"Lucky" is a song by the English rock band Radiohead, first released on ''

The Help Album ''The Help Album'' is a 1995 charity album to raise funds for the War Child charity, which provided aid to war-stricken areas, such as Bosnia and Herzegovina. All the songs were recorded in a single day. The album features British and Irish ar ...

'', a 1995 charity compilation organised by the charity War Child. "Lucky" was recorded in five hours with the producer

Nigel Godrich Nigel Timothy Godrich (born 28 February 1971) is an English record producer, recording engineer and musician. He is known for his work with the English rock band Radiohead, having produced all their studio albums since '' OK Computer'' (1997). ...

. Radiohead included it on their third studio album, '' OK Computer'' (1997), and released it as a single in France in December 1997.

Recording

In 1995, Radiohead were on tour, promoting their second album, '' The Bends''. During soundchecks for shows in Japan, guitarist Ed O'Brien produced a high-pitched sound by strumming above the guitar nut. The band developed the sound into a song, "Lucky", which became part of the

set list A set list, or setlist, is typically a handwritten or printed document created as an ordered list of songs, jokes, stories and other elements an artist intends to present during a specific performance. A setlist can be made of nearly any materi ...

. Around this time, the producer Brian Eno asked Radiohead to contribute a song to ''

'', a charity compilation organised by the charity War Child. The album was to be recorded in a single day, 4 September 1995, and rush-released that week. Radiohead recorded "Lucky" in five hours with engineer

, who had assisted producer

John Leckie John William Leckie (born 23 October 1949) is an English record producer and recording engineer. His production credits include Magazine's ''Real Life'' (1978), XTC's ''White Music'' (1978) and Dukes of Stratosphear's ''25 O'Clock'' (1985), t ...

with ''The Bends'' and produced several Radiohead

B-sides The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

. Godrich went on to produce their third album, '' OK Computer.'' He said of the ''Help Album'' session: "Those things are the most inspiring, when you do stuff really fast and there's nothing to lose. We left feeling fairly euphoric." Yorke later said "Lucky" shaped the nascent sound and mood of ''OK Computer''. He said: "'Lucky' was indicative of what we wanted to do. It was like the first mark on the wall."

Release

To promote ''The Help Album'', "Lucky" featured as the lead track on the '' Help EP'', which charted at number 51 after

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

chose not to play it. It was included as the 11th track on Radiohead's album ''OK Computer.''

Track listing

Personnel

Radiohead *

Colin Greenwood Colin Charles Greenwood (born 26 June 1969) is an English musician and the bassist for the rock band Radiohead. Along with bass guitar, Greenwood plays upright bass and electronic instruments. With his younger brother, the Radiohead guitari ...

* Jonny Greenwood * Ed O'Brien *

Philip Selway Philip James Selway (born 23 May 1967) is an English musician and the drummer of the English rock band Radiohead. Along with the other members of Radiohead, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019. Selway released his deb ...

Thom Yorke Thomas Edward Yorke (born 7 October 1968) is an English musician and the main vocalist and songwriter of the rock band Radiohead. A multi-instrumentalist, he mainly plays guitar and keyboards and is noted for his falsetto. He has been descri ...

Additional personnel * Stanley Donwood – illustrations *

– production,

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...

Charts

References

Bibliography

* * {{authority control 1995 songs 1997 singles Radiohead songs Songs written by Thom Yorke Songs written by Jonny Greenwood Songs written by Ed O'Brien Songs written by Colin Greenwood Songs written by Philip Selway Song recordings produced by Nigel Godrich Parlophone singles