Lotus Flower (song)

The Radiohead singer, Thom Yorke, debuted a solo version of "Lotus Flower" at the Echoplex in Los Angeles on 2 October 2009, while on tour with his band Atoms for Peace.{{Cite news |last=Lapatine |first=Scott |date=2009-10-03 |title=Thom Yorke @ Echoplex, Los Angeles 10/2/09 |url=https://www.stereogum.com/93601/thom_yorke_echoplex_los_angeles_10209/video/ |access-date=2018-03-17 |work=Stereogum}} On 24 January 2010, Radiohead suspended work on their album The King of Limbs to perform at the Music Box Theater, Hollywood, to raise funds for Oxfam responding to the 2010 Haiti earthquake. At the show, Yorke performed "Lotus Flower" alone on acoustic guitar.{{Cite news |last=Appleford |first=Steve |date=25 January 2010 |title=Radiohead rock For Haiti at small Los Angeles benefit show |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/radiohead-rock-for-haiti-at-small-los-angeles-benefit-show-20100125 |access-date=2018-06-21 |work=Rolling Stone}} The show was released free online in December 2010 as Radiohead for Haiti.

{{listen|type=music|filename=Radiohead – Lotus Flower.ogg|title="Lotus Flower"|description=This sample of the song contains part of the chorus and title lyric.}}

"Lotus Flower" has a more traditional song structure than other songs on The King of Limbs.{{cite web |author=Mark Pytlik |date=24 February 2012 |title=Radiohead: The King of Limbs |url=http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/15149-the-king-of-limbs/ |access-date=20 March 2012 |publisher=Pitchfork Media}} According to Luke Lewis of NME, it combines the electronic instrumentation of Radiohead's album Kid A (2000) with the "sonic warmth" of their album In Rainbows (2007).{{Cite web |author=Lewis |first=Luke |date=18 February 2012 |title=Radiohead, 'Lotus Flower' – What Do You Think? |url=https://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/radiohead-lotus-flower-what-do-you-think-37391 |access-date=20 March 2012 |work=NME}} It features Yorke's "Prince-like"{{cite news |url=http://www.gigwise.com/features/61463/Radiohead-The-King-Of-Limbs---First-Review |title=Radiohead, The King Of Limbs – First Review |author=Jason Gregory |date=18 February 2012 |work=Gigwise |access-date=20 March 2012}} falsetto over syncopated beats and a "propulsive" synthesised bassline.{{cite web |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/first-listen-the-king-of-limbs-radiohead-2219409.html |title=First Listen: The King of Limbs|work=The Independent |author=Andy Gill |date=19 February 2012 |access-date=20 March 2012}}{{cite magazine |url=http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/137332-radiohead-the-king-of-limbs/ |title=Radiohead: The King of Limbs|author=Arnold Pan |date=21 February 2011 |magazine=PopMatters |access-date=20 March 2012}} Though the song in common time, the handclaps are in quintuple meter, creating a metric dissonance.{{Cite journal|url=https://kuscholarworks.ku.edu/bitstream/handle/1808/19135/Osborn%20Kid%20Algebra.pdf|via=University of Kansas|title=Kid Algebra: Radiohead's Euclidean and Maximally Even Rhythms|last=Osborn|first=Brad|date=Winter 2014|journal=Perspectives of New Music|volume=52|pages=81–105 (97)|doi=10.7757/persnewmusi.52.1.0081}}

Lewis described it as "soulful and funky". In Rolling Stone, Jon Dolan likened it to an "icy" version of the funk musician James Brown, and said it "set the tone for Radiohead's funkiest record".{{cite magazine |last=Dolan |first=Jon |date=24 February 2011 |title=The King of Limbs |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/king-of-limbs-20110224 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120103222822/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/king-of-limbs-20110224 |archive-date=3 January 2012 |access-date=15 November 2011 |magazine=Rolling Stone}} Lewis speculated that the lyrics are about transcendence, self-effacement and "the magic of losing yourself in music and the senses".{{cite web |author=Lewis |first=Luke |date=18 February 2012 |title=Radiohead, The King of Limbs – First Listen |url=https://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/radiohead-the-king-of-limbs-first-listen-778379 |access-date=20 March 2012 |work=NME}}

"Lotus Flower" was released as the lead single from Radiohead's eighth studio album, The King of Limbs, in 2011).{{cite web |last=Pytlik |first=Mark |date=24 February 2011 |title=Radiohead: The King of Limbs |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/15149-the-king-of-limbs/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110423133114/http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/15149-the-king-of-limbs/ |archive-date=23 April 2011 |access-date=20 April 2011 |work=Pitchfork}} Pitchfork wrote that it was released "presumably for having a chorus and not being a ballad".{{cite web |last=Pytlik |first=Mark |date=24 February 2011 |title=Radiohead: The King of Limbs |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/15149-the-king-of-limbs/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110423133114/http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/15149-the-king-of-limbs/ |archive-date=23 April 2011 |access-date=20 April 2011 |work=Pitchfork}} Though it was not released as a commercial single, it entered charts including the UK singles chart, the US Alternative Songs chart and the Billboard Japan Hot 100.{{Citation needed|date=July 2020}} Remixes of "Lotus Flower" by various artists were released later in 2011 and compiled on the album TKOL RMX 1234567.{{cite news|url=https://www.avclub.com/radiohead-to-repackage-the-king-of-limbs-again-as-a-vin-1798225923|title=Radiohead to repackage The King of Limbs again as a vinyl remix series|last=O'Neal|first=Sean|date=6 June 2011|newspaper=The A.V. Club|access-date=2011-06-06}} A performance of "Lotus Flower" was included in the 2012 live video The King of Limbs: Live from the Basement.{{Cite web |date=2019-06-26 |title=Revisiting Radiohead's In Rainbows: From the Basement |url=https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/radiohead-in-rainbows-from-the-basement-session/ |access-date=2021-09-20 |website=Far Out Magazine |language=en-US}}

File:2008-0419-GarthJennings.jpg directed the "Lotus Flower" music video.|alt=|219x219px]]

Radiohead released a music video for "Lotus Flower" on their YouTube channel on February 18, 2011.{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/radiohead-release-new-album-the-king-of-limbs-one-day-early-251423/|title=Radiohead Release New Album The King of Limbs One Day Early|last=Perpetua|first=Matthew|date=18 February 2011|magazine=Rolling Stone|language=en-US|access-date=19 December 2018}} It was directed by Garth Jennings and choreographed by Wayne McGregor, and features black-and-white footage of Yorke dancing erratically.{{Cite web|url=https://consequenceofsound.net/2011/02/watch-radiohead-lotus-flower/|title=Watch: Radiohead – "Lotus Flower"|last=Young|first=Alex|date=18 February 2011|website=Consequence of Sound|language=en|access-date=19 December 2018}} Yorke said:{{cite web|url=http://www.dazeddigital.com/music/article/15601/1/splitting-atoms-thom-yorke|title=Splitting atoms with Thom Yorke|last=Noakes|first=Tim|date=12 February 2013|website=Dazed|access-date=26 April 2015}}

{{Blockquote|text=I'm never confident about how I look, but I'm always into being shocking and visually interesting ... I was deeply uncomfortable with the "Lotus Flower" video. I did the whole thing, it was such a crack, and then they showed me the rushes the next day and I was like, "This ain't going out." It was like paparazzi footage of me naked or something. It was fucked up. But if it's a risk that's probably a good thing.|sign=|source=}}

By 2013, the video had been viewed over 20 million times. It sparked the "Dancing Thom Yorke" internet meme, whereby people replaced the video's audio or edited the visuals,{{cite web |url=http://music-mix.ew.com/2011/02/21/dancing-thom-yorke/ |author=Adam Markovitz |title=Dancing Thom Yorke meme meets Lady Gaga, Guns N' Roses, 'Black Swan': Which is your favorite? |work=Entertainment Weekly |access-date=20 March 2012}} and led to the hashtag "#thomdance" trending on Twitter.{{cite web |author=Diver |first=Mike |date=18 February 2011 |title=Review of Radiohead — The King of Limbs |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/wd4z |access-date=20 March 2012 |work=BBC}} Yorke said about the response: "It's a massive kick. That's what everybody wants. If it's something you've worked at and it goes over the edge like that then that's great."

IndieWire wrote that Jennings had turned Yorke's "spastic" dancing into art that it was "bizarrely compelling ... with Yorke's flailing, curiously spellbinding limbs as the main attraction".{{cite news |url=http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/watch_video_for_radioheads_lotus_flower_turns_thom_yorkes_spastic_dancing_i |title=Watch: Video For Radiohead's 'Lotus Flower' Turns Thom Yorke's Spastic Dancing Into Art |author=Kevin Jagernauth |date=18 February 2011 |work=IndieWire |access-date=20 March 2012}} Metro praised Yorke's performance, writing that "somehow, even though he seems to be a mass of tangled limbs in the grip of an attack of some sort, it works", but criticised the video set as "sparse to say the least".{{cite web |url=http://www.metro.co.uk/music/855973-radiohead-vs-britney-spears-music-video-fight-club |title=Radiohead vs Britney Spears: Music video fight club |author=Ann Lee |date=18 February 2012 |work=Metro |access-date=20 March 2012 |archive-date=5 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110905220555/http://www.metro.co.uk/music/855973-radiohead-vs-britney-spears-music-video-fight-club |url-status=dead }} The video was nominated for Best Music Video at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards.{{cite web |title=Nominees and Winners |url=http://www.grammy.com/nominees |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111201232857/http://www.grammy.com/nominees |archive-date=1 December 2011 |access-date=11 December 2011 |publisher=Grammy Awards}} Note: reader must define awards year parameter as 2011.

Billboard{{cite web |author=Jillian Mapes |date=22 February 2011 |title=Radiohead, The King of Limbs |url=http://billboard.com/new-releases/radiohead-the-king-of-limbs-1005061892.storyof-limbs-1005061892.story |access-date=20 March 2012 |work=Billboard}} and The New York Times praised "Lotus Flower" as the best track on The King of Limbs.{{Cite web |author=Nate Chinen |date=29 September 2011 |title=Anticorporate Music Personified, In Close-Up, on an Intimate Stage |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/30/arts/music/radiohead-roseland-ballroom-review.html |access-date=20 March 2012 |work=The New York Times}} The A.V. Club described it as "a sensually slinky come-on that's one remix away from being a dance-floor favourite".{{cite news |author=Steven Hyden |date=22 February 2012 |title=Radiohead: The King of Limbs |url=https://www.avclub.com/radiohead-the-king-of-limbs-1798167390 |access-date=20 March 2012 |newspaper=The A.V. Club}} The Independent said it was "not exactly a singalong anthem" but "just blank and cryptic enough to sustain various interpretations".{{cite web |author=Simon Price |date=20 February 2011 |title=Radiohead, The King of Limbs (Ticker Tape/XL) |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/radiohead-the-king-of-limbs-ticker-tapexl-2219834.html |access-date=20 March 2012 |work=The Independent}} NME called it "subtle but powerful", and the Austin Chronicle called it "a commanding piece of modern electro-pop".{{Cite web |last=Powell |first=Austin |date=4 March 2011 |title=Review: Radiohead – The King of Limbs (XL / TBD) |url=https://www.austinchronicle.com/music/2011-03-04/radiohead-the-king-of-limbs/ |access-date=10 April 2018 |website=The Austin Chronicle}} It was nominated for Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards.

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Category:Radiohead songs

Category:Song recordings produced by Nigel Godrich

Category:Songs written by Thom Yorke

Category:Songs written by Colin Greenwood

Category:Songs written by Jonny Greenwood

Category:Songs written by Philip Selway

Category:Songs written by Ed O'Brien

Category:2011 songs

Category:Internet memes introduced in the 2010s

Category:Electropop songs

Category:Black-and-white music videos

Category:Internet memes introduced in 2011