"Follow Me Around"
Single by Radiohead
from the album Kid A Mnesia
Released1 November 2021
RecordedJanuary 1999 – April 2000
GenreAcoustic rock
Length5:19
LabelXL
Songwriter(s)Radiohead
Producer(s)
Radiohead singles chronology
"If You Say the Word"
(2021) 		"Follow Me Around"
(2021)
Music video
"Follow Me Around" on YouTube

"Follow Me Around" is a song by the English rock band Radiohead, released on 1 November 2021 as the second single from their compilation album Kid A Mnesia. It features the singer, Thom Yorke, on acoustic guitar, with lyrics expressing paranoia and dread.

Radiohead recorded "Follow Me Around" during the joint sessions for Radiohead's fourth and fifth studio albums, Kid A (2000) and Amnesiac (2001), but went unreleased until 2021. It was accompanied by a music video starring Guy Pearce.

Music

"Follow Me Around" features a solo performance by Thom Yorke on acoustic guitar, with a "soaring" chorus.[1] The lyrics express paranoia and dread, and reference Margaret Thatcher.[1][2] Earlier versions instead referenced Tony Blair.[1] The A.V. Club described "Follow Me Around" as perhaps the simplest pop song Radiohead had ever released, likening it to Eddie Vedder.[3] Rolling Stone said it was one of Yorke's darkest songs.[4]

History

"Follow Me Around" first appeared in the 1998 documentary Meeting People Is Easy, which includes a performance recorded during a soundcheck.[5] After Radiohead performed it at a Toronto show in 2000, fans created a website demanding its release.[5] Bootleg recordings circulated online and the song became a fan favourite.[6][7]

Radiohead recorded "Follow Me Around" during the sessions for their albums Kid A (2000) and Amnesiac (2001).[6] In an online diary written during the sessions, the guitarist Ed O'Brien wrote that the band wanted to approach it in a new way rather than "fall into old habits".[4] Critics surmised that it went unreleased as it was too conventional and did not fit the albums' experimental style.[1][3][6] In the following years, Yorke performed it occasionally with Radiohead, in solo performances, and with his side project Atoms for Peace.[7] He and the Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood performed a rearranged version in 2017.[8]

Release

Radiohead released "Follow Me Around" on the 2021 compilation album Kid A Mnesia. It was released as the album's second single on 1 November.[6] The day before the release, Radiohead uploaded a full-quality clip of the performance from Meeting People is Easy to their YouTube channel.[7]

On the day of the release, Radiohead released a music video for "Follow Me Around" featuring the actor Guy Pearce being chased by a drone camera.[9][10] The video was directed by Us, a directing duo consisting of Chris Barrett and Luke Taylor.[11] Pearce said the video was recorded a few weeks before the release.[9]

Reception

Several publications celebrated the release of a long-awaited fan favourite, including Rolling Stone,[9] The Fader,[2] Spin,[12] Uproxx[5] and NME.[7] The Times wrote that it was the best of the bonus content on Kid A Mnesia and described it as "a brilliant song made at the wrong time, by a band who had moved on and who, eventually, moved a lot of fans with them too. Because Kid A was not just pop music; it was about educating fans in what pop music could be."[1]

Personnel

Radiohead

Additional personnel

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Dean, Jonathan. "Kid A Mnesia shows that the future is still Radiohead". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 2021-10-24.
  2. ^ a b Darville, Jordan (1 November 2021). "Radiohead officially releases fan favorite track 'Follow Me Around'". The Fader. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  3. ^ a b McLevy, Alex (1 November 2021). "Radiohead's long-awaited new single is one of the purest folk-pop songs they've ever written". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  4. ^ a b Kreps, Daniel; Ehlrich, David; Montgomery, James (6 September 2016). ""Polyethylene (Parts 1 & 2)" (1997) - 20 Insanely Great Radiohead Songs Only Hardcore Fans Know". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 6 April 2016. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
  5. ^ a b c Spinelli, Adrian (1 November 2021). "Radiohead Finally Releases The Sought-After Rarity 'Follow Me Around'". Uproxx. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  6. ^ a b c d DeVille, Chris (1 November 2021). "Radiohead – 'Follow Me Around'". Stereogum. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  7. ^ a b c d Shutler, Ali (1 November 2021). "Radiohead finally release fan favourite 'Follow Me Around'". NME. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  8. ^ Rettig, James (20 August 2017). "Watch Radiohead's Thom Yorke & Jonny Greenwood Play Rarities At Italian Earthquake Benefit". Stereogum. Archived from the original on 6 September 2017. Retrieved 6 September 2017.
  9. ^ a b c Martoccio, Angie (2021-11-01). "Radiohead's 'Follow Me Around' is a holy grail for fans. 20 years later, it's here". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2021-11-01.
  10. ^ "Radiohead - Follow Me Around Video". Contact Music. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  11. ^ "Some Music Videos & Commercials by Us". We Are Us. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  12. ^ Whitaker, Marisa (1 November 2021). "Radiohead Releases Rare Fan Favorite 'Follow Me Around'". Spin. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
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