(Credits: Far Out / Radiohead / Tom Sheehan)
Wed 3 December 2025 7:00, UK
I’m yet to find an instance where I can defend the new TikTokification of music.
I largely feel as though it is just a place where great art is reduced to bite-sized junk food, where the real intent of it is lost. Does King Krule belong behind a “get ready with me reel”? For the most part, I would argue no.
But slowly, I’ve come to realise that this modern, albeit toxic platform, is in fact a gateway for a generation of music fans. Whereas I got my discoveries from the shelves of the local record store or through word of mouth in the sixth form common room, the new generation experienced those interactions online. It’s not their fault; it’s simply the way of the world, and so their discovery of these songs, albeit in their snippet form, is the best way to keep the modern torch of musical fandom burning.
It’s led young fans to music that will play a crucial role in their tastemaking. In recent years, Pink Floyd, Arctic Monkeys and Radiohead have all found some virality through their back catalogue and, in turn, intriguing a new cohort of fans.
As is always the case with the internet, there seems to be no rhyme or reason as to which song goes viral. Which ultimately has meant that a Radiohead song, that Thom Yorke desperately wanted axed from OK Computer, has now gone on to become their most viral hit, thrusting them back into the charts and more importantly, the consciousness of the youth.
This year, ‘Let Down’ began trending on TikTok specifically, putting it back to number 91 on the Billboard 100 chart. Unsurprisingly, it’s been used to amplify social media content designed to be endearing and heartfelt, but nevertheless, Yorke questioned why it would be that song in particular. Sensibly, he asked his teenage children, who replied, “What do you expect? Teenagers are depressed. It’s depressing music.”
But Yorke was never a fan, and his insistence on leaving it out of the record almost resulted in Ed O’Brien leaving the band. Yorke explained, “I find that especially bizarre. I fought tooth and nail for it not to be on the record. But Ed [O’Brien, guitarist] was like, ‘If it’s not, I’m leaving.’”
Luckily, O’Brien won the battle and the band kept the song on the record, allowing it to slowly harvest its greatness in the consciousness of a modern audience. Because so much of that song represents Radiohead. The atmospheric and transcendental state of emotion that their music seems to inherently facilitate.
What I call transcendence, Jonny Greenwood calls boredom, explaining that the song’s beginnings were inspired by that emotion.
He said, “Andy Warhol once said that he could enjoy his own boredom. ‘Let Down’ is about that. It’s the transit-zone feeling. You’re in a space, you are collecting all these impressions, but it all seems so vacant. You don’t have control over the earth anymore. You feel very distant from all these thousands of people that are also walking there.”
With that in mind, it’s apt that it’s found a home on TikTok, a place designed to distract people from the necessary boredom of life and instead drench us with endless stimulation. Maybe the popularity of ‘Let Down’ on the platform will slowly remedy that.
Related Topics