Reckoner

"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".

"Reckoner"
Song by Radiohead
from the album In Rainbows
Released10 October 2007
Recorded2005–2007
GenreArt rock[1]
Length4:50
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Nigel Godrich

"Reckoner" was named one of the best songs of the decade by Pitchfork and NME. Remixes were released by James Holden, Flying Lotus and Diplo. Radiohead released the separate stems for fans to remix, as they had for their 2008 single "Nude". "Reckoner" reached number 74 on the UK Singles Chart.

Recording

On tour in 2001, Radiohead performed a different song with the title "Reckoner".[2] Pitchfork described it as "droning rocker",[3] and Rolling Stone wrote that it featured "one of the loudest and most sinister riffs in Radiohead's catalog".[4] Working on this song for their 2007 album In Rainbows, Radiohead wrote a coda that developed into a different song, but kept the "Reckoner" title.[5]

Radiohead's 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."[6]

In 2009, the singer, Thom Yorke, released the original "Reckoner" song as a solo single, "Feeling Pulled Apart by Horses".[7]

Composition

"Reckoner" features Yorke's falsetto, "frosty, clanging" percussion, a "meandering" guitar line, piano, and a string arrangement by the guitarist Jonny Greenwood.[8] 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".[9] He described the song as "kind of a love song ... Sort of."[10]

Release

"Reckoner" was released on Radiohead's 2007 album In Rainbows.[8] 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.[11] Radiohead also had the electronic musicians James Holden, Flying Lotus and Diplo create remixes.[11]

After the stems were released for sale, "Reckoner" reached number 74 on the UK Singles Chart.[12] It did not enter the US Billboard Hot 100, but peaked at number 21 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart, a 25-song extension of the Hot 100.[13] A performance of "Reckoner" was included on the 2008 live video In Rainbows – From the Basement.[14]

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".[15]

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".[8] In October 2011, Rolling Stone readers voted it the ninth-best Radiohead song, and NME ranked it the 93rd-best track of the previous 15 years.[16][17] Pitchfork named it the 254th-greatest song of the decade.[18] In 2020, the Guardian named "Reckoner" 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]

Personnel

Adapted from the In Rainbows liner notes.[20]

Charts
ChartPeak Position
UK Singles Chart74[12]

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[21] Gold 40,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References
  1. Gallucci, Michael (20 March 2019). "The Best Song From Every Radiohead Album". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  2. "Pitchfork's Guide to Radiohead's In Rainbows | Pitchfork". Pitchfork. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  3. Hogan, Marc (25 September 2009). ""Feeling Pulled Apart by Horses" by Thom Yorke Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
  4. Kreps, Daniel (21 September 2009). "New Thom Yorke Single "Feeling Pulled Apart By Horses" Released". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
  5. "Ed O'Brien & Thom Yorke at BBC 6Music". BBC 6 Music. 19 November 2007. Archived from the original on 30 December 2007. Retrieved 23 November 2007.
  6. Vozick-Levinson, Simon (27 April 2012). "The Making of Radiohead's 'In Rainbows'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  7. "Radiohead's Thom Yorke confirms new single release". NME. 3 September 2009. Retrieved 3 September 2009.
  8. "Radiohead: In Rainbows Album Review | Pitchfork". pitchfork.com. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  9. "Radiohead on In Rainbows". XFM. 28 January 2008. Archived from the original on 21 June 2015. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
  10. Maletsky, Kiernan. "Radiohead at the Scottrade Center: Selections From Thom Yorke's Banter". Riverfront Times. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  11. "Diplo, Flying Lotus remix Radiohead's "Reckoner"". Pitchfork. 23 September 2008. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  12. "Reckoner by Radiohead - Music Charts". acharts.co.
  13. "Radiohead Chart History: Bubbling Under Hot 100". Billboard. Archived from the original on 22 September 2020. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  14. "Revisiting Radiohead's In Rainbows: From the Basement". Far Out Magazine. 26 June 2019. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
  15. "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.
  16. "9. 'Reckoner'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  17. "150 Best Tracks Of The Past 15 Years". nme.com. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
  18. "The Top 500 Tracks of the 2000s: 500-201 - Page 2 | Pitchfork". pitchfork.com. 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. In Rainbows (liner notes). Radiohead. XL Recordings. 2007. XLCD 324.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  21. "Canadian single certifications – Radiohead – Recckoner". Music Canada. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
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