I Promise (Radiohead song) explained

I Promise
Type:single
Artist:Radiohead
Album:OK Computer OKNOTOK 1997 2017
Released:2 June 2017
Recorded:1996
Genre:Alternative rock
Length:3:59
Label:XL
Prev Title:Daydreaming
Prev Year:2016
Next Title:Man of War
Next Year:2017

"I Promise" is a song by the English rock band Radiohead, released in 2017. Radiohead performed it several times in 1996 while touring in support of Alanis Morissette. They recorded it during the sessions for their third album, OK Computer (1997), but 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.

History

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

Radiohead recorded "I Promise" during the sessions for their third album, OK Computer (1997), but felt it was not strong enough to release. In 1998, the 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 it.

On 23 June 2017, Radiohead released a 20th-anniversary OK Computer reissue, OKNOTOK 1997 2017, featuring "I Promise" and two other new tracks.[2] "I Promise" premiered on BBC Radio 6 on 2 June. The host, Steve Lamacq, said that Radiohead believed it was lost and had been pleased to rediscover it.[3] That day, Radiohead released a music video on their website and made "I Promise" available to download to those who had pre-ordered OKNOTOK.[4]

On tour in June 2017, Radiohead performed "I Promise" for the first time in 21 years. The songwriter, Thom 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."[5]

Composition

"I Promise" features strummed acoustic guitar, marching band-like drums,[6] and orchestral Mellotron tones. The lyrics have Yorke "listing off vows like a shopping list", with themes common to OK Computer including loneliness, alienation, paranoia and heartache. O'Brien likened it to Roy Orbison, while Yorke likened it to Joy Division.[1] NME described "I Promise" as "Radiohead at their most direct" before they moved into more experimental music.

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.[7] The video depicts a nighttime bus journey through Warsaw, with one passenger as a detached animatronic head.[8] [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.[8]

Reception

Pitchfork named "I Promise" the week's "Best New Music". The critic Marc Hogan wrote that, unlike the "technological lyrical themes and gloomy production" of OK Computer, it was similar to Radiohead's earlier album The Bends and "stunning all the same". He speculated that, had Radiohead 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".

Charts

Chart (2017)Peak
position
France (SNEP)[11] 136
Iceland (RÚV)[12] 14

Personnel

Radiohead

Additional personnel

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Hogan . Marc . 2 June 2017 . 'I Promise' by Radiohead review . 6 June 2017 . Pitchfork.
  2. Web site: Radiohead Announce New OK Computer Reissue Featuring 3 Unreleased Tracks. Strauss. Matthew. 2 May 2017. Pitchfork. 2 May 2017.
  3. Web site: Monroe . Jazz . 2 June 2017 . Watch Radiohead's new 'I Promise' video . 6 June 2017 . Pitchfork.
  4. Web site: Althea . Legaspi . 2 June 2017 . Hear Radiohead's previously unreleased song 'I Promise' . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20170602060245/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/hear-radioheads-previously-unreleased-song-i-promise-w485420 . 2 June 2017 . 2 June 2017 . Rolling Stone.
  5. Web site: Yoo . Noah . 7 June 2017 . Watch Radiohead Play 'I Promise' for first time in 21 years . 9 June 2017 . Pitchfork.
  6. Web site: Jamie . Milton . 5 May 2017 . A guide to the unreleased tracks on Radiohead's OKNOTOK . 7 June 2017 . . en-UK.
  7. Web site: Radiohead premiere video for OK Computer rarity "I Promise" — watch. 2 June 2017. Consequence of Sound. 6 June 2017.
  8. Web site: Hilton . Robin . 2 June 2017 . Watch: Radiohead shares video for previously unreleased song 'I Promise' . 6 June 2017 . NPR.
  9. Web site: Michał Marczak nakręcił teledysk dla Radiohead. W klipie do "I Promise" występuje Agata Buzek. Gazeta Wyborcza. 17 March 2018.
  10. Web site: Gonzalez . Ed . Watch Radiohead’s "I Promise" Music Video Directed by Michal Marczak . 17 March 2018 . Slant Magazine.
  11. Web site: Le Top de la semaine : Top Singles Téléchargés – SNEP (Week 23, 2017). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. fr. 10 June 2017.
  12. Web site: TOPP20 LISTINN 18. JÚNÍ - 1. JÚLÍ 2017 . RÚV. 12 July 2017.