First appearing as a b-side on Street Spirit, this song showed new style for the band to work in. One of their best and most popular B-sides which the band love. They let it be remixed for the film Romeo and Juliet. It was released on the soundtrack album, which is the best selling film soundtrack of all time. Most live shows in 1997 had this song, in an extended version from on the single, with much more guitar at the end.



One of the best B-sides ever recorded by any band, Talk Show Host presents Radiohead exploring the trip-hop style. The song recalls Portishead's debut album, Dummy. The original version, on the Street Spirit [Fade Out] CD1, is the most guitar driven of the versions released. The band has never articulated the song's meaning, but the number does contain some of Radiohead's best lyrics. The next version released was the Nellee Hooper remix on the William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet soundtrack, which differs from the original in that it includes various backing sounds and far less guitar, giving it a mysterious feel. The most unusual version is the Black Dog remix, in which the instrumental part and the vocals are played at different tempos than they are on the original - it's hard to sing along with. This version is very wild, and when the acoustic guitar comes in, the track takes on a magical quality. The best version, however, is the live take, with Jonny's added keyboards and a wonderfully long guitar jam at the end.



How this song is a b-side, I will never understand. I don't know how it would have quite fit on any of the albums, but its relegation to b-side status is, well, it's actually funny. There is no doubt that this is one of the greatest songs any band will ever write. The fact that it is a b-side only goes to show Radiohead's strength in depth. At least it did gain a good amount of exposure from being played in the film Romeo & Juliet, unlike Exit Music [For A Film] which was wasted on the credits.