All that was left was the title. Radiohead chose “Exit Music (For a Film)” – both a literal interpretation (the music played over the closing credits of Romeo + Juliet) and a figurative one (the characters’ deaths are their final “exit”). Although the band granted use of the song in the movie, released in the fall of ’96, they prevented it from being on the soundtrack album. Radiohead wanted to save the song for inclusion on OK Computer, which wouldn’t come out for another seven months.
“It’s the only song we’ve ever done on demand,” guitarist Ed O’Brien told Melody Maker in 1997. The movie “looked great so we did this song straight away… The only thing I don’t like is ‘Exit Music’ appears over the end credits, so it will just play to the sound of loads of chairs banging upright… But I still think it fits with the film amazingly well, especially as the lyrics are actually quite personal.”
POSTED FROM:https://diffuser.fm/radiohead-exit-music-for-a-film/