Man of War

Album: OK COMPUTER OKNOTOK 1997 2017 (2017)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This song was originally titled "Big Boots" and was written around the time of The Bends. It was first performed by Radiohead on October 2, 1995 at New York's Mercury Lounge. After being played 16 times in 1995 the track was discarded from the band's setlist, until 2002, when it was performed during a concert in Salamanca, Spain.
  • The song was recorded in March 1998, in Abbey Road Studios, for the soundtrack of The Avengers, but was later scrapped. The tune did feature in the 1998 tour documentary Meeting People is Easy but was never officially released until 2017 when it was one of three unreleased tracks on OKNOTOK, the 20th anniversary reissue of OK Computer.
  • The song starts off by comparing somebody to a slow-sailing Man-O-War jellyfish

    Drift all you like from ocean to ocean
    Search the whole world


    However as the tune develops we hear the typically cynical and wary lyrical content found on Radiohead's late 1990s material.

    So unplug the phones, stop all the taps
    It all comes flooding back
    To poison clouds and poisoned dwarves
  • The music video was filmed in Brooklyn, New York and helmed by skate video director Colin Read. It features a disheveled man increasingly descending into paranoia as he is followed by unknown forces.

Comments: 1

  • Shrek from Shrek's SwampDonkey! Get outta mah swamp!
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Tim Butler of The Psychedelic Furs

Tim Butler of The Psychedelic FursSongwriter Interviews

Tim and his brother Richard are the Furs' foundation; Tim explains how they write and tells the story of "Pretty In Pink."

Prince

PrinceFact or Fiction

Prince is shrouded in mystery, making him an excellent candidate for Fact or Fiction. Is he really a Scientologist? Does he own an exotic animal?

Jello Biafra

Jello BiafraSongwriter Interviews

The former Dead Kennedys frontman on the past, present and future of the band, what music makes us "pliant and stupid," and what he learned from Alice Cooper.

Glen Burtnik

Glen BurtnikSongwriter Interviews

On Glen's résumé: hit songwriter, Facebook dominator, and member of Styx.

Mike Rutherford (Genesis, Mike + The Mechanics)

Mike Rutherford (Genesis, Mike + The Mechanics)Songwriter Interviews

Mike Rutherford talks about the "Silent Running" storyline and "Land Of Confusion" in the age of Trump.

Donny Osmond

Donny OsmondSongwriter Interviews

Donny Osmond talks about his biggest hits, his Vegas show, and the fan who taught him to take "Puppy Love" seriously.