Radiohead". Guitar World. Archived from the original on 3 September 2017. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
  9. Branwyn, Gareth (2022-09-18). "The Radiohead song the band wants you to forget about". BoingBoing. Retrieved 2022-09-18.
  10. White, Finn (24 March 2009). "Radiohead - Pablo Honey (Collector's Edition) Review". IGN. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  11. Plagenhoef, Scott (16 April 2009). "Radiohead - Pablo Honey: Collector's Edition". Pitchfork. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  12. "I Might Be Wrong: Every Radiohead Song, Ranked". Vulture. 2019-03-28. Retrieved 2021-07-02.
  13. Breihan, Tom (13 March 2015). "Out Of Control On Videotape: The 10 Best Radiohead Music Videos". Stereogum. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  14. Dombal, Ryan (21 March 2017). "This is what you get: an oral history of Radiohead's "Karma Police" video". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2021-07-05.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)


This 1990s rock song-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

  • v
  • t
  • e

На других языках

- [en] Pop Is Dead

[es] Pop is Dead

«Pop is Dead» es el tercer sencillo lanzado por Radiohead. Es el único sencillo que no está en ninguno de sus álbumes.


Текст в блоке "Читать" взят с сайта "Википедия" и доступен по лицензии Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike; в отдельных случаях могут действовать дополнительные условия.

Другой контент может иметь иную лицензию. Перед использованием материалов сайта WikiSort.org внимательно изучите правила лицензирования конкретных элементов наполнения сайта.

2019-2025
WikiSort.org - проект по пересортировке и дополнению контента Википедии