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'Go F*** Yourselves': Radiohead Demand ICE Take Down Video Using 'Let Down'

Mary Varvaris

"You don’t get to appropriate it without a fight," Radiohead wrote in a statement.

Radiohead's Thom Yorke at the Sydney Opera House Forecourt
Radiohead's Thom Yorke at the Sydney Opera House Forecourt(Credit: Peter Dovgan)
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Radiohead have condemned the unauthorised use of their song, Let Down, in a video shared by the US federal law enforcement agency, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

NME notes that a “choral” rendition of the song, pulled from the band’s influential 1997 album OK Computer, plays in the background of a new ICE video posted on social media. The video alleges that individuals featured in the clip have been harmed by “criminal illegal alien violence,” ending with the catchphrase “This Is Our Why.”

The video contains lyrics from the euphoric bridge of the original song, such as “You know where you are,” and “One day I am gonna grow wings/ A chemical reaction/ Hysterical and useless.”

Meanwhile, the video’s caption claims that “Thousands” of American families have been impacted by “criminal illegal alien violence.” It continues, “American citizens raped and murdered by those who have no right to be in our country. This is who we fight for. This is our why.”

Condemning the use of their song in an ICE video, Radiohead wrote in a statement, “We demand that the amateurs in control of the ICE social media account take it down. It ain’t funny, this song means a lot to us and other people, and you don’t get to appropriate it without a fight.

“Also, go fuck yourselves…”

Radiohead aren’t the first musical act to decry the use of their music in ICE videos. After a section of Olivia Rodrigo’s song, all american bitch, featured in one of the government agency’s clips, she wrote, “Don’t ever use my songs to promote your racist, hateful propaganda.”

Meanwhile, Bruce Springsteen recently unveiled the anti-ICE song, Streets Of Minneapolis, and fellow artists, including Lady Gaga, Billie Eilish, Green Day, Sabrina Carpenter, Neil Young, and many others, have shared statements against ICE.

Earlier this month, Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood, along with director Paul Thomas Anderson, demanded that his score from Anderson’s Phantom Thread film be removed from the recent Melania Trump documentary.

However, Melania producer Marc Beckman responded that it would be “in the film forever.”

In November, Radiohead performed their first show in seven years. They marked the occasion with a massive 25-song set in Spain.

Last year, singer Thom Yorke and guitarist Ed O’Brien addressed the band’s lengthy hiatus ahead of the shows.

Admitting that “the wheels came off a bit,” Yorke acknowledged the passing of his first wife, Rachel Owen and the difficulties in processing his grief. Ed O’Brien also detailed that he and his bandmates felt “disconnected” during their A Moon Shaped Pool tour.