Song · Radiohead
“Airbag” by Radiohead
From the album OK Computer (1997)
“Airbag” by Radiohead appears on 10 radio countdowns from 4 stations between 2007 and 2026. It was first released in 1997 on the album OK Computer. Its best result is #15 on The Best Opening Tracks of All Time. In the combined RockLists rankings it is #2,335 alternative song of all time.
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"Airbag" comes from OK Computer, the third Radiohead album, released on 21 May 1997, and its credits read like the inventory of a band refusing to stay put. All five wrote it. Thom Yorke sings and plays guitar and piano; Jonny Greenwood adds guitar, piano, organ, Mellotron, glockenspiel and keyboards; Ed O'Brien brings guitar, effects and backing vocals; Colin Greenwood plays bass guitar and bass synthesizer; Philip Selway drums; and three of them chip in percussion.
Nigel Godrich produced, recorded and mixed it with the band, part of a record they made mostly in their Oxfordshire rehearsal room and at St Catherine's Court, a historic mansion in Bath, across 1996 and early 1997. They were putting real distance between themselves and the guitar-heavy soul-searching of The Bends, and the thick layering here shows it.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 1180 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007) | 2008 |
| 2008 | 1104 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008) | 2009 |
| 2009 | 975 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009) | 2010 |
| 2010 | 882 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) | 2011 |
| 2011 | 845 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) | 2011 |
| 2013 | 851 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) | 2012 |
| 2014 | 884 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) | 2013 |
| 2020 | 1330 | WXPN | WXPN 2020 Greatest Songs of All Time | 2020 |
| 2024 | 15 | KEXP | The Best Opening Tracks of All Time | 738 |
| 2026 | 681 | KXT | KXT 917 Song Countdown | 917 |
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