(Photo by Patrick Kovarik/AFP/Getty Images via Slate)
Radiohead has “grown its wings,” setting a new worldwide recognition this year. The English 90s alternative rock band Radiohead achieves its second-ever global hit milestone with Let Down, which peaked at No. 190 on the Billboard Global 200 since the release of its extended play album, OK Computer, in 1997.
The song now joins “Creep,” Radiohead’s 1992 greatest hit debut single, which soon became the second song on their first album Pablo Honey, in 1993, on the same Billboard category and is currently sitting at No. 50 since charting in 2023.
Let Down recently gained traction in the mainstream and has later become a massive trend in the social media world, often used as background music for aesthetically “dramatic” and “emotional” video edits, which is also a popular medium of “artistic expression” in this generation.
While the song generally projects “a sense of disappointment,” many of its listeners got particularly hooked on ‘that one line’ — “One day I am gonna grow wings” — which sparked various interpretations from fans on what it might actually mean.
As of today, the song is No. 193 at the Billboard Global 200, with over 277 million total Spotify streams, and more than 70 million YouTube views on its official and remastered audio.
Let Down, which serves as the fifth track of OK Computer with a length of almost 5 minutes, was written and co-produced by the band members themselves: Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, Ed O’Brien, Colin Greenwood, and Philip Selway.