Thom Yorke’s handwritten lyrics to Radiohead song ‘Airbag’ are to be auctioned off for charity next month (March).

The original draft of the lyrics will be sold by Dreweatts & Bloomsbury Auctions on March 18 with the money raised going to Oxfam. It is expected to raise £800-£1200.

Yorke’s lyrics are written on the inside cover of a copy of William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Experience owned by Yorke. Throughout the book Yorke underlines words and annotated the margins, especially to Nurse’s Song, A Cradle Song and The Divine Image, with corrections and revisions.


‘Airbag’ is the opening track on Radiohead’s 1997 album ‘OK Computer’ and opens with the line “In the next world war, In a jackknifed juggernaut, I am born again.”

Press

Radiohead recently announced a raft of European festival appearances, including a headline slot at Primavera in Spain. The band will also headline Iceland’s Secret Solstice, NOS Alive Portugal and OpenAir St Gallen Festival in Switzerland.

The band have also announced a number of headline slots across North America this summer, including Chicago’s Lollapalooza, San Francisco’s Outside Lands and Montreal’s Osheaga Music Festival.

The tour dates represent the latest news in what is set to be a busy 2016 for the band, amid news that a new LP will be released this year , their first since 2011’s ‘King of Limbs’.

Speaking last year, guitarist Jonny Greenwood confirmed that “lots has been recorded” for the album and that Radiohead hoped to tour the record throughout 2016.

