Reckoner
You can't take it with you
Dancing for your pleasure
[Verse 2]
You are not to blame for
Bittersweet distractor
Dare not speak its name
Dedicated to all hu–
All human beings
[Chorus]
Because we separate like ripples on a blank shore
(In rainbows)
Because we separate like ripples on a blank shore
(In rainbows)
[Verse 3]
Reckoner
Take me with you
Dedicated to all hu–
All human beings
About
“Reckoner” was an early working title for the album before it was titled In Rainbows. The album does take its title from this song’s lyrics: “Because we separate / Like ripples on a blank shore / (In rainbows)”
An earlier, much different song titled “Reckoner” was played live in 2001 and later released as “Feeling Pulled Apart by Horses.”
Guitarist Jonny Greenwood was asked in an interview with Mojo magazine January 2008 if he was aware that In Rainbows was a remarkable record. He replied:
Well, we spent more time on it than we should have done and you go a bit mental after a while. You listen to something like ‘Reckoner’ and think, maybe this is just a bad break beat. Now I can hear what’s good about it. People around us were telling us it was really good, but what do they know? What do we know?
He added later in the interview:
It was when we recorded ‘Reckoner’ that we felt we’d first got something special on tape.
The song has a similar theme to their song called “Present Tense”.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
I always considered these lyrics as the last conversation between Jesus and God on Golgotha.
Try to listen to it during the last 10 minutes of Mel Gibson’s “Passion”.
- 1.15 Step
- 3.Nude
- 5.All I Need
- 6.Faust Arp
- 7.Reckoner
- 10.Videotape