Nude (song)
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"Nude" (also known as "Big Ideas" or "Big Ideas (Don't get any)") is a song by the British band Radiohead. The song was written no later than 1997, when the band began to perform it live, but as of 2007, it has not yet been commercially released on any recording[1] and has a somewhat legendary status among fans. It is widely expected to be on Radiohead's seventh studio album, currently being recorded.
The song has undergone numerous revisions. It was originally known as "Big Ideas", after its first line ("Don't get any big ideas..."), and the parenthetical "(Don't get any)" was often added. Apparently this title was at the suggestion of fans, as the song officially had no title yet, but appeared on some setlists as "Nude" or "Neut".
In the 1998 documentary Meeting People is Easy, singer Thom Yorke joked to a journalist that the full title was actually supposed to be "Failure To Receive Repayment Will Put Your House At Risk". A typical version of the song from this period is heard near the close of that film, in a live performance from Tokyo, with both Thom Yorke and guitarist Jonny Greenwood on keyboards and organ. The song was often performed during the final 1998 leg of the band's tour to promote OK Computer (1997), on which the track did not appear.
After 1998, the band initially envisioned the track for their next album Kid A (2000), but scrapped efforts to record it. "Nude" did not appear on the band's next two albums, either. It was performed only rarely, notably on request at a 2002 concert in Salamanca, but usually by Yorke in solo acoustic versions. Band members professed admiration for the song but said they had not figured out the best way to approach it in the studio.
In 2005, the band began new recording sessions with Mark "Spike" Stent and posted a list of songs they were working on, including the now-officially-titled "Nude", on their blog, Dead Air Space. This was confirmed in early 2006, when the band revealed that they had been recording "Nude" with a string quartet, and that a new string arrangement had been written by Jonny Greenwood.
On the band's summer 2006 tour to introduce their new material, a new version of "Nude" was played at nearly every concert. The current version differs from the one heard live in 1998 and featured in Meeting People Is Easy. In its current incarnation, the song retains its soulful mood and most of its lyrics, but is no longer organ- or keyboard-driven, and has a dub-influenced bass line and rhythm. The chorus is now picked on electric guitar, and Yorke now sings the keyboard melody at the end. Strings were not featured in the live version.
In June 2006, Yorke and Greenwood said in interviews that the song was effectively finished and on tape in a version they were very satisfied with, barring minor adjustments. After their tour, the band returned to the studio in autumn 2006 to continue recording sessions, this time without Stent, but with their longtime producer Nigel Godrich. It is unknown whether "Nude" will be re-recorded with Godrich, but the band has practically guaranteed its inclusion on their next album. It is not unusual for Radiohead to ressuscitate older songs in new recording sessions and place them on an album of mostly newer tracks; this occurred with the closing tracks of their past three records.
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