Song · OK Computer era (1996–98)
Man of War
Written as a Bond theme and turned down by the actual Bond film, it took twenty-two years to come out.
OK Computer OKNOTOK 1997 2017album- 2017released
- 4:29length
1995
big boots
It went into the set on The Bends tour under the name “Big Boots”, and Yorke said plainly what it was: a homage to James Bond themes. On the same tour they were covering “Nobody Does It Better”, so the idea was not exactly hidden. They thought about putting it out as a B-side to “Street Spirit (Fade Out)”.
feb 1996
chipping norton
Instead they recorded it with Nigel Godrich in February 1996, in the first sessions for OK Computer at Chipping Norton, and then left it alone. Philip Selway's explanation is that it sounded like the album they had just made, and they were trying to get away from that.
We knew that it was a good song, but it never really found its place.
philip selway · radio x, june 2017
mar 1998
abbey road, and a bad week
In March 1998 they went into Abbey Road with Godrich to record a new, more electronic arrangement for The Avengers. Footage of the session is in Meeting People Is Easy, and it is not a happy film.
We were so messed up and we went in, tried to do the track, but we just couldn't do it. It was actually a really difficult period of time. We had a five-week break and all the shit was coming to the surface… It was a real low point after it.
thom yorke
That version went unreleased too.
2015
the bond film that said no
When Spectre came round, with a director and a leading man who were both fans, the band offered this song. It was turned down for not having been written for the film, which after twenty years of it being a Bond pastiche has a certain symmetry. They wrote a new one, “Spectre”, and that was not used either. In July 2015 William Hill suspended betting on the theme after somebody staked £15,000 at ten to one on Radiohead getting it.
22 jun 2017
released as “man of war”
The 1996 recording came out on OKNOTOK 1997 2017 on 22 June 2017, under the title “Man of War”, with a video by Colin Read, as a download for anyone who had pre-ordered the reissue. PopMatters called it the best of the three unearthed songs.
This is the version of the song we all felt best captured what was good about it.
philip selway · radio x, june 2017
the video
The promo, directed by Colin Read.· Radioheadwatch on youtube →
takes(2)
Live history
| Times played | 16 shows |
|---|---|
| Live debut | Wednesday 1 November 1995 · Leeds |
| Last played | Wednesday 7 August 2002 · Salamanca |
| Longest absence | 6 years · back on Wednesday 7 August 2002 · Salamanca |
First played live in 1995, 22 years before it was released.
Nights played include broadcasts; opened and closed count gigs only. A cancelled night has no setlist. All setlist stats →
Tabs (1)
sources7
- Philip Selway, “X-Posure with John Kennedy”, Radio X, June 2017.
- Nigel Godrich on “Radcliffe and Maconie”, BBC 6 Music, June 2017.
- “Radiohead's ‘Man of War’: everything you need to know about the OK Computer bonus tracks”, Diffuser.
- Marc Hogan, “19 unreleased Radiohead songs that could be on their next album”, Pitchfork, 4 March 2016.
- Andy Greene, “19 things we learned hanging out with Radiohead”, Rolling Stone, 8 June 2017.
- “Bond theme betting suspended after punter tries to put £15,000 on Radiohead”, The Guardian, 29 July 2015.
- “Turn Your Radiohead On!”, 18 November 1995.