“Lotus Flower” by Radiohead

"Lotus Flower" led Radiohead into The King of Limbs, their eighth album, in February 2011, and it's the band at their most slinky and nocturnal: Thom Yorke's falsetto gliding over skittering, off-kilter beats and a rubbery synth bass that never quite lands where you expect. All five members share the writing credit, and Nigel Godrich produced, engineered and mixed it, keeping everything close, dry and hypnotic.

The video is what turned it into an event. Yorke dances like a man seized by something he can't name, jerking and flailing, and the clip racked up millions of views and launched an internet meme. It was never sold as a commercial single, yet it still found its way onto charts in the UK, on the US Alternative Songs chart and in Japan, and it drew Grammy nominations for Best Rock Performance, Best Rock Song and Best Music Video.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.