Exit Music (for a Film) (4:25)

“Exit Music (For a Film)” is a song by Radiohead, written specifically for the ending credits of the 1996 film William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet. Although not included on either of the two soundtrack albums at the request of Thom Yorke, the song appears on the band’s highly acclaimed third album, OK Computer (1997). The moment in the film when Claire Danes (as Juliet) holds a gun to her head was the actual inspiration for “Exit Music”. Thom Yorke also had the 1968 adaptation of the play (Romeo and Juliet) in his head: “I saw the Zeffirelli version when I was 13 and I cried my eyes out, because I couldn’t understand why, the morning after they shagged, they didn’t just run away. The song is written for two people who should run away before all the bad stuff starts. A personal song.” The director of the movie, Baz Luhrmann, revealed in the DVD commentary that he believes it is one of the greatest film exit songs ever written.