Just

Album: Version (2006)
Charted: 31
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • "Just" originally appeared on Radiohead's 1995 album The Bends. Ronson recorded a cover for a Radiohead tribute album in 2006. It was this that gave him the recipe for his Version album, which was one of the best-sellers in the UK in 2007. Ronson told the Daily Mail February 15, 2008: "'Just' was the catalyst for the whole of Version. I was adding percussion and guitar to the track, but the guitars were too heavy. They were overpowering the slinkiness of the beat, so I struck on the idea of replacing the guitars with horns. That gave me the blueprint for an album."
  • This features on lead vocals Alex Greenwald, the singer for the Californian rock band Phantom Planet.
  • Ronson recalled in an interview with Q magazine March 2008 how he drunkenly went up to Radiohead guitarist Ed O'Brien at a concert and said, "Hi! I did that cover of 'Just' and I think you're amazing." O'Brien looked at him quizzically and said, "Oh, you're that DJ bloke who turned our song into a party song."
  • The song proved to be a breakthrough track for Ronson. He told Q magazine: "BBE records were making a compilation of Radiohead covers. I was obsessed with the guitar part in the middle. I thought I'd loop that and get somebody to rap on it. As I started to get more into it I got the idea, 'OK, so what if the horns did the heavy stuff? I know it's a bad word to use when you're covering a Radiohead song of torment, but I had so much fun creating the cover. You're seeing how it's constructed. It's like seeing the inside of a clock."

    Ronson added: "Because (BBC radio DJs) Gilles Peterson and Zane Lowe started playing my version of Just, I ended up with a record deal."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

90s Metal

90s MetalFact or Fiction

Test your metal - Priest, Maiden, and Beavis and Butt-head show up in this one.

Jethro Tull

Jethro TullFact or Fiction

Stage urinals, flute devices, and the real Aqualung in this Fact or Fiction.

Corey Hart

Corey HartSongwriter Interviews

The Canadian superstar talks about his sudden rise to fame, and tells the stories behind his hits "Sunglasses At Night," "Boy In The Box" and "Never Surrender."

Jesus In Pop Hits: The Gospel Songs That Went Mainstream

Jesus In Pop Hits: The Gospel Songs That Went MainstreamSong Writing

These overtly religious songs crossed over to the pop charts, despite resistance from fans, and in many cases, churches.

John Doe of X

John Doe of XSongwriter Interviews

With his X-wife Exene, John fronts the band X and writes their songs.

Protest Songs

Protest SongsMusic Quiz

How well do you know your protest songs (including the one that went to #1)?