mysql> explain select id, confession from Confessions.confessions where id = (select confession_id from Confessions.scores where score > 0.5 order by rand() limit 1); +----+----------------------+-------------+------+---------------+------+---------+------+--------+----------------------------------------------+ | id | select_type | table | type | possible_keys | key | key_len | ref | rows | Extra | +----+----------------------+-------------+------+---------------+------+---------+------+--------+----------------------------------------------+ | 1 | PRIMARY | confessions | ALL | NULL | NULL | NULL | NULL | 212769 | Using where | | 2 | UNCACHEABLE SUBQUERY | scores | ALL | NULL | NULL | NULL | NULL | 64 | Using where; Using temporary; Using filesort | +----+----------------------+-------------+------+---------------+------+---------+------+--------+----------------------------------------------+