Song · Radiohead
“Burn The Witch” by Radiohead
From the album A Moon Shaped Pool (2016)
“Burn The Witch” by Radiohead appears on 18 radio countdowns from 15 stations between 2016 and 2025. It was first released in 2016 on the album A Moon Shaped Pool. Its best result is #5 on the WTMD Top 89 Songs of 2016. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #25 alternative song of 2016 and #426 of the '10s.
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Radiohead had been sitting on "Burn the Witch" since the sessions for 2000's Kid A, and when it finally surfaced in May 2016 as the lead single from A Moon Shaped Pool, their ninth album, the wait only sharpened it. The London Contemporary Orchestra carries the song, its strings struck with guitar picks so they tick and stab like a nervous pulse before swelling toward something close to panic, while the orchestra's choir hovers in the back. Nigel Godrich produced and mixed. The words sound the alarm about groupthink and authoritarianism.
It came with a stop-motion video that borrowed from the 1960s Trumptonshire Trilogy children's shows and the 1973 horror film The Wicker Man. Rolling Stone, Billboard and the Village Voice all put it among the year's best songs, it earned a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Song, and it was one of the UK's bestselling vinyl singles that year.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 14 | 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana | 91X Top 91 Songs of 2016 | 91 |
| 2016 | 33 | CD101 Columbus, OH | CD101 Top 102.5 Songs of 2016 | 103 |
| 2016 | 70 | The Buzz Burlington, VT / Plattsburgh, NY / Montreal, QC | The Buzz Top 99 Songs of 2016 | 99 |
| 2016 | 7 | WERS 88.9 Boston, MA | WERS Top 88 Songs of 2016 | 88 |
| 2016 | 6 | WRNR 103.1 Annapolis, MD | WRNR Top 103.1 Songs of 2016 | 104 |
| 2016 | 14 | WFUV New York, NY | WFUV Top 90 Songs of 2016 | 90 |
| 2016 | 5 | WTMD Baltimore, MD | WTMD Top 89 Songs of 2016 | 89 |
| 2016 | 39 | 90.9 The Bridge Kansas City, MO | 90.9 The Bridge Top 100 Songs of 2016 | 90 |
| 2016 | 81 | 107.1 The Peak Westchester County, NY | WXPK Top 107 Songs of 2016 | 107 |
| 2016 | 15 | WBER Rochester, NY | WBER Listener Countdown 2016 | 117 |
| 2016 | 11 | The Current Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN | The Current Top 89 Songs of 2016 | 89 |
| 2016 | 44 | 102.7 WEQX Southern Vermont and the Capital District of New York (Albany) | WEQX Top 102.7 of 2016 | 103 |
| 2016 | 79 | Triple J Australia (national) | Triple J Hottest 100 of 2016 | 100 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 392 | KEXP | KEXP Listeners' Favorite Songs of All Time | 627 |
| 2024 | 313 | KEXP | The Best Opening Tracks of All Time | 738 |
| 2025 | 263 | The Current | 893 Essential Songs of The Current: 2005 to Now | 893 |
| 2025 | 678 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the 21st Century | 909 |
| 2025 | 530 | WYEP | WYEP Best Songs of the 21st Century (So Far) | 714 |
Also listed as: Burn the Witch.
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