Optimistic (Radiohead song)
2000 promotional single by Radiohead
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"Optimistic" is a song by the English rock band Radiohead from their fourth studio album, Kid A (2000). It was produced by Radiohead with their producer, Nigel Godrich, and was released as a promotional single in the US and Europe, receiving radio play.[3][4]
| "Optimistic" | |
|---|---|
European promotional single cover | |
| Promotional single by Radiohead | |
| from the album Kid A | |
| Written | 1998[1] |
| Released | 18 September 2000[2] |
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| "Optimistic" on YouTube | |
Composition
According to the Radiohead singer, Thom Yorke, he and the lead guitarist, Jonny Greenwood, wrote "Optimistic" in 1998 while traveling through a desert.[1] The refrain, "Try the best you can / The best you can is good enough", was an assurance by Yorke's partner, Rachel Owen, when he was frustrated with Radiohead's recording progress.[5] April Clare Welsh of NME interpreted the line, along with "flies are buzzing around my head / vultures circling the dead", as a possible comment on the pressures of fame.[6] The lyrics were described as possibly ironic.[7][8]
Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone described "Optimistic" as an "explicit homage" to the 1992 R.E.M. album Automatic for the People, with similar vocal rhythms.[1] In another article, Sheffield likened the hook to Blind Faith.[9] Critics noted how "Optimistic" was similar to Radiohead's rock sound, while other Kid A songs differed from it.[10]
Reception
Writers of Consequence of Sound named it the 30th-best Radiohead song, and said it is "the most 'Radiohead' song on the album" and that it "doesn't best represent the songs that surround it".[11] PopMatters ranked it as the 6th best Kid A track, stating that it is "quite easily the closest that we get to a conventional rock song here" as the "only predominantly guitar-based song" on the album.[7]
Marc Hogan of Vulture said that "Optimistic" "drew extra attention at the time for being a rare rock-oriented brooder on its Aphex Twin- and Autechre-aspiring album home. If the rest of Kid A looked to expand Radiohead listeners' boundaries, 'Optimistic' was the band's way of showing what it could already do within the old ones." He ranked the song as the band's 21st-best.[12] April Clare Welsh of NME said that it is "probably the most Bends-like track Kid A has to offer", ranking it as the 5th best on the album.[6]
Chris DeVille of Stereogum opined that "Optimistic" "is probably the most underrated song in Radiohead's discography".[13] It was included on Radiohead: The Best Of (2008)[14] and Kid A Mnesia (2021).[15]
Charts
Weekly charts
| Chart (2000) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[16] | 10 |