How to Format Lyrics:

  • Type out all lyrics, even repeating song parts like the chorus
  • Lyrics should be broken down into individual lines
  • Use section headers above different song parts like [Verse], [Chorus], etc.
  • Use italics (<i>lyric</i>) and bold (<b>lyric</b>) to distinguish between different vocalists in the same song part
  • If you don’t understand a lyric, use [?]

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About

Genius Annotation

Originally written and recorded during the OK Computer era, this song was often played live and became a hardcore-fan favorite. It had the working title “Failure to Receive Repayment Will Put Your House at Risk”, although most knew it as “Big Ideas (Don’t Get Any)”.

The band worked on it during the next decade. But was never satisfied with the results. Renamed as “Nude”, it was finally released on In Rainbows in 2007, with a different arrangement, and in the next year it became the second single off that album. Producer Nigel Godrich claimed the new bassline composed by Colin Greenwood restructured the song:

[the bass] transformed it from something very straight into something that had much more of a rhythmic flow. […] Songs have a kind of window where they are really most alive – and you have to capture it. “Nude” missed its window, and it took a lot of reinvention to bring it back to the place where we could capture it again in a way that resonated for the people playing it. It was essentially the same song; nothing had really changed. What has changed are the people playing it.

The song describes the consequences of a world where only one idea is shared by everyone. If one has an idea that is different from the generally accepted one and could benefit the world, one way or another, it would always be kept away from the public.

Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

What did Radiohead say about "Nude"?
Genius Answer

Thom Yorke (for Mojo, in 2008):

Ten years ago, when we first had the song, I didn’t enjoy singing it because it was too feminine, too high. It made me feel uncomfortable. Now I enjoy it exactly for that reason – because it is a bit uncomfortable, a bit out of my range, and it’s really difficult to do. And it brings something out in me.

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