Pop Is Dead

Album: Released as a single only (1993)
Charted: 42
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Released between Pablo Honey and the re-issued "Creep," this is the only Radiohead single not available on any of their albums.
  • The song is a satirical look at the way the media try to repackage everything as the new rock 'n' roll.
  • Thom Yorke said in Melody Maker, February 6, 1993: "It is a kind of epitaph for 1992. Hence the lines, 'Pop is dead, died an ugly death by back catalogue'." >>>
    Suggestion credit:
    Bertrand - Paris, France
  • The video is based on a treatment Yorke wrote. In the clip, he is carried in a transparent coffin across the English countryside. The people in the procession were members of the Radiohead fan club.

Comments: 1

  • Lara from Thomspon , CtDoes anyone else notice the lyrics "pop is dead long live pop" is remarkably similiar to the who's "rock is dead they say long live rock"
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Director Mark Pellington ("Jeremy," "Best Of You")

Director Mark Pellington ("Jeremy," "Best Of You")Song Writing

Director Mark Pellington on Pearl Jam's "Jeremy," and music videos he made for U2, Jon Bon Jovi and Imagine Dragons.

Why Does Everybody Hate Nu-Metal? Your Metal Questions Answered

Why Does Everybody Hate Nu-Metal? Your Metal Questions AnsweredSong Writing

10 Questions for the author of Precious Metal: Decibel Presents the Stories Behind 25 Extreme Metal Masterpieces

Greg Lake of Emerson, Lake & Palmer

Greg Lake of Emerson, Lake & PalmerSongwriter Interviews

Greg talks about writing songs of "universal truth" for King Crimson and ELP, and tells us about his most memorable stage moment (it involves fireworks).

Paul Williams

Paul WilliamsSongwriter Interviews

He's a singer and an actor, but as a songwriter Paul helped make Kermit a cultured frog, turned a bank commercial into a huge hit and made love both "exciting and new" and "soft as an easy chair."

Harry Wayne Casey of KC and The Sunshine Band

Harry Wayne Casey of KC and The Sunshine BandSongwriter Interviews

Harry Wayne Casey tells the stories behind KC and The Sunshine Band hits like "Get Down Tonight," "That's The Way (I Like It)," and "Give It Up."

Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath, Heaven And Hell

Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath, Heaven And HellSongwriter Interviews

Guitarist Tony Iommi on the "Iron Man" riff, the definitive Black Sabbath song, and how Ozzy and Dio compared as songwriters.