Song · The Bends era (1994–96)
Killer Cars
Written after waking up certain that his partner had died in a crash, and never settled on an arrangement.
early 1990s
the morning after the dream
Yorke's account is straightforward: he woke one morning convinced his girlfriend had been killed in a car accident, and wrote this. It is the earliest of his road-death songs, ahead of “Stupid Car” and “Airbag”.
The band liked it enough to consider it for The Bends and could never agree how it should sound. It therefore exists several times over: a live acoustic version, a full studio version, and a slower reading known as the “Mogadon Version”. The studio recording went out as a B-side on the “High and Dry” and “Planet Telex” single in 1995.
There is a further trace of it on the album itself. The drum loop that “Planet Telex” was built on was lifted from this song.
on stage
Live at Club Citta' 1994.· Nero Liveswatch on youtube →
takes(2)
Live history
| Times played | 32 shows |
|---|---|
| Live debut | Saturday 20 February 1993 · Oxford |
| Last played | Wednesday 30 May 2001 · Verona |
| Longest absence | 2 years · back on Monday 19 June 2000 · Milan |
First played live in 1993, 2 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)
sources2
- The site's own catalogue note, based on Citizen Insane and Green Plastic.
- Mac Randall, Exit Music: The Radiohead Story, on the “Planet Telex” loop.