15 Step
{{Infobox song
| name = 15 Step
| type = song
| artist = Radiohead
| album = In Rainbows
| released = {{Start date|2007|10|10}}
| genre = *Art rock
| length = {{Duration|m=3|s=57}}
| label = *XL
| writer = Radiohead
| producer = Nigel Godrich
| misc = {{External music video
| type = song
| header = Music video
| 1 = {{YouTube|xpqk9MD6vLM|"15 Step"}}}}
}}
"15 Step" is a song by the English alternative rock band Radiohead, released as the opening track on their seventh studio album, In Rainbows (2007). Produced by Nigel Godrich, the song was written in 2005 during a "mad rhythm experiment". The song received acclaim from music critics, who praised its blend of electronic and rock elements.
The animated music video for "15 Step" was released in 2008, after its storyboard won a contest sponsored by the band.
Background
File:Thom Yorke (3388651254).jpg performing "15 Step" in 2009 in São Paulo, Brazil]]
"15 Step" was developed in 2005, when Radiohead was experimenting with odd rhythms. The singer, Thom Yorke, arranged the song on his laptop,Doyle, Tom (April 2008). "The Complete Radiohead". Q (92) inspired by the "clapping groove" of "Fuck the Pain Away" (2000) by Peaches.Kent, Nick (1 August 2006). "Ghost in the Machine". Mojo. EMAP. pp. 74–77.{{Cite web |last=Golsen |first=Tyler |date=October 19, 2023 |title=The Radiohead song born out of a "mad rhythm experiment" |url=https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/the-radiohead-song-born-out-of-a-mad-rhythm-experiment/ |access-date=October 29, 2023 |website=Far Out}}
On March 8, 2006, Radiohead teased the song ahead of their tour later that year through a picture posted to their blog. During the tour, "15 Step" was debuted in their first performance at Copenhagen, and was played in all 28 of the subsequent 2006 stops.{{Cite web |last=Plagenhoef |first=Scott |date=October 9, 2007 |title=Pitchfork's Guide to Radiohead's In Rainbows |url=https://pitchfork.com/features/article/6707-pitchforks-guide-to-radioheads-in-rainbows/ |access-date=October 11, 2023 |website=Pitchfork}}
Lyrics and composition
"15 Step" features syncopated drumming and a "smooth" guitar line.{{Cite web |date=October 10, 2007 |title=Radiohead new album: 'In Rainbows' track by track |url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/radiohead-577-1352464 |access-date=October 11, 2023 |website=NME}}{{Cite web |last=Pytlik |first=Mark |date=October 15, 2007 |title=Radiohead: In Rainbows Album Review |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/10785-in-rainbows/ |access-date=October 9, 2023 |website=Pitchfork}} The song is written in Quintuple meter,{{Cite web |last=Fishko |first=Sara |date=September 26, 2008 |title=Playing Five Beats To The Measure |url=https://www.npr.org/2008/09/26/94723908/playing-five-beats-to-the-measure |access-date=November 1, 2023 |website=NPR}} with a "stuttering" pattern played on a drum machine.{{Cite magazine |last=Tyrangiel |first=Josh |date=February 8, 2009 |title="15 Step," Radiohead |url=https://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1877619_1877620_1878033,00.html |access-date=October 9, 2023 |magazine=Time}}{{Cite magazine |last=Frere-Jones |first=Sasha |date=June 18, 2006 |title=Fine Tuning |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2006/06/26/fine-tuning |access-date=October 9, 2023 |magazine=The New Yorker}} "15 Step" begins with a 40-second "mulched-up" drum introduction reminiscent of songs on Kid A, before a "blissful" guitar line and a bass line reminiscent of "Airbag" on OK Computer enter.{{Cite web |date=October 7, 2022 |title=Every Radiohead Album Ranked From Worst to Best |url=https://consequence.net/2022/10/radiohead-albums-ranked-list/ |access-date=February 24, 2024 |website=Consequence}} This bass and guitar line "reveals" that the song is in the Dorian mode, until it changes to a minor key at the 1:38 mark.{{Cite journal |last=Malawey |first=Victoria |date=2012 |title=Ear Training with the Music of Radiohead |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24045402 |journal=Indiana Theory Review |publisher=Indiana University Press |volume=30 |issue=2 |pages=34–35 |jstor=24045402}}{{Cite web |last=Kivel |first=Adam |date=January 4, 2010 |title=Wait, You've Never Heard: Radiohead's In Rainbows |url=https://consequence.net/2010/01/wait-youve-never-heard-radioheads-in-rainbows/ |access-date=October 11, 2023 |website=Consequence}}
Lyrically, "15 Step" speaks of disillusionment and deception, delivered by Yorke's "tuneful" falsetto.{{Cite web |last1=Gerber |first1=Justin |last2=Caffrey |first2=Dan |last3=Cocoran |first3=Nina |last4=Barry |first4=Sean |date=June 28, 2017 |title=Ranking: Every Radiohead Song from Worst to Best |url=https://consequence.net/2017/06/ranking-every-radiohead-song-from-worst-to-best/ |access-date=October 14, 2023 |website=Consequence}} The lyric "15 steps, then a sheer drop" is thought to be a reference to being hung at a gallows.{{Cite web |last=Romano |first=Aja |date=March 2, 2017 |title=Radiohead and sadness: a data analysis |url=https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/3/2/14726996/radiohead-sadness-data-analysis |access-date=October 9, 2023 |website=Vox}} The dark lyrics are subverted by the sound of cheering children, recorded by Godrich and the bassist, Colin Greenwood, at the Matrix Music School & Arts Centre in Oxford.{{Cite web |last=Petridis |first=Alexis |date=October 10, 2007 |title=Radiohead's In Rainbows – a five-star review |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2007/oct/10/radioheadsinrainbowsisita |access-date=October 11, 2023 |website=The Guardian}}
Music video
In March 2008, TBD Records partnered with Aniboom to host a music video-creation contest, whereby people could submit a storyboard set to a song from In Rainbows for the chance to produce a full-length video.{{Cite web |last=Learmonth |first=Michael |date=March 17, 2008 |title=Make Radiohead Video, Get Paid (A Little) |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/2008/3/make-radiohead-video-get-10-000- |access-date=October 11, 2023 |website=Business Insider}} Radiohead selected a storyboard set to "15 Step" produced by Hideyuki Kota (credited as Kota Totori) as one of four winners,{{Cite magazine |last=Kreps |first=Daniel |date=August 11, 2008 |title=Radiohead Picks Four Winners For Animation Contest |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/radiohead-picks-four-winners-for-animation-contest-251048/ |access-date=October 11, 2023 |magazine=Rolling Stone}}{{Cite web |last=Michaels |first=Sean |date=August 12, 2008 |title=Radiohead quadruple Aniboom winners |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2008/aug/12/radiohead.animation.pop.rock.news |access-date=October 11, 2023 |website=The Guardian}} and an adapted music video was subsequently released to Radiohead's YouTube channel on December 2, 2008.{{Cite web |title=Radiohead – 15 Step – by Kota Totori |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpqk9MD6vLM |access-date=February 24, 2024 |website=YouTube}}
Reception
"15 Step" received positive reviews. Jason Lipshutz of Billboard included it in his list of the 15 most essential Radiohead songs, noting how it was "one of their more successful marriages of electronic and rock music".{{Cite magazine |last=Lipshutz |first=Jason |date=March 28, 2019 |title=Radiohead For Dummies: 15 Songs To Know For The Rock Hall Inductees |url=https://www.billboard.com/music/rock/radiohead-top-15-essential-songs-beginners-8504544/ |access-date=October 11, 2023 |magazine=Billboard}} Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine similarly noted how the blended electronic and rock elements of "15 Step" made the song "one of the band's best hybrids".{{Cite web |last=Cinquemani |first=Sal |date=October 13, 2007 |title=Review: Radiohead, In Rainbows |url=https://www.slantmagazine.com/music/radiohead-in-rainbows/ |access-date=November 1, 2023 |website=Slant Magazine}} In 2017, Consequence named "15 Step" the band's 22nd-greatest song, writing that it "wastes no time winning listeners over". In 2019, Vulture named it the 44th-greatest.{{Cite web |last=Hogan |first=Marc |date=March 28, 2019 |title=I Might Be Wrong: Every Radiohead Song, Ranked |url=https://www.vulture.com/2016/05/every-radiohead-song-ranked.html |access-date=October 14, 2023 |website=Vulture}}
"15 Step" has been called one of the most positive Radiohead songs. A review for the BBC called the song "astoundingly uplifting",{{Cite web |last=Jones |first=Chris |date=2007 |title=Review of Radiohead – In Rainbows |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/hfvr/ |access-date=October 14, 2023 |website=BBC}} while Sasha Frere-Jones of The New Yorker noted how Yorke would "dance across the stage in a happy jig" while performing "15 Step" live. A 2017 data analysis study conducted by Charles Thompson concluded that "15 Step" was the happiest Radiohead song.{{Cite web |last=Palmer |first=Elle |date=August 24, 2023 |title=The most depressing Radiohead song, according to science |url=https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/the-most-depressing-radiohead-song-according-to-science/ |access-date=October 14, 2023 |website=Far Out}}
Live performances
Radiohead performed a "rousing" rendition of "15 Step" at the 2009 Grammy Awards, accompanied by 36 members of the USC Trojan Marching Band.{{Cite web |title=Radiohead |url=https://www.grammy.com/artists/radiohead/8042 |access-date=October 9, 2023 |website=Grammy.com}}{{Cite magazine |last=Pastorek |first=Whitney |date=February 7, 2009 |title=Grammy Rehearsals, Day Three: Radiohead, Carrie Underwood, Jonas Brothers, Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus, and some dude named Stevie |url=https://ew.com/article/2009/02/07/grammy-rehear-2/ |access-date=October 9, 2023 |magazine=Entertainment Weekly}} The performance was identified as one of the highlights of the show, with Whitney Pastorek of Entertainment Weekly saying that it took an "already good song and turn[ed] it into a jubilant, slightly menacing masterpiece".{{Cite web |date=February 9, 2009 |title=Radiohead impress at the Grammys with USC marching band |url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/radiohead-408-1311236 |website=NME}} The performance has been called one of the greatest Grammy performances of all time.{{Cite magazine |last=Sheffield |first=Rob |date=February 6, 2023 |title=The 30 Greatest Grammy Performances of All Time |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-grammy-performances-16078/ |access-date=October 14, 2023 |magazine=Rolling Stone}}{{Cite web |last1=Taysom |first1=Joe |last2=Golsen |first2=Tyler |date=February 2, 2023 |title=The 10 greatest Grammy performances |url=https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/the-10-greatest-grammy-performances/ |access-date=October 14, 2023 |website=Far Out}}{{Cite magazine |date=January 22, 2014 |title=10 Best GRAMMY Performances, 2000–2013 |url=https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/10-best-grammy-performances-2000-2013-513482/ |access-date=October 14, 2023 |magazine=Billboard}}
A performance of "15 Step" was included in the 2008 video album In Rainbows – From the Basement.{{Cite web |date=June 26, 2019 |title=Revisiting Radiohead's momentous 'In Rainbows: From The Basement' session |url=https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/radiohead-in-rainbows-from-the-basement-session/ |access-date=October 15, 2023 |website=Far Out}} "15 Step" also appeared in the 2008 film Twilight at the end credits.{{Cite web |last=Michaels |first=Sean |date=July 20, 2009 |title=Radiohead's Thom Yorke for Twilight sequel soundtrack? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/jul/20/thom-yorke-twilight-sequel-soundtrack |access-date=October 9, 2023 |website=The Guardian}}{{Cite web |last=Dowd |first=Rachel |date=January 12, 2021 |title=The 'Twilight' account just settled the debate on the soundtrack's best song |url=https://www.altpress.com/the-twilight-account-just-settled-the-debate-on-the-soundtracks-best-song/ |access-date=October 11, 2023 |website=Alternative Press}}
Credits and personnel
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;Radiohead
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;Additional personnel
- Nigel Godrich – producer, mixing engineer
- Dan Grech-Marguerat – engineering
- Hugo Nicolson – engineer
- Richard Woodcraft – engineer
- Graeme Stewart – engineer
- Bob Ludwig – mastering engineer
- Matrix Music School children's choir – choir (uncredited)
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Certifications
{{Certification Table Top}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=Canada|award=Gold|certyear=2022|title=15 Step|artist=Radiohead|type=single|relyear=2007}}
{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true|noshipments=true|streaming=true}}