Nude

The song's defining harmonic quality is its refusal to commit. The chord progression sustains a double-tonic complex between E major and its relative minor C♯ minor, leaving the tonal centre perpetually unresolved. That ambiguity is not accidental: the original OK Computer version was described as 'straighter', and it was Colin Greenwood's bassline that introduced the rhythmic and harmonic fluidity heard on the final recording. Thom Yorke's falsetto, pressing against the upper limits of his range, reinforces the sense of strain the harmony never releases.

Under working titles including 'Big Ideas', '(Don't Get Any) Big Ideas', and the more oblique 'Failure to Receive Repayment Will Put Your House at Risk', the song went through years of false starts. The first studio attempt came during the OK Computer sessions in 1997: an Al Green-influenced take with Hammond organ, a straighter rhythmic feel, and different lyrics. Radiohead initially liked it but grew to dislike it. Further attempts during the Kid A and Hail to the Thief sessions also went nowhere. The song broke open during early In Rainbows sessions when Colin Greenwood wrote a new bassline. According to Nigel Godrich, it 'transformed it from something very straight into something that had much more of a rhythmic flow.' The band also cut a chorus and wrote a new ending, then road-tested the arrangement on their 2006 tour before recording three studio takes.

Radiohead first attempted 'Nude' during OK Computer sessions in 1997 but shelved it for ten years. Colin Greenwood's new bassline gave the song a rhythmic life it had always lacked, and it was recorded for In Rainbows (2007) before being released as a single in March 2008. It reached number 37 on the Billboard Hot 100 — Radiohead's first US top-40 entry since 'Creep' in 1993 — helped by a fan remix competition that sold the song's separated stem tracks.