"I Promise" | ||||
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Single by Radiohead | ||||
from the album OK Computer OKNOTOK 1997 2017 | ||||
Released | 2 June 2017 | |||
Format | Download | |||
Recorded | 1996 | |||
Genre | Alternative rock | |||
Length | 3:59 | |||
Label | XL | |||
Songwriter(s) | Radiohead | |||
Producer(s) |
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Radiohead singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"I Promise" on YouTube |
"I Promise" is a song by the English rock band Radiohead, recorded during the sessions for their third album, OK Computer (1997). The band felt it was not strong enough to release at the time, but included it on the 2017 OK Computer reissue, OK Computer OKNOTOK 1997 2017, and released it as a download with a music video on 2 June 2017.
Radiohead first performed "I Promise" on 27 March 1996 at the Fillmore in San Francisco, and played it several times that year while touring as Alanis Morissette's support act.Bootleg recordings of these performances were widely circulated. The band recorded the song during the sessions for their third album, OK Computer (1997), but felt it was not strong enough to release and did not perform it again for over two decades. In 1998, guitarist Ed O’Brien stated that Radiohead were considering rerecording "I Promise" for their next album, but it remained unreleased. Asked if the song "had a chance" after the release of their seventh album, In Rainbows (2007), O'Brien replied in the negative.
On 2 May 2017, Radiohead announced a 20th-anniversary OK Computer reissue, OK Computer OKNOTOK 1997 2017. The reissue includes three previously unreleased tracks, including "I Promise". The song was premiered on BBC Radio 6 on 2 June by host Steve Lamacq, who said that Radiohead were "especially pleased to find [the song] in the vaults, because they thought it’d been lost over the years." The same day, Radiohead released "I Promise" as a download for those who had pre-ordered OKNOTOK, along with a music video on their website.
On tour in June 2017, Radiohead performed "I Promise" for the first time in 21 years. 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."
In interviews years before the song's release, O'Brien likened "I Promise" to Roy Orbison, while Yorke likened it to Joy Division. The song features strummed acoustic guitar,marching band-like drums, and Mellotron "washes of orchestral tones." The lyrics see Yorke "listing off vows like a shopping list", with themes common to OK Computer including loneliness, alienation, paranoia and heartache.NME described the song as "Radiohead at their most direct" before moving into electronic music with later albums.