| "Follow Me Around" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single byRadiohead | ||||
| from the albumKid A Mnesia | ||||
| Released | 1 November 2021 | |||
| Recorded | January 1999 – April 2000 | |||
| Genre | Acoustic rock | |||
| Length | 5:19 | |||
| Label | XL | |||
| Songwriter | Radiohead | |||
| Producers |
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| Radiohead singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "Follow Me Around" onYouTube | ||||
"Follow Me Around" is a song by the English rock bandRadiohead, released on 1 November 2021 as the second single from the compilation albumKid 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 their fourth and fifth studio albums,Kid A (2000) andAmnesiac (2001), but it went unreleased until 2021. It was accompanied by a music video starringGuy Pearce.
"Follow Me Around" features a solo performance byThom Yorke on acoustic guitar, with a "soaring" chorus.[1] The lyrics express paranoia and dread, and referenceMargaret Thatcher.[1][2] Earlier versions instead referencedTony Blair.[1]The A.V. Club described "Follow Me Around" as perhaps Radiohead's simplest pop song, likening it toEddie Vedder.[3]Rolling Stone said it was one of Yorke's darkest songs.[4]
"Follow Me Around" first appeared in the 1998 documentaryMeeting People Is Easy, which includes a performance recorded during asoundcheck.[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 albumsKid A (2000) andAmnesiac (2001), recorded simultaneously.[6] In an online diary written during the sessions, the guitaristEd O'Brien wrote that they wanted to find a new approach rather than "fall into old habits".[4] It went unreleased, which critics surmised was because it did not fit the albums' experimental style.[1][3][6]
In the following years, Yorke performed "Follow Me Around" occasionally with Radiohead, in solo performances, and with his side projectAtoms for Peace.[7] He and the Radiohead guitaristJonny Greenwood performed a rearranged version in 2017.[8]
Radiohead released "Follow Me Around" on the 2021 compilation albumKid A Mnesia. It was released as the second single on 1 November.[6] The day before the release, Radiohead uploaded a full-quality clip of the performance fromMeeting People is Easy to theirYouTube channel.[7]
The "Follow Me Around" music video features the actorGuy Pearce being chased by adrone camera.[9][10] It 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]
Several publications celebrated the release of a long-awaited fan favourite.[9][2][12][5][7]The Times wrote that it was the best of the bonus content onKid 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. BecauseKid A was not just pop music; it was about educating fans in what pop music could be."[1]
