Reckoner

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"Reckoner"
Reckoner.jpg
Promotional single by Radiohead
from the album In Rainbows
Released10 October 2007
Recorded2005–2007
Genre Art rock [1]
Length4:50
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s) Nigel Godrich

"Reckoner" is a song by the English rock band Radiohead, released on their seventh album, In Rainbows (2007). It was produced by Nigel Godrich and developed while Radiohead were working on another song, "Feeling Pulled Apart by Horses".

Contents

Remixes were released by James Holden, Flying Lotus and Diplo. Radiohead also released the separate stems for fans to remix, as they had for the In Rainbows single "Nude". Boosted by sales of the stems, "Reckoner" reached number 74 on the UK singles chart. In 2011, NME named it one of the greatest songs of the preceding 15 years, and Pitchfork named it one of the greatest songs of the decade.

Recording

"Reckoner" developed from a different song with the same title, which later became known as "Feeling Pulled Apart by Horses". Radiohead wrote a coda that developed into the final song, but kept the "Reckoner" title. [2] They were excited about the song and finished it quickly after recording a demo. [2]

The producer, Nigel Godrich, recalled of the recording sessions: "People [were] all over the house, shaking things and getting this groove going, then chopping it up into little pieces and putting it back together. It was a lot of fun." [3]

Composition

"Reckoner" features Yorke's falsetto, "frosty, clanging" percussion, a "meandering" guitar line, piano, and a string arrangement by the guitarist Jonny Greenwood. [4] Yorke said the guitar riff was a homage to the Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante, "in my sort of clunky 'can't-really-pick' kind of way". [5]

According to the bassist, Colin Greenwood, "reckoner" is an old Biblical word referring to Saint Peter, who judges people at the gates of heaven. Yorke said he was unaware of this, and had tried to let the melody drive the lyrics without overthinking them. [6] He described the song as "kind of a love song ... Sort of." [7] Yorke said the lyric "because we separate like ripples on a blank shore" was the centre of In Rainbows, and that "everything's leading to that point and then going away from that point". [8]

Release

"Reckoner" was released on Radiohead's 2007 album In Rainbows. [4] As they had done for their single "Nude", on September 28, 2008, Radiohead released the separate "Reckoner" stems for fans to purchase and remix. Fans could upload their remixes to the Radiohead website and vote for their favourites. [9] The electronic musicians James Holden, Flying Lotus and Diplo also created remixes. [9]

After the stems were released for sale, "Reckoner" reached number 74 on the UK singles chart. [10] It did not enter the US Billboard Hot 100, but reached number 21 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart, a 25-song extension of the Hot 100. [11] A performance of "Reckoner" was included on the 2008 live video In Rainbows – From the Basement . [12]

"Reckoner" was used in the credits of the 2008 film Choke , based on the novel by Chuck Palahniuk. Palahniuk said Radiohead had written an ambient soundtrack for the film, which Radiohead's management denied. [13]

Music video

The "Reckoner" music video was created by Clement Picon, who won a competition held by Radiohead and Aniboom to create an animation for a song from In Rainbows. Yorke described it as "one of my favourite video things that has ever happened". [14]

Reception

Reviewing In Rainbows, Pitchfork wrote that "Reckoner" was not the "most immediate track", but that after several listens "it reveals itself to be among the most woozily beautiful things the band has ever recorded". [15] In 2011, Rolling Stone readers voted "Reckoner" the ninth-best Radiohead song, and NME ranked it the 93rd-best track of the preceding 15 years. [16] [17] Pitchfork named it the 254th-greatest song of the decade. [18] In 2020, the Guardian named it the third-best Radiohead song, writing: "At first innocuous, 'Reckoner' unspools a full house of virtuoso performances engulfed by Godrich’s winter-blanket production. It soothes then soars." [19]

Charts

Chart performance for "Reckoner"
ChartPeak
position
UK Singles (OCC) [10] 74

Certifications

Certifications for "Reckoner"
RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada) [20] Gold40,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

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References

  1. ↑ Gallucci, Michael (20 March 2019). "The Best Song From Every Radiohead Album". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  2. 1 2 Yorke, Thom; O'Brien, Ed (19 November 2007). "Interview with Thom & Ed". BBC 6 Music (Interview). Interviewed by Steve Lamacq. BBC.
  3. ↑ Vozick-Levinson, Simon (27 April 2012). "The Making of Radiohead's In Rainbows". Rolling Stone . Retrieved 14 January 2024.
  4. 1 2 "Radiohead: In Rainbows Album Review | Pitchfork". pitchfork.com. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  5. ↑ "Radiohead on In Rainbows". XFM. 28 January 2008. Archived from the original on 21 June 2015. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
  6. ↑ Engelshoven, Tom (17 December 2007). "De prijs van Radiohead". Oor . Argo Media.
  7. ↑ Maletsky, Kiernan. "Radiohead at the Scottrade Center: Selections From Thom Yorke's Banter". Riverfront Times. Archived from the original on 6 December 2021. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  8. ↑ Steve Lamaq. 19 November 2007. BBC. BBC 6 Music.
  9. 1 2 "Diplo, Flying Lotus remix Radiohead's "Reckoner"". Pitchfork . 23 September 2008. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  10. 1 2 "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
  11. ↑ "Radiohead Chart History: Bubbling Under Hot 100". Billboard . Archived from the original on 22 September 2020. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  12. ↑ "Revisiting Radiohead's In Rainbows: From the Basement". Far Out Magazine . 26 June 2019. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
  13. ↑ Michaels, Sean (13 August 2008). "Radiohead donate song to Palahniuk film adaptation". The Guardian . Retrieved 13 August 2008.
  14. ↑ "Radiohead choose fan video as official 'Reckoner' video | NME". NME Music News, Reviews, Videos, Galleries, Tickets and Blogs | NME.COM. 2 October 2008. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  15. ↑ Pytlik, Mark (15 October 2007). "Radiohead: In Rainbows". Pitchfork . Archived from the original on 21 July 2014. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  16. ↑ "Readers' Poll: The 10 Best Radiohead Songs". Rolling Stone . 12 October 2011. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  17. ↑ Schiller, Rebecca (6 October 2011). "150 best tracks of the past 15 years". NME . Retrieved 6 August 2016.
  18. ↑ "The Top 500 Tracks of the 2000s: 500-201 - Page 2". Pitchfork . 17 August 2009. Archived from the original on 19 August 2016. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  19. ↑ Monroe, Jazz (23 January 2020). "Radiohead's 40 greatest songs – ranked!". The Guardian . ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  20. ↑ "Canadian single certifications – Radiohead – Recckoner". Music Canada . Retrieved 8 March 2023.