2 + 2 = 5 (song)

"2 + 2 = 5" was recorded in 2002 at Ocean Way Recording studios in Hollywood, Los Angeles, with the producer Nigel Godrich. It was recorded as a studio test and finished in two hours. It begins with the sound of Jonny Greenwood plugging in his guitar, and the singer, Thom Yorke, saying: "That's a nice way to start, Jonny." == Composition ==

"2 + 2 = 5" is a rock song that builds to a loud climax. It begins with a sequenced drum pattern, a guitar arpeggio in 74, and reverberating pops created by Ed O'Brien playing above the fretboard. Greenwood plays in drop D tuning. Yorke sings that those who try to change the world are dreamers, but that "two and two always makes up five", indicating that he lives in a world without logic. In the second half, drums and guitars enter and Yorke sings lyrics including "you have not been paying attention" and "hail to the thief". The song references the slogan "two plus two equals five" from the 1949 dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell.'''' The alternative title, "The Lukewarm", references Dante's Inferno, in which the "lukewarm" are those in hell who did nothing wrong but did not oppose wrongdoing. == Release ==

"2 + 2 = 5" was released as the third single from Hail to the Thief on 17 November, 2003. It was included in Radiohead: The Best Of (2008). A live version recorded at Earl's Court, London, was included on the 2004 EP Com Lag and the 2025 album Hail to the Thief (Live Recordings 2003–2009). In 2020, the Guardian named the live version of "2 + 2 = 5" the 31st-greatest Radiohead song, writing that it was Thom Yorke's "polemical anthem for the era of mass-broadcast deception and enhanced interrogation techniques". ==Track listings==

UK CD1 (CDR 6623) • "2 + 2 = 5" – 3:19 • "Remyxomatosis" (Cristian Vogel RMX) – 5:07 • "There There" (first demo) – 7:43 UK CD2 (CDRS 6623) • "2 + 2 = 5" – 3:19 • "Skttrbrain" (Four Tet remix) – 4:26 • "I Will" (Los Angeles version) – 2:14 UK DVD single (DVDR 6623) • "2 + 2 = 5" – 3:19 • "Sit Down Stand Up" (Ed Holdsworth's video) • "The Most Gigantic Lying Mouth of All Time" (excerpt) ==Personnel==

Radiohead • Thom Yorke • Jonny Greenwood • Colin Greenwood • Ed O'Brien • Philip Selway Additional personnel • Nigel Godrich – production • Darrell Thorp – engineering • Stanley Donwood – artwork ==Charts==