"Just" is a single by the English

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

band

Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass) ...

, released on 7 August 1995. It is the seventh track on their second album, '' The Bends'' (1995). In 2007, ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' named "Just" 34th on its list of the "Greatest Indie Anthems Ever". In 2008, it was included in '' Radiohead: The Best Of.'' The English producer

Mark Ronson Mark Daniel Ronson (born 4 September 1975) is a British-American DJ, songwriter, record producer, and record executive. He is best known for his collaborations with artists such as Duran Duran, Amy Winehouse, Adele, Lady Gaga, Lily Allen, Robbi ...

released a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

in February 2008, the fourth single from his album ''

Version Version may refer to: Computing * Software version, a set of numbers that identify a unique evolution of a computer program * VERSION (CONFIG.SYS directive), a configuration directive in FreeDOS Music * Cover version * Dub version * Remix * ''Ve ...

''.

Writing

Much of "Just" was written by guitarist Jonny Greenwood, who, according to singer

Thom Yorke Thomas Edward Yorke (born 7 October 1968) is an English musician and the main vocalist and songwriter of the rock band Radiohead. A multi-instrumentalist, he mainly plays guitar and keyboards and is noted for his falsetto. He has been descri ...

, "was trying to get as many chords as he could into a song". The angular guitar riff was influenced by

John McGeoch John Alexander McGeoch (25 August 1955 – 4 March 2004) was a Scottish musician and songwriter. He is best known as the guitarist of the rock bands Magazine (1977-1980) and Siouxsie and the Banshees (1980-1982). He has been described as one ...

's playing on the

Magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

song "

Shot By Both Sides "Shot by Both Sides" is a song written by Howard Devoto and Pete Shelley, and performed by the English post-punk band Magazine. It was released in January 1978 as the band's first single, reaching No. 41 on the UK Singles Chart and appearing, a ...

"; Greenwood said that it was "pretty much the same kind of idea".

Music video

The "Just" music video was directed by

Jamie Thraves Jamie Thraves (born James Thraves, 2 June 1969 in Romford, London) is a British film writer and director. Biography Thraves began making early short experimental films in 1989 at the University of Humberside, having previously studied illustra ...

, who adapted it from an idea he had for a

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

. The video took two days to shoot; the street scenes were filmed on Liverpool Street, London, and the scenes of the band on a set. 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.

Track listing

CD 1

#"Just" – 3:54 #"Planet Telex" (Karma Sunra mix) – 5:23 (remix by U.N.K.L.E.) #"Killer Cars" (

Mogadon Nitrazepam, sold under the brand name Mogadon among others, is a hypnotic drug of the benzodiazepine class used for short-term relief from severe, disabling anxiety and insomnia. It also has sedative (calming) properties, as well as amnestic ( ...

version) – 3:50 (remix by

John Leckie John William Leckie (born 23 October 1949) is an English record producer and recording engineer. His production credits include Magazine's ''Real Life'' (1978), XTC's ''White Music'' (1978) and Dukes of Stratosphear's ''25 O'Clock'' (1985), t ...

)

CD 2

#"Just" – 3:54 #"Bones" (Live) – 3:14 #"Planet Telex" (Live) – 4:07 #" Anyone Can Play Guitar" (Live) – 3:40

Personnel

– vocals, electric and acoustic guitars * Jonny Greenwood – electric guitar, Hammond organ * Ed O'Brien – electric guitar *

Colin Greenwood Colin Charles Greenwood (born 26 June 1969) is an English musician and the bassist for the rock band Radiohead. Along with bass guitar, Greenwood plays upright bass and electronic instruments. With his younger brother, the Radiohead guitari ...

– bass *

Philip Selway Philip James Selway (born 23 May 1967) is an English musician and the drummer of the English rock band Radiohead. Along with the other members of Radiohead, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019. Selway released his deb ...

– drums

Charts

Certifications

Mark Ronson version

Musicians

and

Alex Greenwald Alexander Greenwald (born October 9, 1979) is an American musician, actor, and record producer. He is the lead vocalist of the California rock band Phantom Planet. Life and career Greenwald was born in Los Angeles, California, to a family of J ...

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.

Track listing

Charts

2008 re-release

Ronson re-released his cover in February 2008, as the fourth single from his second album, ''

''. The song had been released earlier under the tribute album '' Exit Music: Songs with Radio Heads'' (a Radiohead album tribute) but was never given much promotion by the label. The song quickly gained airplay, being featured in

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

's "A-List".

Chart performance

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.

Music videos

A music video was made for the song. Directed by Jim Canty, it acted as a

sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

to and paid homage to the earlier Radiohead video. The video features a city sweeper finding the group people lying around on ground.

Track listing

CD Single

# "Just" (radio edit) # "

Valerie Valerie may refer to: People *Saint Valerie (disambiguation), a number of saints went by the name Valerie *Valerie (given name), a feminine given name Songs *"Valerie", a 1981 song by Quarterflash, from ''Quarterflash'' *"Valerie", a 1982 son ...

" ( SugaRush Beat Company remix)

CD 1 88697271202 / download

# "Just" (radio edit) – 3:51 # "Valerie" (SugaRush Beat Company remix) – 3:45

CD 2 88697272032 / download

# "Just" (radio edit) – 3:15 # "Just" (DJ Premier's Justremixitmix) (featuring Blaq Poet) – 3:57 # "Just" (The Go! Team remix) – 2:31 # "Just" (The Loving Hand remix) – 6:12 # "Just" (DJ Premier's Justremixitmix) (featuring Blaq Poet) (instrumental) – 3:57 # "Just" (The Loving Hand remix) (instrumental) – 6:12

10" vinyl 88697271211

# "Just" (radio edit)" # "Just" (DJ Premier's Justremixitmix) (featuring Blaq Poet) # "Just" (The Loving Hand remix) # "Just" (The Go! Team remix)

Charts

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Just (Song) 1995 singles 2006 singles 2008 singles Mark Ronson songs Parlophone singles Radiohead songs Song recordings produced by Mark Ronson EMI Records singles RCA Records singles Songs written by Thom Yorke Songs written by Colin Greenwood Songs written by Jonny Greenwood Songs written by Philip Selway Songs written by Ed O'Brien Song recordings produced by John Leckie Phantom Planet songs 1995 songs