Exit Music (For a Film)
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| ""Exit Music (For a Film)"" | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Song by Radiohead | ||
| from the album OK Computer | ||
| Released | 16 June 1997 | |
| Recorded | 1996, 1997 | |
| Genre | Alternative Rock | |
| Length | 4:25 | |
| Label | Parlophone | |
| Producer(s) | Nigel Godrich with Radiohead | |
| OK Computer track listing | ||
| "Subterranean Homesick Alien" (3) |
""Exit Music (For a Film)"" (4) |
"Let Down" (5) |
"Exit Music (For a Film)" is a song by Radiohead, written specifically for the ending credits of the 1996 film William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet. Although included in neither of the two soundtrack albums at the request of Thom Yorke, the song appears on the band's highly acclaimed third album, OK Computer (1997).
The moment in the film when Claire Danes (as Juliet) holds a gun to her head was the actual inspiration for "Exit Music". Thom Yorke also had the 1968 adaptation of the play (Romeo and Juliet) in his head: "I saw the Zeffirelli version when I was 13 and I cried my eyes out, because I couldn't understand why, the morning after they shagged, they didn't just run away. The song is written for two people who should run away before all the bad stuff starts. A personal song." The director of the movie, Baz Luhrmann, revealed in the DVD commentary that he believes it is one of the greatest film exit songs ever written.
The song is mostly very sombre and quiet, but builds to a climax at the end. In live performances, Jonny Greenwood slides a coin up and down the strings of his guitar, using a Roland Space Echo to create the eerie sounds heard throughout the song. This is replaced by the sound of children playing in the studio version. The distinctive fuzzy bass guitar featured in the climax is courtesy of the Shin-ei Companion FY-2 fuzz pedal.
The song is featured in the final episode of Father Ted, 'Going to America', when Kevin the Priest is depressed by it on the bus, having previously been cured of his depression by listening to Theme from Shaft by Isaac Hayes.
Jazz pianist Brad Mehldau covered the song on volumes III and IV of his Art of the Trio series. His recording was featured in the movie Unfaithful in 2002. Other cover versions have been made by Miranda Sex Garden in 2001, Scala & Kolacny Brothers and Christopher O'Riley in 2003. There are several remixes of the song, available online.
| Radiohead |
|---|
| Thom Yorke • Jonny Greenwood • Ed O'Brien • Colin Greenwood • Phil Selway |
| Discography |
| Albums: Pablo Honey • The Bends • OK Computer • Kid A • Amnesiac • Hail to the Thief • TBA |
| EPs: Manic Hedgehog • Drill • Itch • My Iron Lung • No Surprises/Running from Demons • Airbag/How Am I Driving? • I Might Be Wrong: Live Recordings • COM LAG |
| Singles: "Creep" • "Anyone Can Play Guitar" • "Pop Is Dead" • "Stop Whispering" • "My Iron Lung" • "High and Dry"/"Planet Telex" • "Fake Plastic Trees" • "Just" • "Street Spirit (Fade Out)" • "Lucky" • "Paranoid Android" • "Karma Police" • "No Surprises" • "Pyramid Song" • "Knives Out" • "There There" • "Go to Sleep" • "2 + 2 = 5" |
| DVDs: Live at the Astoria • 7 Television Commercials • Meeting People Is Easy • The Most Gigantic Lying Mouth of All Time |
| Related articles |
| Nigel Godrich • Stanley Donwood • Dead Air Space • Covers of Radiohead songs • Rare songs • Trivia |
| Other projects |
| Bodysong • The Eraser • Spitting Feathers |
