Radiohead didn’t put ‘Lift’ on ‘OK Computer’ because it was too much "pressure" to make a "good version" of the song.
The alternative rock band’s guitarist Ed O’ Brien has opened up about leaving the track off their seminal 1997 record, just as they are set to release it along with two other previously unheard tracks, ‘Man Of War’ and ‘I Promise’, on a re-issue to mark the album’s 20th anniversary.
The ‘Creep’ rocker – who is joined by Thom Yorke, Philip Selway and Johnny and Colin Greenwood in the band – thinks they would have ended up going in a completely different direction if the single was on the critically-acclaimed LP.
Speaking about the track – which they attempted to rework for 2016’s ‘A Moon Shaped Pool’ – in an interview with BBC 6 Music, he revealed:
"’Lift’ is a funny song. We played that live with Alanis Morissette, and it was a really interesting song because the audience, suddenly you’d see them get up and start grooving, it had this kind of infectiousness about it. It was a big, anthemic song. If that song had been on that album, it would have taken us to a different place, and we’d have probably sold a lot more records, if we’d done it right, and everyone was saying this."
On the pressure of the huge anthem, he added: "I think we kind of subconsciously killed it, because if ‘OK Computer’ had been like a ‘Jagged Little Pill’, like Alanis Morissette, it would have killed us. But ‘Lift’ probably had the potential, if we’d done it right, it just had this magic about it. And we didn’t do a good version, because when we got to the studio and did it on that record it was a bit like having a gun to your head, it felt like so much pressure."
Radiohead’s ‘OK Computer’ compilation ‘OKNOTOK’ will be released on June 23 through XL Recordings.
Radiohead: There was too much ‘pressure’ to put Lift on OK Computer
