I Promise (Radiohead song)

"I Promise" is a song by the English rock band Radiohead released in 2017. Radiohead performed it on their 1996 tour, and recorded it during the sessions for their third album, OK Computer (1997); however, they felt it was not strong enough to release. In June 2017, "I Promise" was included on the OK Computer reissue OKNOTOK 1997 2017, and released as a download with a music video.

"I Promise"
Single by Radiohead
from the album OK Computer OKNOTOK 1997 2017
Released2 June 2017
Recorded1996
GenreAlternative rock
Length3:59
LabelXL
Songwriter(s)Radiohead
Producer(s)
Radiohead singles chronology
"Daydreaming"
(2016)		 "I Promise"
(2017)		 "Man of War"
(2017)
Music video
"I Promise" on YouTube

History

Radiohead first performed "I Promise" on 27 March 1996 at the Fillmore in San Francisco,[1] and played it several times that year while touring in support of Alanis Morissette.[2] Bootleg recordings were widely circulated.[3]

Radiohead recorded "I Promise" during the sessions for their third album, OK Computer (1997), but felt it was not strong enough to release.[2] In 1998, guitarist Ed O’Brien suggested that Radiohead could rerecord "I Promise" for their next album, but it remained unreleased. After the release of their seventh album, In Rainbows (2007), O'Brien said they had abandoned the song.[2]

On 23 June 2017, Radiohead released a 20th-anniversary OK Computer reissue, OKNOTOK 1997 2017, featuring "I Promise" and two other new tracks.[4] "I Promise" premiered on BBC Radio 6 on 2 June; host Steve Lamacq said that Radiohead had been "especially pleased to find [it] in the vaults, because they thought it'd been lost over the years".[5] That day, Radiohead released an "I Promise" music video on their website[5] and made the song available to download to those who had pre-ordered OKNOTOK.[6]

On tour in June 2017, Radiohead performed "I Promise" for the first time in 21 years. Yorke told the crowd: "What a bunch of nutters we were, and probably still are ... One of the crazy things we did was not release this song, because we didn't think it was good enough."[7]

Composition

"I Promise" features strummed acoustic guitar,[3] marching band-like drums,[1] and orchestral Mellotron tones.[2] The lyrics see Yorke "listing off vows like a shopping list",[1] with themes common to OK Computer including loneliness, alienation, paranoia and heartache.[3] O'Brien likened it to Roy Orbison, while Yorke likened it to Joy Division.[2] NME described the song as "Radiohead at their most direct" before they moved into electronic music with later albums.[1]

Music video

The "I Promise" music video was directed by Michal Marczak, who had previously directed a video vignette for Radiohead's ninth album, A Moon Shaped Pool (2016), and the video for "Beautiful People" by Mark Pritchard, featuring Yorke.[8] The video depicts a nighttime bus journey through Warsaw, with one passenger as a detached animatronic head.[3][9][10] Robin Hilton of NPR interpreted the video as a reference to the isolation and "gruelling" schedule Yorke experienced on the OK Computer tour.[3]

Reception

Pitchfork named "I Promise" the week's "Best New Music", writing that if Radiohead had released it in 1997 "it might've been inescapable in dorm rooms, at open mic nights, and wherever else sensitive guys with guitars are found ... It doesn't much reinvent the group's The Bends-era iteration, as the technological lyrical themes and gloomy production of OK Computer would. But it's stunning all the same."[2]

Charts
Chart (2017) Peak
position
France (SNEP)[11] 136
Iceland (RÚV)[12] 14
Scotland (OCC)[13] 78
UK Download (OCC)[14] 81
US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (Billboard)[15] 48

Personnel

Radiohead

Additional personnel

References
  1. Jamie, Milton (5 May 2017). "A guide to the unreleased tracks on Radiohead's OKNOTOK". NME. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
  2. Hogan, Marc (2 June 2017). ""I Promise" by Radiohead Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  3. Hilton, Robin (2 June 2017). "Watch: Radiohead Shares Video For Previously Unreleased Song, 'I Promise'". NPR. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  4. Strauss, Matthew (2 May 2017). "Radiohead Announce New OK Computer Reissue Featuring 3 Unreleased Tracks". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
  5. "Watch Radiohead's New "I Promise" Video". Pitchfork. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  6. Althea, Legaspi (2 June 2017). "Hear Radiohead's Previously Unreleased Song 'I Promise'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
  7. Yoo, Noah (7 June 2017). "Watch Radiohead Play "I Promise" for First Time in 21 Years". Pitchfork. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  8. "Radiohead premiere video for OK Computer rarity "I Promise" — watch". Consequence of Sound. 2 June 2017. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  9. "Michał Marczak nakręcił teledysk dla Radiohead. W klipie do "I Promise" występuje Agata Buzek". Gazeta Wyborcza. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  10. Gonzalez, Ed. "Watch Radiohead's "I Promise" Music Video Directed by Michal Marczak". Slant. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  11. "Le Top de la semaine : Top Singles Téléchargés – SNEP (Week 23, 2017)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
  12. "TOPP20 LISTINN 18. JÚNÍ - 1. JÚLÍ 2017". RÚV. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  13. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
  14. "Official Singles Downloads Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
  15. "Radiohead Chart History (Hot Rock & Alternative Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
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