"Lucky" is a song by the English rock band

Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon-on-Thames, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band members are Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Gre ...

, first released on ''

The Help Album ''The Help Album'' is a 1995 charity album to raise funds for the War Child charity, which provided aid to war-stricken areas, such as Bosnia and Herzegovina. All the songs were recorded in a single day. The album features British and Irish a ...

'', a 1995 charity compilation organised by the charity War Child. "Lucky" was recorded in five hours with the producer Nigel Godrich. Radiohead included it on their third studio album, ''

OK Computer ''OK Computer'' is the third studio album by the English rock band Radiohead, released on 21 May 1997. With their producer, Nigel Godrich, Radiohead recorded most of ''OK Computer'' in their rehearsal space in Oxfordshire and the historic m ...

'' (1997), and released it as a single in France in December 1997.

Recording

In 1995, Radiohead were on tour, promoting their second album, '' The Bends''. During soundchecks for shows in Japan, guitarist

Ed O'Brien Edward John O'Brien (born 15 April 1968) is an English guitarist, songwriter, and member of the rock band Radiohead. He releases solo music under the name EOB. O'Brien attended Abingdon School in Oxfordshire, England, where he formed Radiohead ...

produced a high-pitched sound by strumming above the guitar nut. The band developed the sound into a song, "Lucky", which became part of the

set list A set list, or setlist, is typically a handwritten or printed document created as an ordered list of songs, jokes, stories and other elements an artist intends to present during a specific performance. A setlist can be made of nearly any materi ...

. Around this time, the producer

Brian Eno Brian Peter George Jean-Baptiste de la Salle Eno (, born 15 May 1948), also mononymously known as Eno, is an English musician, songwriter, record producer, visual artist, and activist. He is best known for his pioneering contributions to ambien ...

asked Radiohead to contribute a song to ''

'', a charity compilation organised by the charity War Child. The album was to be recorded in a single day, 4 September 1995, and rush-released that week. Radiohead recorded "Lucky" in five hours with engineer Nigel Godrich, who had assisted producer John Leckie with ''The Bends'' and produced several Radiohead B-sides. Godrich went on to produce their third album, ''

''. He said of the ''Help Album'' session: "Those things are the most inspiring, when you do stuff really fast and there's nothing to lose. We left feeling fairly euphoric." Yorke later said "Lucky" shaped the nascent sound and mood of ''OK Computer''. He said: "'Lucky' was indicative of what we wanted to do. It was like the first mark on the wall."

Release

To promote ''The Help Album'', "Lucky" featured as the lead track on the '' Help EP'', which charted at number 51 after

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

chose not to play it. It was included as the 11th track on Radiohead's album ''OK Computer''. "Lucky" was originally slated to be released as a single from the album, but due to circumstances beyond the band's control, it was issued as a physical single only in France on 26 December 1997.

Track listing

Charts

References

Bibliography

* * {{authority control 1995 songs 1997 singles Radiohead songs Songs written by Thom Yorke Songs written by Jonny Greenwood Songs written by Ed O'Brien Songs written by Colin Greenwood Songs written by Philip Selway Song recordings produced by Nigel Godrich Parlophone singles Space rock songs Songs about luck Songs about airplanes