Thom Yorke on BBC

The director of Motherless Brooklyn wanted something that felt like an old standard, which could then be played through the film as a jazz standard. Thom Yorke tells BBC Radio 3 it was a tall order, since he was essentially trying to fake a feeling, and that he treated it as an intellectual exercise while staying as non-committal as usual.

When the script arrived he had one idea, the only one he had any feeling for. He sent it off and it was accepted at once.

Weeks later the theme was handed to Wynton Marsalis's players, who turned it into a jazz standard almost off the cuff. He had thought his sketch crude and simple and did not expect it to survive the treatment, and says hearing it flourish gave him a real thrill.

His own attempt at a proper version was not very good, which is how Flea came to play trumpet on the one that was used.