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About

Genius Annotation

Radiohead was in the middle of their 1996 tour when they were approached by director Baz Luhrmann to record a song meant for his upcoming film, Romeo + Juliet.

The band was shown the final thirty minutes of the film and were instantly driven to inspiration. According to Thom Yorke, “When we saw the scene in which Claire Danes holds the Colt .45 against her head, we started working on the song immediately.”

The result was “Exit Music (For A Film)”, a chillingly gentle song that bursts into a haunting crescendo of emotion. Because of its inclusion on OK Computer, it was withheld from the film’s soundtrack and instead a remix of “Talk Show Host” took its place.

Appropriately, the song plays during the film’s closing credits.

Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

What did Radiohead say about "Exit Music (For A Film)"?
Genius Answer

Lead singer Thom Yorke, producer Nigel Godrich, and lead guitarist/keyboardist Jonny Greenwood discussed the track in a 2017 Rolling Stone article as part of an expansive oral history of OK Computer, providing background into its its composition and its ties to an actual film:

Yorke: [Romeo + Juliet director] Baz Luhrmann sent me two random scenes from the movie. One is where they first meet around a little fish tank. And then they sent me one other which I can’t remember. And I had a half-formed song going one way, but then I got totally obsessed with the prison tapes by Johnny Cash. As far as I’m concerned, Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy. It’s about two people who can’t be together and are naïve and young enough to believe that they’ll go see each other in the next life so they choose to go there."

Godrich: We listened to Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison a lot. At the beginning of “Exit Music” the voice comes in very loud, and that was something that struck from from Johnny Cash. We also listened to Remy Zero a lot. [Bassist] Colin [Greenwood] was really into that. Pet Sounds too."

Greenwood: I remember working at the chords with Thom for the choir part. It was really painstaking. We had to relearn how to really concentrate and focus on something small and work at it, properly. And not just go, “Yeah. That will do.” Looking at how the chords run into each other and not be too long and boring. I can remember it making me really tired having to concentrate on that stuff."

Credits
Lead Vocals
Background Vocals
Mastering Engineer
Conducting
String Arrangements
FX Editor
Bass Synthesizer
Bass Guitar
Recorded At
St. Catherine's Court, Bath, Somerset, England
Release Date
May 21, 1997
View Exit Music (For A Film) samples
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