Hail to the Thief’s opening track is a rock song that builds to a loud climax.

Its title references the slogan two plus two equals five from George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four. The song’s subtitle was taken from Dante’s Inferno; Yorke explained that, according to Dante, the lukewarm are…

The people who don’t give a fuck … The lukewarm are on the edge of the Inferno, cruising around near the gates but they can’t actually get out. They’re like, ‘What are we doing here? We didn’t do anything at all.’ And in Dante’s eyes it’s, ‘That’s exactly why you’re here. You did fuck all. You just let it happen.’"

Alternate Title: “2 + 2 = 5 (The Lukewarm)”