Exit Music (For a Film)
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| "Exit Music (For a Film)" | |||||
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| Song by Radiohead | |||||
| Album | OK Computer | ||||
| Released | 16 June 1997 | ||||
| Recorded | 1996, 1997 | ||||
| Genre | Art rock | ||||
| Length | 4:25 | ||||
| Label | Parlophone | ||||
| Producer | Nigel Godrich with Radiohead | ||||
| OK Computer track listing | |||||
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| Radiohead: The Best Of track listing | |||||
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"Exit Music (For a Film)" is a song by Radiohead, written specifically for the ending credits of the 1996 film William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet. Although not included on either of the two soundtrack albums at the request of Thom Yorke, the song appears on the band's highly acclaimed third album, OK Computer (1997). It was heavily inspired by Frédéric Chopin's Prelude in E Minor.
The moment in the film when Claire Danes (as Juliet) holds a gun to her head was the actual inspiration for "Exit Music". Thom Yorke also had the 1968 adaptation of the play (Romeo and Juliet) in his head: "I saw the Zeffirelli version when I was 13 and I cried my eyes out, because I couldn't understand why, the morning after they shagged, they didn't just run away. The song is written for two people who should run away before all the bad stuff starts. A personal song." The director of the movie, Baz Luhrmann, revealed in the DVD commentary that he believes it is one of the greatest film exit songs ever written.
The song is mostly very sombre and quiet, but builds to a climax at the end as the heavily compressed drums enter. In live performances, Jonny Greenwood slides a coin up and down the strings of his guitar, using a Roland Space Echo to create the eerie sounds heard throughout the song. In the studio version, the ambient sound is actually a recording of children playing played backwards. The distinctive fuzzy bass guitar featured in the climax is courtesy of the Shin-ei Companion FY-2 fuzz pedal.
The song is featured in the final episode of Father Ted, "Going to America", when Father Kevin is depressed by it on the bus, having previously been cured of his depression by listening to "Theme from Shaft" by Isaac Hayes.
Jazz pianist Brad Mehldau covered the song on volumes III and IV of his Art of the Trio series. His recording was featured in the movie Unfaithful in 2002. Other cover versions have been made by Miranda Sex Garden in 2001, Scala & Kolacny Brothers, Vampire Weekend, Easy Star All-Stars, and Christopher O'Riley in 2003. The song is also featured on The String Quartet Tribute Strung Out on OK Computer. There are several remixes of the song, available online.
American musician Marilyn Manson told Rolling Stone that he "escaped from a treatment facility and listened to [Exit Music (For a Film)] as [he] was standing on the edge of a cliff, thinking about jumping."[1] In the end, he walked away from the incident, the song having supposedly changed his mind.
The last book of the Rebus-series by Ian Rankin is named Exit Music after this song.
[edit] References
- ^ "Marilyn Manson Hand-Picks Tracks By David Bowie, Amy Winehouse and Radiohead". Rolling Stone. June 8 2007. http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/radiohead/articles/story/14955232/marilyn_manson_handpicks_tracks_by_david_bowie_amy_winehouse_and_radiohead. Retrieved on 2007-07-29.
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