There There

"There There" is a song by the English rock band Radiohead. It was released as the lead single from their sixth album, Hail to the Thief (2003), on 26 May 2003. The single peaked at number four on the UK Singles Chart, number one in Canada and Portugal, and number 14 on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. The song appears on Radiohead: The Best Of (2008).

For other uses, see There, there (disambiguation).

"There There"
Single by Radiohead
from the album Hail to the Thief
B-side
  • "Paperbag Writer"
  • "Where Bluebirds Fly"
Released26 May 2003[1]
GenreAlternative rock
Length
  • 5:23 (album version)
  • 4:44 (radio edit)
LabelParlophone
Songwriter(s)
  • Colin Greenwood
  • Jonny Greenwood
  • Ed O'Brien
  • Phil Selway
  • Thom Yorke
Producer(s)
Radiohead singles chronology
"Knives Out"
(2001)		 "There There"
(2003)		 "Go to Sleep"
(2003)
Music video
"There There" on YouTube

Recording

Radiohead performed an early version of "There There" on a webcast during the sessions for their 2000 album Kid A.[2] Most of Hail to the Thief was recorded in two weeks at Ocean Way Recording studios in Los Angeles in 2002, with Radiohead's longtime producer Nigel Godrich.[3] Radiohead recorded a version of "There There" at the studio, but were not satisfied with the results. According to guitarist Jonny Greenwood, "Sometimes it doesn't work at all, because you haven't got the real volume of a live concert ... that just doesn't really work coming out of speakers in your front room ... It just sounded a bit like we were trying to make a worthy 'live band playing together' recording."[4]

Yorke feared the song may be lost,[4] but Radiohead returned to the UK and recorded an alternative version in their Oxfordshire studio. Yorke said he cried with relief when he heard Godrich's mix, saying he had dreamed of how he wanted the song to sound: "And one day you walk into the studio and there it is. But you've not been standing there with a hammer and trying to beat it out of the desk or your guitar, it's not necessary. It's just there one day."[4]

A demo was released as the B-side to Radiohead's 2003 single "2 + 2 = 5".

Composition

"There There" is a rock song with layered percussion building to a loud climax.[5] It was influenced by krautrock band Can,[6] Siouxsie and the Banshees[7] and the Pixies.[4][8] Yorke said the song was "supposed to be comforting – 'It's alright, you're just imagining it.'"[2] The subtitle "The Boney King of Nowhere" refers to an episode of the animated series Bagpuss, which Yorke watched with his young son.[9]

Music video

Yorke asked Bagpuss creator Oliver Postgate to create a music video for "There There", but Postgate, who was retired, declined.[9] Instead, a stop-motion animation video was created by Chris Hopewell.[10] Yorke instructed him to make a video similar to the works of the Brothers Grimm and Czech animator Jan Švankmajer: "Fifties East European genre animation, overlaboured and naive."[10]

The video shows Thom entering a forest at dusk, where he sees many tiny claymation animals similar to Bagpuss characters interacting in human-like activities, such as two cats getting married in a burrow and two squirrels sitting behind a fireplace smoking pipes right by a large log. Thom enters a clearing where he finds a golden jacket along with a golden pair of shoes. He puts them on but suddenly awakens a group of crows, who chase and attack him. However, the shoes appear to give Thom super speed, but the effects wear off when the crows fly away and Thom's feet get tangled in some ivy. He breaks free and is on his way to leave the forest. But then, just as the shoes fall off his feet, his feet turn into tree roots that grow further into the ground, followed by the rest of his body which becomes wood. Twigs sprout out of his head, and his arms become branches. Thom becomes a tree in which the crows rest on the branches.

The video debuted on the Times Square Jumbotron in New York on 20 May 2003, and received hourly play that day on MTV2.[11] The video won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Art Direction at the 2003 MTV Video Awards.[12]

Reception

"There There" reached number four in the UK Singles Chart and number one in Canada. It also received moderate airplay from US modern rock stations, peaking at number fourteen on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart, and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.

Track listing

CD & 12":

  1. "There There" – 5:23
  2. "Paperbag Writer" – 3:58
  3. "Where Bluebirds Fly" – 4:32

Personnel

Release
Country Date Label Format Catalogue number
Japan 21 May 2003 Toshiba-EMI CD TOCP 40161
United Kingdom 26 May 2003[1] Parlophone 12" 12R6608
CD CDR6608

Charts

References
  1. Champ, Hamish (7 June 2003). "Radiohead meet the media with Hail to the Thief" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 21 no. 24. p. 10. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  2. Robinson, John (10 May 2003). "Bagpuss, ex-lax, and the angriest thing we've ever written". NME: 34–35.
  3. Wiederhorn, Jon (19 June 2003). "Radiohead: A New Life". MTV. Retrieved 28 March 2007.
  4. "Radiohead Hail to the Thief – Interview CD" (Interview). 2003. Promotional interview CD sent to British music press.
  5. Osborn, Brad (2016). Everything in its Right Place: Analyzing Radiohead. Oxford University Press.
  6. "Thom Yorke on 'Hail to the Thief'". Xfm London. 2 July 2003. Archived from the original on 19 April 2012. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
  7. "Radiohead Biography". capitolmusic.ca. Archived from the original on 29 June 2006. Retrieved 8 July 2012. Colin Greenwood remembers: "The first single we're releasing is actually the longest song on the record. ("There There"). It was all recorded live in Oxford. We all got excited at the end because Nigel was trying to get Jonny to play like John McGeoch in Siouxsie and the Banshees."
  8. NME Magazine, 10 May 2003
  9. Odell, Michael (July 2003). "Silence! Genius at work". Q: 82–93.
  10. McLean, Craig (16 May 2003). "OK, no computers". The Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 28 April 2019.
  11. Cohen, Jonathan (14 June 2003). "Web Leak Fails to Deter Capitol's Radiohead Setup". Billboard.
  12. "2003 MTV Video Music Awards Winners". Billboard. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
  13. "Australian-charts.com – Radiohead – There There". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  14. "Ultratop.be – Radiohead – There There" (in Dutch). Ultratip. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  15. "Ultratop.be – Radiohead – There There" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  16. "Radiohead Chart History (Canadian Digital Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  17. "Danishcharts.com – Radiohead – There There". Tracklisten. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  18. "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 21 no. 25. 14 June 2003. p. 7. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  19. "Radiohead: There There" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  20. "Lescharts.com – Radiohead – There There" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  21. "Offiziellecharts.de – Radiohead – There There". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  22. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Radiohead". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  23. "Italiancharts.com – Radiohead – There There". Top Digital Download. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  24. "Dutchcharts.nl – Radiohead – There There" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  25. "Norwegiancharts.com – Radiohead – There There". VG-lista. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  26. "Top National Sellers" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 21 no. 25. 14 June 2003. p. 9. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  27. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  28. "Swedishcharts.com – Radiohead – There There". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  29. "Swisscharts.com – Radiohead – There There". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  30. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  31. "Official Rock & Metal Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  32. "Radiohead Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  33. "The Official UK Singles Chart 2003" (PDF). UKChartsPlus. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.