Song · Radiohead
“The National Anthem” by Radiohead
From the album Kid A (2000)
“The National Anthem” by Radiohead appears on 9 radio countdowns from 5 stations between 2009 and 2026. It was first released in 2000 on the album Kid A. Its best result is #112 on the WXPN The 885 Greatest Songs of the 21st Century (2024). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #1,528 indie & aaa song of all time and #320 of the '00s.
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"The National Anthem" is the moment on Kid A, Radiohead's fourth album from 2000, where the band stops being polite. It rides a bassline Thom Yorke dreamed up at 16, a fat, circling figure he plays himself here, while his voice comes through a ring modulator like a broadcast from a bunker. Jonny Greenwood layers on ondes Martenot and snatches of sound grabbed off radio stations.
The bones date to late 1997, when the band laid down drums and bass with an OK Computer B-side in mind, then held it back. The finished track was built in Gloucestershire in 1999, and that November a horn section piled in, blowing free jazz modeled on the "organised chaos" of Charles Mingus's The Complete Town Hall Concert. Nigel Godrich produced it with the band, and it's gloriously unhinged.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 331 | WYEP | WYEP 913 Songs That Matter from the Last Decade | 913 |
| 2019 | 234 | KEXP | KEXP Listeners' Favorite Songs of All Time | 627 |
| 2020 | 1979 | WXPN | WXPN 2020 Greatest Songs of All Time | 2020 |
| 2022 | 209 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the 2000s | 907 |
| 2022 | 181 | KEXP | KEXP Top Songs of the Last 50 Years (1972-2022) | 491 |
| 2024 | 797 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Songs of the 21st Century | 1055 |
| 2024 | 112 | WXPN | WXPN The 885 Greatest Songs of the 21st Century (2024) | 885 |
| 2025 | 608 | WYEP | WYEP Best Songs of the 21st Century (So Far) | 714 |
| 2026 | 737 | WYEP | WYEP Greatest Songs of All Time | 1180 |
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