Let Down’s sustained surge in popularity has completely ripped any meaning from my life.
For some context, I was on the front lines during the prime eras of Let Down being underrated. I would like to share my story.
The Early Years (2016-2018) 2016 was when I first got into Radiohead. It was love at first sight - they made such beautiful music that really spoke to me. I listened to OK Computer for the first time in my car and was blown away. Let Down was the song that stuck with me the most and I knew I needed to listen to it again with good headphones. I am not kidding when I tell you that that first listen with headphones had me lose the ability to breathe and I almost went to the hospital. Let Down was like if god himself produced a song, I almost couldn’t bear how amazing it was. It was the greatest song of all time by lightyears and I needed to make sure everyone was aware.
Being a teen at the time, this completely consumed my life outside of school. I didn’t have many friends as it was, but quickly lost the friends I did have due to my obsession with Let Down and being unwilling to shut up about it. I didn’t care, anyone who got in the way of my Let Down was not truly a friend of mine. So I ended up spending a lot of time on Reddit - and started bringing up the idea of how great Let Down is and how we need more awareness. Radiohead is known for Creep, Paranoid Android, Karma Police, Fake Plastic Trees, and No Surprises. While those are fine songs - this lineup needed a major revamp. My mission in life would not feel complete until Let Down received even 1/100 of the glaze it deserves - and we weren’t even close. If Radiohead fans couldn’t even recognize its grandeur properly then there was no hope for the rest of the world.
More often than not, redditors in this subreddit were not very happy with my enthusiasm for Let Down. Most thought I was trolling or being extraordinary overdramatic and I got a few accounts banned. Despite this I kept coming back to communicate the need for Let Down recognition.
Then something strange started to happen - there were others. It started with just a few, but then more and more frequently I started seeing new members of the subreddit feel the need to express their deep love of Let Down in the same intimate way I felt. Typically it was people new to Radiohead listening to Ok Computer for the first time and getting their socks blown off by Let Down - just like me. Soon, these sorts of posts and my own diction began to center around one word: UNDERRATED.
So simple yet the only way to really describe it. Soon there began to be a sort of war forming around whether or not Let Down was underrated. Many thought that the nature of these posts themselves was evidence of Let Down not being underrated - but these simpletons did not seem to grasp the EXTENT to which Let Down was underrated. This isn’t just the greatest Radiohead song, it is the greatest song ever conceived, written, recorded in the history of the universe and always will be. Until Let Down even had a FRACTION of such recognition, I wasn’t gonna sit down and pretend the overrated or properly-rated parties had any such opinion of credibility here.
The Birth of the Meme (2018-2019) Early 2018 was probably when there was the most legitimate traffic on the side of Let Down being underrated. It seemed like most people were on board and there was a movement and real momentum to get Let Down the universal recognition it deserves. At some point in the middle of the year, there was a shift. I can’t pinpoint exactly when it happened or when i noticed, but for the first time I was seeing people be even more over-the-top than ME about Let Down. For a second I thought I may have built a movement that has now grown beyond my own love for Let Down, but I was deeply mistaken - I was being trolled. The frequency of users bringing up Let Down being underrated left an easy irony opportunity open, of which Reddit could not pass up. Pretty soon any legitimate posts bringing attention to Let Down’s lack of appreciation were drowned out by these trolls. People were obsessed with making fun of the Let Down sub-community and it ended up becoming the most prominent meme in this subreddit. I was determined to bring the momentum back to the side of seriously addressing how underrated Let Down was but the meme was too strong. We attempted to start up a few subreddits dedicated to Let Down being underrated but those too were completely overrun with trolls and made it appear the subreddit itself was for the meme. Even some of my closest allies were so amused with the meme they completely forgot the original mission and ended up jumping ship to the other side. Without the ability to even bring up Let Down in a serious manner anymore, it seemed this war was lost.
Post-Meme Era & Further Outreach (2019-2022) By the end of 2019, any mention of Let Down in this subreddit initiated a swarm of “underrated” comments - but all ironic. I needed to go somewhere I could be taken seriously. I started posting flyers around my college campus and other public areas in town for my new LDA program (Let Down Anonymous). I would hold these meetings over Zoom to help form a community. Unfortunately, these reddit trolls were real people and many of them found my flyers, so I had to be selective of who I let in the group. While hard to find, I was able to recruit more members that were serious about the mission of bringing Let Down the recognition it deserves at all costs. My strategy was simple, grow the group -> spread the word -> repeat. If I couldn’t use the internet I was going to have to use human connections to spread the gospel of Let Down.
I put multiple years and real money into this project but unfortunately it ended up failing. Despite having some traction, the Let Down Outreach program would end up hitting a plateau where we weren’t gaining new members and had no one else to reach out to. This would cause a lot of LDA members to stop showing up, then eventually even the core members ended up quitting. They thought I had a real vision and plan at first, but now they determined I was a fraud and Let Down never had a chance of truly being properly-rated. They were right though - I had no idea what I was doing. Sure I was going to do absolutely everything I could to bring Let Down its flowers - but I never knew if any if my tactics would actually work. At the end of the day I was just some guy with a ridiculous dream.
Return to Reddit & Self-Reflection (2022-2025) With the LDA disbanded, I gave up on trying to bring Let Down its deserved recognition. Over the years, I had dedicated so much time to Let Down I knew I needed a break. I used Reddit for the first time in a while, and noticed the meme was still going strong. Before I closed my years-long chapter of fighting for Let Down, I had to go out with a bang. I channeled all my pent up rage and anger towards those that don’t think Let Down is underrated and channeled it into a post on this subreddit. I had to express myself. No convincing people, just raw emotion.
Of course, everyone here thought this was a troll and some sort of copypasta. Enraged, I deleted Reddit and destroyed my room. I had dedicated a decent chunk of my life at this point to Let Down, and everyone just laughs in my face? What has the world become? Does anyone have any humanity? This is what was going through my mind.
I then realized - I had a problem. Outside of my Let Down advocacy, I had also been listening to the song nonstop virtually the whole time. It more or less was always on repeat. RARELY did I listen to other songs or even pause the constant Let Down playing on my phone. I was completely obsessed and had to turn a new leaf in life.
The first day without Let Down was so incredibly painful. I was throwing up profusely and unable to keep anything down. I would shake all day and night with nothing providing any relief. After just a few days I caved and listened to Let Down again. I was immediately back to normal - but I couldn’t turn it off.
After this incident and recognizing the lack of autonomy I had over my thoughts and behaviors I decided to check myself into rehab. Since no one believed I could be physically addicted to a single song, I claimed I had a heroin addiction. I was apparently showing every sign of heroin addiction so not a soul doubted me. I stayed in rehab for a little over 2 months and I was a completely different person. By the end of it I would realize I went the whole day without thinking about Let Down at all somehow. I never thought such a day would come but it made me realize not everything is about the song Let Down and there are other things to obsess over in life.
I ended up going over a year without listening to Let Down at all in any capacity. I was able to share my story and help others with similar issues. Soon after going a full year without using - I relapsed. I heard it in a TikTok sound and it sent me into a Let Down bender. Deep inside I was still starved for Let Down and was going to extreme lengths to consume Let Down in all forms possible during this bender (won’t go into detail here but it got pretty intense).
Long story short I ended up snapping out of this again and being able to have a healthy relationship with Let Down. I could now listen to it casually without losing my mind, though I did have rate limits so I didn’t go overboard.
The Rise of Let Down (2025-present) Let Down started becoming more and more popular on social media. By August 2025, Let Down became Radiohead’s first charting song since Nude because it was so popular. I actually couldn’t believe it. I knew I was seeing it all over social media but I didn’t realize the extent of it until I saw it chart. I actually cried so much it was insane. I never thought a day like this would come. I gave blood sweat and tears years ago on behalf of Let Down, and here I am seeing this 28 year old song reach the Billboard Hot 100. More and more creators were releasing Let Down covers, reharmonizations, unique instruments playing Let Down, everything I’ve wanted to see. It felt like every other short video was using Let Down as its sound.
Fast forward a year later and the Let Down love online continues. I see more of it everyday that I open my phone. I never thought this day would come.
After a decade long journey, wars, tears, organizations, and many banned Reddit accounts, I am officially proud to say that Let Down is officially no longer underrated, and is now properly-rated. A more naïve version of me would’ve needed WAY more to be convinced Let Down was no longer underrated (like God himself to declare it), but I always said I just needed it to receive 1/100 of the recognition it deserves - and we got that in the past year. I will never call Let Down underrated again or have to dedicate my entire life to this song, and I think for that we can all rejoice, cheers everyone!
While I’m happy the Let Down Underrated War can be put to rest, I will say this has left a huge void in my being. I think even in my sober years, there was a big chunk of me internally that was driven by the goal of bringing Let Down its deserved recognition, and somehow that was the meaning of my life. Now that the mission is over, who the hell am I? Do I have any meaning outside of Let Down? Sure I have a job, wife, kids, and other hobbies now, but deep down I feel like Let Down was the true meaning of my life all along. It’s a very bittersweet phenomenon, but maybe I just need it to find another song that is metaphysically underrated and fight like hell for it for 10 years until it is properly respected again. Regardless, I don’t want my personal situation to take away from what is a beautiful victory.
From the biggest Let Down fan of all time, I officially declare Let Down to be NOT underrated!!!!