"2 + 2 = 5" is a song by the English rock band Radiohead. It is the opening track to their sixth studio album, Hail to the Thief (2003), and was released as the album's third and final single. It reached number two on the Canadian Singles Chart, number 12 on the Italian Singles Chart, and number 15 on the UK Singles Chart. It was included in Radiohead: The Best Of (2008), and a live version was included on the 2004 EP Com Lag.

Recording

"2 + 2 = 5" is a rock song that builds to a loud climax. It 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.

Title

The title is a reference to the slogan "two plus two equals five" from the 1984 dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell. The song's 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.

Reception

In 2020, the Guardian named the live version of "2 + 2 = 5" included in the 2004 EP Com Lag 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) UK CD2 (CDRS 6623) UK DVD single (DVDR 6623)

Personnel

Radiohead Additional personnel

Charts

Release history