"Just" | ||||
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Single by Radiohead | ||||
from the album The Bends | ||||
Released | 21 August 1995[1] | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 3:55 | |||
Label | Parlophone | |||
Songwriter(s) | Radiohead | |||
Producer(s) | John Leckie | |||
Radiohead singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Just" on YouTube |
"Just" is a song by the English rock band Radiohead, included on their second album, The Bends (1995). It was released as a single on 21 August 1995 and reached number 19 on the UK Singles Chart.
In 2008, "Just" was included in Radiohead: The Best Of. The English producer Mark Ronson released a cover version on his 2008 album Version.
"Just" was the first song Radiohead finished while working on The Bends at RAK Studios.[5] At the time of recording, the singer, Thom Yorke, said it was the most exciting thing Radiohead had recorded.[6]
Much of "Just" was written by Radiohead's lead guitarist, Jonny Greenwood. Yorke said Greenwood "was trying to get as many chords as he could into a song".[7] According to the guitarist Ed O'Brien, earlier versions of the song were about seven minutes long.[6] The lyrics describe someone in a bad relationship, with a "malicious" vocal vibrato from Yorke.[6]
"Just" begins with a strummed solo guitar, which the critic Mac Randall likened to the 1991 Nirvana song "Smells Like Teen Spirit".[6] Greenwood plays octatonic scales that extend over four octaves.[8] In the solo, he uses a DigiTech Whammy pedal to pitch-shift his guitar solo into a high, piercing frequency.[6][5] The angular guitar riff was influenced by John McGeoch's playing on the 1978 Magazine song "Shot by Both Sides"; Greenwood said that it was "pretty much the same kind of idea".[9] Both "Just" and "Shot by Both Sides" were produced by John Leckie.[6]
The "Just" music video was directed by Jamie Thraves, who adapted it from an idea he had for a short film. It took two days to shoot. The street scenes were filmed on Liverpool Street, London; the scenes of the band were filmed on a set.[10]
In the video, a man lies in the middle of the pavement, attracting attention from passersby. The members of Radiohead watch from an apartment above. The man's conversation with passersby is displayed in subtitles; they ask why he is lying down, but he refuses to explain. Eventually, the man explains, but his explanation is not subtitled. The bystanders lie down next to him.[10]
In 2007, NME named "Just" the 34th-greatest "indie anthem".[11] In 2017, NME named the guitar solo one of the greatest of all time.[12] In 2020, the Guardian named it the 32nd-greatest Radiohead song, writing that it placed Radiohead between grunge and Britpop: "Hailstorm distortion meets perky hooks, wily vocals and ... an absurd pageant of guitar chords. The chorus flips the grunge ethos on its head, swapping self-loathing for theatrical vitriol."[13]
UK CD1 and cassette single[14][15]
UK CD2[16]
Australian CD single[17]
Chart (1995) | Peak position |
---|---|
Canada Rock/Alternative (RPM)[18] | 7 |
Scotland (OCC)[19] | 18 |
UK Singles (OCC)[20] | 19 |
US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[21] | 37 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Canada (Music Canada)[22] | Gold | 40,000‡ |
United Kingdom (BPI)[23] | Silver | 200,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |
Region | Date | Format(s) | Label(s) | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
United Kingdom | 21 August 1995 |
|
Parlophone | [1] |
28 August 1995 | CD2 | [24] |
"Just" | ||||
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Single by Mark Ronson featuring Alex Greenwald | ||||
from the album Exit Music | ||||
Released | 13 March 2006[25] | |||
Length |
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Label | RCA | |||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) | Mark Ronson | |||
Mark Ronson singles chronology | ||||
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Alex Greenwald singles chronology | ||||
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Mark Ronson and Alex Greenwald covered "Just" for the Radiohead tribute album Exit Music: Songs with Radio Heads. It was released digitally on 13 March 2006 as the lead single.[25] It reached number 48 on the UK Singles Chart[26] and at number 36 on the Scottish Singles Chart in 2006.[27]
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Just" | 5:21 |
2. | "Just" (radio edit) | 3:51 |
Chart (2006) | Peak position |
---|---|
Scotland (OCC)[27] | 36 |
UK Singles (OCC)[26] | 48 |
"Just" | ||||
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Single by Mark Ronson featuring Phantom Planet | ||||
from the album Version | ||||
Released | 15 February 2008[28] | |||
Genre | Funk rock[29] | |||
Length |
| |||
Label |
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Songwriter(s) |
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Producer(s) | Mark Ronson | |||
Mark Ronson singles chronology | ||||
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Phantom Planet singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Just" on YouTube |
Ronson rereleased the cover in February 2008 as the fourth single from his second album, Version, now credited as featuring Alex Greenwald's band Phantom Planet.[28]
The music video was directed by Jim Canty, it acted as a sequel to and paid homage to the earlier Radiohead video. The video features a city sweeper finding the group people lying around on ground.[30][citation needed]
The song played as the follow-up to "Valerie", which was still in the UK top 20 upon the release of "Just". "Just" reached No. 31 after its release.[31]
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Just" (Radio edit) | 3:13 |
2. | "Just" (DJ Premier's justremixitmix) (featuring Blaq Poet) | 3:56 |
3. | "Just" (The Go! Team Remix) | 2:29 |
4. | "Just" (The Loving Hand Remix) | 6:11 |
5. | "Just" (DJ Premier's justremixitmix) (featuring Blaq Poet Instrumental) | 3:55 |
6. | "Just" (The Loving Hand Remix Instrumental) | 6:13 |
CD single
CD 1 88697271202 / download
CD 2 88697272032 / download
10" vinyl 88697271211
Chart (2008) | Peak position |
---|---|
Scotland (OCC)[36] | 23 |
UK Singles (OCC)[31] | 31 |
UK Dance (OCC)[37] | 3 |
Q: That was a live version of that Magazine track... [Colin Greenwood :] it's a special record for both of us... John McGeoch guitar playing... So I thought it would be nice we could listen to some stuff ... and maybe influence some of what we do... Q: I dont see anyone objecting to Magazine on the Radiohead tour bus ... Have you ever covered any Magazine track ? [Jonny Greenwood:] Sure, we have played "Shot by Both Sides" and we have played the song "Just" which is pretty much the same kind of idea. Q: You were thinking very much Magazine with the angular guitar riffing on "Just", right ? I've been thinking that on most of our kind of angular guitar songs that we do. It's really inventive music.
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