Optimistic (Radiohead song)

Last updated

"Optimistic"
Optimistic cover art.jpg
European promotional single cover
Promotional single by Radiohead
from the album Kid A
Written1998 [1]
Released27 September 2000 (2000-09-27) [a]
Genre
Length
  • 4:53 (Single version)
  • 5:16 (Album version)
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Audio
"Optimistic" on YouTube

"Optimistic" is a song by the English rock band Radiohead from their fourth studio album, Kid A (2000). It was produced by Radiohead with their producer, Nigel Godrich, and was released as a promotional single in the US and Europe, receiving radio play. [2] [3]

Contents

Composition

According to the Radiohead singer, Thom Yorke, he and the lead guitarist, Jonny Greenwood, wrote "Optimistic" in 1998 while traveling through a desert. [1] The refrain, "Try the best you can / The best you can is good enough", was an assurance by Yorke's partner, Rachel Owen, when he was frustrated with Radiohead's recording progress. [4] April Clare Welsh of NME interpreted the line, along with "flies are buzzing around my head / vultures circling the dead", as a possible comment on the pressures of fame. [5] The lyrics were described as possibly ironic. [6] [7]

Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone described "Optimistic" as an "explicit homage" to the 1992 R.E.M. album Automatic for the People , with similar vocal rhythms. [1] In another article, Sheffield likened the hook to Blind Faith. [8] Critics noted how "Optimistic" was similar to Radiohead's rock sound, while other Kid A songs differed from it. [9]

Reception

Writers of Consequence of Sound named it the 30th-best Radiohead song, and said it is "the most 'Radiohead' song on the album" and that it "doesn't best represent the songs that surround it". [10] PopMatters ranked it as the 6th best Kid A track, stating that it is "quite easily the closest that we get to a conventional rock song here" as the "only predominantly guitar-based song" on the album. [6]

Marc Hogan of Vulture said that "Optimistic" "drew extra attention at the time for being a rare rock-oriented brooder on its Aphex Twin- and Autechre-aspiring album home. If the rest of Kid A looked to expand Radiohead listeners' boundaries, 'Optimistic' was the band's way of showing what it could already do within the old ones." He ranked the song as the band's 21st-best. [11] April Clare Welsh of NME said that it is "probably the most Bends -like track Kid A has to offer", ranking it as the 5th best on the album. [5]

Chris DeVille of Stereogum opined that "Optimistic" "is probably the most underrated song in Radiohead's discography". [12] It was included on Radiohead: The Best Of (2008) [13] and Kid A Mnesia (2021). [14]

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2000)Peak
position
US Alternative Airplay ( Billboard ) [15] 10

Year-end charts

Chart (2000)Position
US Modern Rock Tracks (Billboard) [16] 78
Chart (2001)Position
US Modern Rock Tracks (Billboard) [17] 90

Notes

  1. ↑ Since the release date of the promotional single is unknown, this is the earliest date the song was released as an album track.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Sheffield, Rob (2 October 2020). "Kid A at 20: Why Radiohead's Futuristic Masterpiece Sounds Right on Time". Rolling Stone . Retrieved 14 October 2023.
  2. ↑ "The Friday interview: Thom Yorke". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
  3. ↑ Archive-Sorelle-Saidman. "Radiohead Plan Singles, Videos For Amnesiac, Yorke Says". MTV News . Archived from the original on 25 April 2019. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  4. ↑ Cavanagh, David (October 2000). "I can see the monsters". Q : 96–104.
  5. 1 2 Welsh, April Clare (2 October 2015). "Radiohead's 'Kid A' – The Album's Tracks Ranked In Order Of Greatness". NME. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
  6. 1 2 "Between the Grooves of Radiohead's 'Kid A'". PopMatters. 2 October 2020. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
  7. ↑ Byers, Will (11 June 2009). "School of rock: O is for Optimism". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
  8. ↑ Sheffield, Rob (2 October 2015). "How Radiohead's 'Kid A' Shocked the World". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
  9. ↑ "Radiohead Scores With Kid A". ABC News. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
  10. ↑ "Ranking: Every Radiohead Song from Worst to Best". 28 June 2017. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
  11. ↑ Hogan, Marc (28 March 2019). "I Might Be Wrong: Every Radiohead Song, Ranked". Vulture. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
  12. ↑ "Radiohead's 'Kid A' Came Out 20 Years Ago Today". Stereogum. 2 October 2020. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
  13. ↑ "Radiohead - The Best of Radiohead". AllMusic. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
  14. ↑ "Radiohead - Kid A Mnesia". AllMusic. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
  15. ↑ "Radiohead Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
  16. ↑ "Most Played Modern Rock Songs of 2000". Airplay Monitor . Vol. 8, no. 51. 22 December 2000. p. 38.
  17. ↑ "Most-Played Modern Rock Songs of 2001". Airplay Monitor. Vol. 9, no. 51. 21 December 2001. p. 40.