Reckoner

"Reckoner" developed from a different song with the same title, which later became known as "Feeling Pulled Apart by Horses". Radiohead wrote a coda that developed into the final song, but kept the title.{{cite interview |last=Yorke |first=Thom |subject-link=Thom Yorke |interviewer=Steve Lamacq |title=Interview with Thom & Ed |last2=O'Brien |first2=Ed |subject-link2=Ed O'Brien|url= |access-date= |work=BBC 6 Music |publisher=BBC |location= |date=19 November 2007}} They were excited about the song and finished it quickly after recording a demo. The producer, Nigel Godrich, recalled of the recording sessions: "People [were] all over the house, shaking things and getting this groove going, then chopping it up into little pieces and putting it back together. It was a lot of fun."{{Cite web |last=Vozick-Levinson |first=Simon |date=2012-04-27 |title=The Making of Radiohead's In Rainbows |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/the-making-of-radioheads-in-rainbows-187534/ |access-date=2024-01-14 |website=Rolling Stone |language=en-US}}

"Reckoner" features Yorke's falsetto, "frosty, clanging" percussion, a "meandering" guitar line, piano, and strings arranged by the guitarist Jonny Greenwood.{{Cite web|url=http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/10785-in-rainbows/|title=Radiohead: In Rainbows Album Review {{!}} Pitchfork|website=pitchfork.com|access-date=2016-08-16}} Yorke said the guitar riff was a homage to the Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante, "in my sort of clunky 'can't-really-pick' kind of way".{{Cite web|url=http://www.xfm.co.uk/artists/radiohead/interviews/in-rainbows/|title=Radiohead on In Rainbows|date=28 January 2008|publisher=XFM|access-date=30 January 2015|archive-date=21 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150621102640/http://www.xfm.co.uk/artists/radiohead/interviews/in-rainbows/|url-status=dead}}

According to the bassist, Colin Greenwood, "reckoner" is a Biblical word referring to Saint Peter, who judges people at the gates of heaven. Yorke said he was unaware of this, and had tried to let the melody drive the lyrics without overthinking them.{{Cite journal |last=Engelshoven |first=Tom |date=17 December 2007 |title=De prijs van Radiohead |journal=Oor |publisher=Argo Media}} He described the song as "kind of a love song ... Sort of."{{Cite web |last=Maletsky |first=Kiernan |title=Radiohead at the Scottrade Center: Selections From Thom Yorke's Banter |url=https://www.riverfronttimes.com/musicblog/2012/03/10/radiohead-at-the-scottrade-center-selections-from-thom-yorkes-banter |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211206131548/https://www.riverfronttimes.com/musicblog/2012/03/10/radiohead-at-the-scottrade-center-selections-from-thom-yorkes-banter |archive-date=6 December 2021 |access-date=2020-09-13 |website=Riverfront Times |language=en}} Yorke said the lyric "because we separate like ripples on a blank shore" was the centre of In Rainbows, and that "everything's leading to that point and then going away from that point".{{cite episode |title= |episode-link= |url= |series=Steve Lamaq |series-link=Steve Lamacq |network=BBC |station=BBC 6 Music |date=19 November 2007 |season= |air-date=}}

"Reckoner" was released on Radiohead's 2007 album In Rainbows. As they had done for their single "Nude", on September 28, 2008, Radiohead released the separate "Reckoner" stems for fans to purchase and remix. Fans could upload their remixes to the Radiohead website and vote for their favourites.{{Cite web|date=2008-09-23|title=Diplo, Flying Lotus remix Radiohead's "Reckoner"|url=https://pitchfork.com/news/33550-diplo-flying-lotus-remix-radioheads-reckoner/|access-date=2021-11-30|website=Pitchfork|language=en-US}} The electronic musicians James Holden, Flying Lotus and Diplo also created remixes.

After the stems went on sale, "Reckoner" reached number 74 on the UK singles chart. It did not enter the US Billboard Hot 100, but reached number 21 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart, a 25-song extension of the Hot 100.{{cite magazine|title=Radiohead Chart History: Bubbling Under Hot 100|url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/radiohead/chart-history/hbu/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200922075550/https://www.billboard.com/music/radiohead/chart-history/HBU|archive-date=22 September 2020|access-date=21 July 2020|magazine=Billboard}} A performance of "Reckoner" was included on the 2008 live video In Rainbows – From the Basement.{{Cite web |date=2019-06-26 |title=Revisiting Radiohead's In Rainbows: From the Basement |url=https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/radiohead-in-rainbows-from-the-basement-session/ |access-date=2021-09-20 |website=Far Out Magazine |language=en-US}} "Reckoner" was used in the credits of the 2008 film Choke, based on the novel by Chuck Palahniuk.{{cite news |last=Michaels |first=Sean |date=2008-08-13 |title=Radiohead donate song to Palahniuk film adaptation |work=The Guardian |publisher= |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2008/aug/13/radiohead.score.palahniuk.film |accessdate=2008-08-13}} The singer-songwriter Lorde used the "Reckoner" drum track while developing her 2025 song "What Was That".{{Cite web |last=Rogerson |first=Ben |date=2025-05-16 |title=Lorde reveals that she used the drums from Radiohead's Reckoner while she was writing What Was That |url=https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/articles/lorde-reveals-she-used-drums-113452694.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAMM7ajZctCm_1uzf-WnsuEwniBU1fRvc43dB5dC-zsvX7DoyOJYBvrmAkJZB7VJ5FcFHP6GusgbxIj-pb-P0F1_SPtf4r4buzRBYrkb0XVzZWqEiPS7nOGsdS7113zZJJBL9s_kTvgUVOTqqZSuU6JisXFSuAkeu-OgPREL9-doi |access-date=2025-05-19 |website=Yahoo Entertainment |language=en-US}}

The "Reckoner" music video was created by Clement Picon, who won a competition held by Radiohead and the animation studio Aniboom to create an animation for an In Rainbows song. Yorke described it as one of his favourite Radiohead videos.{{Cite web |date=2008-10-02 |title=Radiohead choose fan video as official 'Reckoner' video |url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/radiohead-436-1334526 |access-date=2020-08-05 |website=NME |language=en-GB}}

Reviewing In Rainbows, Pitchfork wrote that "Reckoner" was not the "most immediate track", but that after several listens "it reveals itself to be among the most woozily beautiful things the band has ever recorded".{{cite web |last=Pytlik |first=Mark |date=15 October 2007 |title=Radiohead: In Rainbows |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/10785-in-rainbows/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140721051922/http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/10785-in-rainbows/ |archive-date=21 July 2014 |access-date=17 July 2014 |website=Pitchfork}} In 2011, Rolling Stone readers voted "Reckoner" the ninth-best Radiohead song, and NME ranked it the 93rd-best track of the preceding 15 years.{{Cite magazine |date=12 October 2011 |title=Readers’ Poll: The 10 Best Radiohead Songs |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/pictures/readers-poll-the-10-best-radiohead-songs-20111012/9-reckoner-0654187 |access-date=16 August 2016 |magazine=Rolling Stone}}{{cite web |author=Schiller |first=Rebecca |date=6 October 2011 |title=150 best tracks of the past 15 years |url=https://www.nme.com/list/150-best-tracks-of-the-past-15-years-1257 |access-date=August 6, 2016 |website=NME}} Pitchfork named it the 254th-greatest song of the decade.{{Cite web |date=17 August 2009 |title=The Top 500 Tracks of the 2000s: 500-201 - Page 2 |url=http://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/7685-the-top-500-tracks-of-the-2000s-500-201/?page=2 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160819173616/http://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/7685-the-top-500-tracks-of-the-2000s-500-201/?page=2 |archive-date=19 August 2016 |access-date=2016-08-16 |website=Pitchfork}} In 2020, the Guardian named it the third-best Radiohead song, writing: "At first innocuous, 'Reckoner' unspools a full house of virtuoso performances engulfed by Godrich’s winter-blanket production. It soothes then soars."{{Cite news |last=Monroe |first=Jazz |date=2020-01-23 |title=Radiohead's 40 greatest songs – ranked! |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/jan/23/radioheads-40-greatest-songs-ranked |access-date=2020-01-24 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}

{{Certification Table Top|caption=Certifications for "Reckoner"}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Canada|artist=Radiohead|title=Recckoner|award=Gold|type=single|relyear=2007|certyear=2023|accessdate=March 8, 2023}}

{{Certification Table Bottom|streaming=true|nosales=yes|noshipments=yes}}

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Category:Radiohead songs

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Category:Songs written by Philip Selway

Category:Songs written by Ed O'Brien