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There There

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For other uses, see There, There.

"There There"
Single by Radiohead
from the album Hail to the Thief
B-side
  • "Paperbag Writer"
  • "Where Bluebirds Fly"
Released21 May 2003 (2003-05-21)[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

"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 21 May 2003. It reached 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).

Recording

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Radiohead worked on "There There" during the sessions for their fourth album, Kid A (2000).[2] They recorded it for their sixth album, Hail to the Thief, with their longtime producer, Nigel Godrich.[3] They recorded a version at Ocean Way in Los Angeles in 2002, but were not satisfied with the results. According to the 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]

The singer, Thom Yorke, feared the song may be lost.[4] However, 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".[citation needed]

Composition

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

Music video

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Yorke asked Oliver Postgate, the creator of Bagpuss, to create the music video for "There There", but Postgate declined as he was retired.[9] Instead, a stop-motion-animated video was created by Chris Hopewell.[10] Yorke instructed him to make a video similar to the folk tales of the Brothers Grimm and the Czech animator Jan Švankmajer. Hopewell described it as "fifties East European genre animation, overlaboured and naive".[10] The video debuted on the Times Square Jumbotron in New York on 20 May 2003, and received hourly play that day on MTV2.[11] In 2020, Greenwood said it was Radiohead's best video.[12]

In the video, Yorke enters a forest and walks around a town consisting entirely of animals. He sees numerous events play out, such as a wedding, and finds a golden jacket and a pair of golden shoes. He puts them on, awakening a group of crows, who chase and attack him. The shoes give Yorke super speed, but the effect wears off when the crows fly away and his feet become tangled in ivy. He breaks free, but the shoes fall off. His feet become tree roots, and Yorke becomes a tree. The crows rest on the branches.

Reception

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"There There" was released as the lead single from Hail to the Thief on 21 May 2003.[13] The Guardian described the choice of a more conventional rock song as "diplomatic" following the divided response to Radiohead's previous albums Kid A and Amnesiac.[14] The single reached number four on the UK Singles Chart and number one in Canada. It also received airplay on US modern rock stations, reaching 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.[citation needed] The music video won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Art Direction at the 2003 MTV Video Awards.[15] In 2020, the Guardian named "There There" the 27th-greatest Radiohead song, writing that its "hooks and arrangement were deceptively crafty ... making its turbulent climax hard to shake".[16]

Track listings

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Standard CD and 12-inch single[17][18]

  1. "There There" – 5:24
  2. "Paperbag Writer" – 3:58
  3. "Where Bluebirds Fly" – 4:31

Personnel

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Charts

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Release history

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Region Date Label Format Catalogue number Ref.
Japan 21 May 2003 Parlophone CD TOCP-40161 [1][30]
Australia 26 May 2003 7243 5 52336 2 2 [42]
United Kingdom CDR 6608 [43]
12-inch vinyl R 6608

References

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  1. ^ a b "Single 'There there.'" (in Japanese). Toshiba EMI. Archived from the original on 1 August 2003. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  2. ^ a b 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. Archived from the original on 6 August 2003. Retrieved 28 March 2007.
  4. ^ a b c d "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. ^ a b Odell, Michael (July 2003). "Silence! Genius at work". Q: 82–93.
  10. ^ a b 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. ^ Lake, Alex (24 January 2020). "Here are Radiohead's personal discoveries from their public library". Flood Magazine. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
  13. ^ "Single 'There there.'" (in Japanese). Toshiba EMI. Archived from the original on 1 August 2003. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  14. ^ Monroe, Jazz (23 January 2020). "Radiohead's 40 greatest songs – ranked!". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  15. ^ "2003 MTV Video Music Awards Winners". Billboard. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
  16. ^ Monroe, Jazz (23 January 2020). "Radiohead's 40 greatest songs – ranked!". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  17. ^ There There (UK CD single liner notes). Radiohead. Parlophone. 2003. CDR 6608, 7243 5 52336 2 2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  18. ^ There There (UK 12-inch single sleeve). Radiohead. Parlophone. 2003. R 6608, 7243 5 52336 6 0.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  19. ^ "Radiohead – There There". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  20. ^ "Radiohead – There There" (in Dutch). Ultratip. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  21. ^ "Radiohead – There There" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  22. ^ "Radiohead Chart History (Canadian Digital Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  23. ^ "Radiohead – There There". Tracklisten. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  24. ^ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 21, no. 25. 14 June 2003. p. 7. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  25. ^ "Radiohead: There There" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  26. ^ "Radiohead – There There" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  27. ^ "Radiohead – There There" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  28. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Radiohead". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  29. ^ "Radiohead – There There". Top Digital Download. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  30. ^ a b "ゼア、ゼア | レディオヘッド" [There, There | Radiohead] (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  31. ^ "Tipparade-lijst van week 26, 2003" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
  32. ^ "Radiohead – There There" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  33. ^ "Radiohead – There There". VG-lista. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  34. ^ "Top National Sellers" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 21, no. 25. 14 June 2003. p. 9. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  35. ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  36. ^ "Radiohead – There There". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  37. ^ "Radiohead – There There". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  38. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  39. ^ "Official Rock & Metal Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  40. ^ "Radiohead Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  41. ^ "The Official UK Singles Chart 2003" (PDF). UKChartsPlus. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  42. ^ "The ARIA Report: New Releases Singles – Week Commencing 26th May 2003" (PDF). ARIA. 26 May 2003. p. 25. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 July 2003. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
  43. ^ 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.
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