Radiohead signed to EMI in 1991 and released their debut album, Pablo Honey, in 1993; their debut single, "Creep", became a worldwide hit. Radiohead's popularity and critical standing rose with the release of The Bends in 1995. Radiohead's third album, OK Computer (1997), brought them international fame; noted for its complex production and themes of modern alienation, it is acclaimed as a landmark record and one of the best albums in popular music.
Radiohead's fourth album, Kid A (2000), marked a dramatic change in style, incorporating influences from electronic music, jazz, classical music and krautrock. Though Kid A divided listeners, it later attracted wide acclaim. It was followed by Amnesiac (2001), recorded in the same sessions. Hail to the Thief (2003), with lyrics addressing the War on Terror, was Radiohead's final album for EMI.
Radiohead self-released their seventh album, In Rainbows (2007), as a download for which customers could set their own price, to critical and chart success. Their eighth album, The King of Limbs (2011), an exploration of rhythm, was developed using extensive looping and sampling. A Moon Shaped Pool (2016) prominently featured Jonny Greenwood's orchestral arrangements. Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, Selway, and O'Brien have released solo albums; in 2021, Yorke and Jonny Greenwood debuted a new band, the Smile.
By 2011, Radiohead had sold more than 30 million albums worldwide. Their awards include six Grammy Awards and four Ivor Novello Awards, and they hold five Mercury Prize nominations, the most of any act. Seven Radiohead singles have reached the top 10 on the UK Singles Chart: "Creep" (1992), "Street Spirit (Fade Out)" (1996), "Paranoid Android" (1997), "Karma Police" (1997), "No Surprises" (1998), "Pyramid Song" (2001), and "There There" (2003). "Creep" and "Nude" (2008) reached the top 40 on the US Billboard Hot 100. Rolling Stone named Radiohead one of the 100 greatest artists of all time, and Rolling Stone readers voted them the second-best artist of the 2000s. Five Radiohead albums have been included in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time lists. Radiohead were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019.
Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiohead
Studio albums
Pablo Honey (1993)
The Bends (1995)
OK Computer (1997)
Kid A (2000)
Amnesiac (2001)
Hail to the Thief (2003)
In Rainbows (2007)
The King of Limbs (2011)
A Moon Shaped Pool (2016)
Little by Little
Radiohead Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The dark cell
The pillar of my soul
The last one out of the box
The one who broke this spell
Little by little by hook or by crook
I'm such a tease
Once you've been hurt
You've been around enough
Little by little by hook or by crook
Never get earnest
Never get judged
I'm no idiot
I should look
Your clue on hold, snapped up
Crawling with my love
The last one out of the box
The one that broke the seal
Obligation
Complication
Routines and schedules
Drug and kill you
Kill you
Little by little by hook or by crook
Never get nervous
Never get judged
I'm no idiot
I should look
Little by little by hook or by crook
I'm such a tease
And you're such a flirt
The lyrics of Radiohead’s “Little By Little” can be understood as a reflection on the complexities of relationships and the struggles of maintaining intimacy. The song starts off in a black space, where the singer alludes to a deep psychological struggle that he experiences - perhaps a reference to a dark period in the singer’s life. The “pillar of my soul” is shown to be a dark and uncomfortable place, from which the singer is emerging. He is the “last one out of the box” who, after being hurt and broken, is finally able to break the spell.
As the song progresses, the singer speaks about the difficulties in maintaining relationships when both parties have been hurt before. He describes himself as a “tease” and the other party as a “flirt” - an intricate game of cat and mouse where both parties are tempted to test the waters but hesitant to commit. He advises against getting too serious or judging each other, and instead advocates for taking things little by little.
The lyrics are ultimately concluded with haunting references to the destructive aspects of obsession, and the need to maintain a certain distance in order to avoid the trap of routine and addiction. The chorus that repeats “little by little by hook or by crook” seems to suggest that the singer is aware of the sinister forces at play but feels that change must happen gradually in order to achieve a concrete resolution.
Overall, the song can be interpreted as an exploration of the dynamics of intimacy, and the complex games that people play when they attempt to connect with each other. The title of the song “Little By Little” emphasizes the idea that growth and change must be incremental - a steady progression from a dark place towards the light.
Line by Line Meaning
Turn to nasty now
Things have gotten unpleasant
The dark cell
In a negative situation
The pillar of my soul
My essence, something fundamental about me
The last one out of the box
The final thing
The one who broke this spell
The cause of something changing
Little by little by hook or by crook
Slowly and by any means necessary
I'm such a tease
I like to play games and lead people on
And you're such a flirt
You like to show interest in many people
Once you've been hurt
After experiencing pain in the past
You've been around enough
You have experience and won't fall for the same thing again
Never get earnest
Don't take things too seriously
Never get judged
Don't let others' opinions affect you
I'm no idiot
I'm not stupid
I should look
I need to be careful
Your clue on hold, snapped up
Your hint was taken quickly by someone else
Crawling with my love
Acting desperately in the name of love
The one that broke the seal
The one that opened the way for something else
Obligation
A duty or responsibility
Complication
Something that makes a situation more difficult
Routines and schedules
The normal way of doing things
Drug and kill you
Something that makes you feel trapped and dead inside
I'm such a tease
I like to play games and lead people on
And you're such a flirt
You like to show interest in many people
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Colin Charles Greenwood, Edward John O'Brien, Jonathan Richard Guy Greenwood, Philip James Selway, Thomas Edward Yorke
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@user-gp3vn8pt3n
Don't turn nasty now
The dusts of hell
A pillar of my salt
The last one out of the box
The one who broke the spell
Little by little, by hook or by crook
Never in earnest, never get judged
I don't no where it is, I should look
Ooh
Little by little, by hook or by crook
I'm such a tease and you're such a flirt
Once you've been 'round you've been around enough
Ooh
The glue won't hold
The thread unpulls
Uncurling with my love
The last one out of the box
The one who broke the seal
Obligations
Complications
Routines and schedules
The drug that will kill you
Kill you
Little by little, by hook or by crook
Never in earnest, never get judged
I don't no where it is, I should look
Little by little, by hook or by crook
I'm such a tease and you're such a flirt
@lucigaiah
" Turn to nasty now
The dark cell
The pit of my soul
The last one out of the box
The one who broke this spell
Little by little by hook or by crook
I'm such a tease
And you're such a flirt
Once you've been hurt
You've been around enough
Little by little by hook or by crook
Never get nervous
Never get judged
I'm no idiot
I should look
Your clue on hold, snapped up
Crawling with my love
The last one out of the box
The one that broke the seal
Obligation
Complication
Routines and schedules
Drug that will kill you
Kill you
Little by little by hook or by crook
Never get nervous
Never get judged
I'm no idiot
I should look "
@thisistheglasshouse
The dynamic that Phil and Clive have are incredible. One plays a normal beat to keep the band anchored, and the other does some crazy syncopated shit to give the beat that added The King Of Limbs complexity. A bit like tug of war.
@ChudLife
Drumming this or Reckoner broke my brain as a kid
@thisistheglasshouse
@@ChudLife trying to play along to reckoner when i was just starting out and crying. good memories
@ChudLife
@@thisistheglasshouse ooo also, Separator. That one still trips me up
@Losfhc
The plastic water bottle taped to Clive’s drum stick 🥁 as a shaker nice touch how am I now just noticing that, this band is something else I can listen to any one of their songs hundreds of times and pick up some melody or tune I never noticed before they are outstanding musicians
@chriscrews7677
Under every Radiohead song it says, "most underrated song" or something similar.
@fortochka5227
such underrated comment
@CyanideOfficialMusic06
This has been mixed unbelievably well
@dennismckinney99
I absolutely agree.
@BlakesFortune
That grumbling tone of the guitar. One of my favourites. An underrated track.