Song · The Bends era (1994–96)
Bishop's Robes
Ed O'Brien said this, “Lucky” and “Talk Show Host” were all done in three days in 1995.
sep 1995
the “lucky” sessions
It was cut in early September 1995, in the same run of sessions that produced “Lucky”, and Thom Yorke plays the guitar solo himself. By Ed O'Brien's account to NME in 1997, it took three days to record the three songs, this, “Lucky” and “Talk Show Host”. In January 1996 it went out on the first CD of the “Street Spirit (Fade Out)” single, with “Talk Show Host”, and on its own on the seven-inch. Ed O'Brien had confirmed the B-sides in Radiohead World Service, the band's fanzine, and said in the same breath that another song, “We Agree”, would not be coming out.
1995–2000
on the road
It was new on the first night of the British tour, at the Barrowland in Glasgow on 31 October 1995, was missing from the setlists from Leeds to Nottingham, and came back at the Corn Exchange in Cambridge on 6 November. The OK Computer tour picked it up at the Caird Hall in Dundee in September 1997, where The Herald counted three B-sides in the set, this one among them, and took it by way of Marseille, Japan and Australia to Radio City Music Hall in New York. After more than two years away it was played once more, at the SFB Sendesaal in Berlin on 4 July 2000.
the words
the headmaster
Yorke has said the song has nothing to do with the headmaster of Abingdon School, where he was a pupil, and on other occasions has named that same headmaster as the song's inspiration.
on stage
A live take.· Izzad Zahariwatch on youtube →
the record(1)
on stage(2)
Live history
| Times played | 22 shows |
|---|---|
| Live debut | Tuesday 31 October 1995 · Glasgow |
| Last played | Tuesday 4 July 2000 · Berlin |
| Longest absence | 2 years · back on Tuesday 4 July 2000 · Berlin |
Nights played include broadcasts; opened and closed count gigs only. A cancelled night has no setlist. All setlist stats →
Tabs (1)
sources9
- The site's own catalogue note, based on fan archives.
- The 2003 treefingers.com lyric page (
_legacy/lyrics/songs/bishops_robes.txt), for Yorke's solo and the headmaster of Abingdon School. - Ted Kessler's NME tour feature, December 1997, via this site's news story, for O'Brien on the three days.
- Radiohead World Service, issue 3, early 1996, via this site's news story, for O'Brien on the B-sides.
- Music Week, 20 January 1996, via this site's news story on the “Street Spirit (Fade Out)” single, for the formats.
- MusicBrainz, “Street Spirit (Fade Out)”, CD 1 (Parlophone CDRS 6419), for the first CD.
- Unsigned review of the Caird Hall, Dundee, The Herald, 8 September 1997.
- This site's news stories on the Cambridge Corn Exchange (6 November 1995), the 1997 European tour and Radio City Music Hall (18 April 1998), for the nights it was played.
- The site's live archive, for every date.