Top Ten Radiohead Songs

I remember it like it was yesterday. The date was July 2nd of 1997. I was an apprentice DJ at WHRW 90.5FM in Binghamton, New York, and I woke up to my phone ringing. It was Mike, my mentor, telling me to get to the station as fast as I could. I rushed to the shower, and ten minutes later I was on a bus headed for Binghamton University's campus, unsure of why I was rushing as much as I was. But when I arrived, it all became clear: Radiohead's newest album, OK Computer, had just arrived in CD and vinyl form. A group of DJ's and friends gathered around in the record library, violating countless radio station rules and policies, and that is when it happened. The opening notes of the song Airbag rang out through the room, and in that moment, Radiohead shifted from a band I liked to a band I loved.

My group of friends is jam-packed with serious, devout Radiohead fans, and one debate always seems to come up whenever we get together: What are the ten best Radiohead songs of all time? This topic came up again just a few days ago, and with the debate still fresh in my mind, I'm sitting down now to write an article on the subject. Before we begin, what qualifications am I using for the basis of my list? Well, a few things really. Song composition, importance and popularity in its era, the general popularity of the song amongst the fan base, and my own personal interpretations of what makes a song great... all of these are key factors in my determinations of what the top ten Radiohead songs are. That being said, it's unlikely you'll find many fans who agree with every song on the list. I refute the concept that there's such a thing as an ultimate "top ten list" for anything, let alone Radiohead's songs. Everyone will have their own favorites... take this list as my own favorites, and not some universally-applicable list of favorites. Alrighty, without further adieu, let's get this list started!

10. Pearly - Released on the 1997 Japan-only EP Running from Demons, and then later on the EP Airbag/ How am I Driving?, Pearly demonstrates Radiohead's ability to drive in a song heavy and hard, without needing to substitute quality with volume, like so many other bands do these days. This song easily makes the list of my favorite "driving" songs, and I never have it too far away when I'm heading out on a lengthy car trip.

9. There There - From the 2003 album Hail to the Thief, There There was one of the popular singles from that album. Kid A and Amnesiac, while critically acclaimed and beloved by Radiohead fans, were slower, softer albums (generally speaking) than their previous entrees, and witnessed a shift for the band into the realm of electronica. There There was an iconic song that signified to Radiohead fans everywhere that Hail to the Thief was an album that would see Radiohead return to their sound-scaping rock roots.

8. All I Need - Released on their newest album, In Rainbows, in 2008, All I Need has all the makings of a fantastic song, and shares some traits with the song listed at #1 on this list. It starts slow and melodic, with a somewhat-simple drumbeat that drives the song down a calm, almost eerie road. But, utilizing a songwriting style that is distinctly Radiohead's, the song disperses with the pleasantries and builds up into a powerful ending that genuinely blows you back the first time you hear it. In a way, it's almost painful to put this song at number eight on the list.

7. Fake Plastic Trees - This is probably on more Top Ten lists than any other song on my list, other than the song named in the number one spot of course. Fake Plastic Trees, released on the 1995 album The Bends, is widely considered to be one of Radiohead's best songs by many fans around the world. Personally, it's not one of my own favorites, but rarely have I sat down with another Radiohead fan to discuss favorite songs to discover that this one wasn't mentioned. Even though it's not a personal favorite of mine, it's still a fantastic song and well worth mentioning in the top ten list.

6. Last Flowers - Another song from In Rainbows, Last Flowers is a beautiful composition of piano and acoustic guitar that perfectly highlights Thom Yorke's incredible singing abilities. It was originally recorded during the OK Computer sessions, but didn't make the final cut. I think I can speak for a large majority of Radiohead fans when I say this: Thank you for releasing this with In Rainbows!

5. How to Disappear Completely: When Kid A was released in October of 2000, I secured two hours of early-evening on-air time at WHRW and played the full album, in its entirety, on the air, only interrupting with station-mandated public service announcements and the like. It was only the second time I'd heard the album... the first was to hunt down obscenities that might get me in trouble if they played on the air. Because of that, I wasn't able to really listen to the album until it was going out live on the air, and that's when the song How to Disappear Completely genuinely struck me. This is a song that perfectly demonstrates Radiohead's ability to compose and perform an extremely beautiful song, that's peaceful and almost serene, without putting listeners to sleep (as some other artists are guilty of).

4. Just - You can't rightly talk about Radiohead's "heavier" material without bringing up the song Just, from the 1995 album The Bends. And in all fairness, it wouldn't be right if we brought up the song Just without mentioning it's breathtaking music video. To this day, I haven't met a person whose seen the video for Just who wasn't left dying to figure out what the man says at the end. If you don't know what I'm talking about, go check out www.mtvmusic.com and hunt down the video. It'll leave you wondering the same, I'm sure!

3. Street Spirit (Fade Out) - Another song from The Bends, and arguably the most breathtaking (no pun intended) on the album, Street Spirit has been one of my favorite Radiohead songs for a very long time. While I didn't care much for the "artsy" music video, the song itself is brilliant, and has for years been used by me as the leading example of Radiohead being a decade ahead of their time at every pass.

2. Lucky - From the 1997 smash hit album OK Computer comes a track that is, in my humble opinion, one of the greatest songs ever written in the brief history of modern rock. Honestly, it's one of the few songs that literally brought a tear to my eye the first time I heard it, not because of the fantastic lyrics, or the absolutely brilliant songwriting, or the sheer "epic" qualities across the board, but because of, well, all of the above. Radiohead fans who are also musicians (and many who aren't musicians, for that matter) are all seemingly brought together by a single note in the song... when Thom Yorke belts out "It's gonna be a glorious day," between roughly 2:19 and 2:40, notably at 2:24. Many of the fans I've spoken with over the years say that they became thoroughly convinced of Yorke's singing abilities at that exact moment. Some of us, however, knew of his talent well before that. Insert smiley face here.

1. Exit Music [For a Film] - The number one song on my top ten list of Radiohead songs is a track that you'll find on top of most such lists, and I refuse to be any exception to that. Exit Music [For a Film], released on the 1997 album OK Computer, is considered by many to be Radiohead's most triumphant moment of songwriting. The song, intended for the Baz Luhrmann film Romeo + Juliet, uses a formula seemingly favored by the band, and featured in several other tracks, including Fake Plastic Trees and All I Need on this list. It starts out with a slow, broody tempo, very dark and humorless, but entirely captivating and attention-grabbing. As the track winds near the end, it slowly begins to escalate, and suddenly, everything explodes in a harmonious burst of energy, romance, and flavor, as though the group broke free from chains and set out to destroy the somberness. But somber wins in the end, as the track quickly winds back down, relieving all the tension built up only moments before, as if the group are bound in the chains again and dragged down into some dingy netherworld. I've used this description in the past, and friends told me it describes the song perfectly, and so I thought I should use it here as well.