Released 17 November 2003 Length 3:21 Writer(s) Radiohead | Format CD, DVD, 12" Label Parlophone | |
Genre Alternative rock • experimental rock | ||
"2 + 2 = 5 (The Lukewarm.)", commonly referred to as "2 + 2 = 5", is a song by the English rock band Radiohead, released as the third and final single from their sixth album Hail to the Thief in 2003. The song reached number 15 on the United Kingdom singles chart. The song was premiered in San Sebastian, Spain on 31 July 2002.
Contents
In 2008, the song was featured on Radiohead: The Best Of, a compilation album.
Lyrics and background
The song's title recalls the symbol of unreality from George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. In the book, inhabitants of an authoritarian future state are made to engage in doublethink, replacing their own conscience and beliefs with those imposed from above. The "Thought Police" in the novel coerce self-aware citizens into admitting that two plus two equals five to prove the point that even though two plus two does not logically equal five, logic does not matter when no one else is willing to agree that two plus two equals anything else, under threat of pain or death.
The phrase 'hail to the thief', from which the album took its name, appears in this song. It is a reference to the song Hail to the Chief, the official anthem of the President of the United States of America. Yorke has said of the album that “I desperately tried not to write anything political ... But it's just fucking there.” The album title is "explicit criticism" of the 2000 election of George W. Bush over Al Gore, despite the latter receiving more of the popular vote.
Alternative title (The Lukewarm)
Hail to the Thief lists subtitles, or alternative titles, for each of its songs. The alternative title for "2 + 2 = 5" is "The Lukewarm". Singer Thom Yorke has mentioned it as a reference to the works of Dante.
Track listings
- "2 + 2 = 5" - 3:21
- "Sktterbrain" (Four Tet remix)
- "Remyxomatosis" (Cristian Vogel RMX)
- "2 + 2 = 5" - 3:21
- "Remyxomatosis" (Cristian Vogel RMX) - 5:07
- "There There" (first demo) - 7:43
- "2 + 2 = 5" - 3:21
- "Skttrbrain" (Four Tet remix) - 4:26
- "I Will" (Los Angeles version) - 2:14
- "2 + 2 = 5" - 3:21
- "Sit Down Stand Up" (Ed Holdsworth's video)
- "The Most Gigantic Lying Mouth of All Time" (excerpt)