Radiohead have always treated their back catalogue rather differently from most rock bands.
They don't simply arrive onstage, run through the hits and go home. Songs disappear for years, deep cuts suddenly reappear, arrangements are reinvented and setlists can change dramatically from one night to the next.
That made their 2025 comeback tour particularly fascinating. After seven years away, the band reportedly had around 70 songs in their repertoire to choose from, and they played 25 or so each night, producing wildly varied sets across the 20 shows.
Yet even with that enormous pool of possibilities, some conspicuous absentees remained. Some haven't been played for decades. Others have fascinating histories that make their omission all the more intriguing. And a few are songs fans would probably love to hear again – even if Radiohead themselves seem in no hurry to oblige.
With another tour now announced for Australia and Japan in 2027, here are 10 songs they could bring back. The chances of some of them actually appearing? That's another matter entirely.
1. Electioneering (from OK Computer, 1997)
This is the obvious one. The one song from OK Computer that Radiohead seem determined to leave in the past. While Let Down, Paranoid Android, Karma Police, No Surprises, Lucky and other songs from the album returned during the 2025 comeback, 'Electioneering' remained absent. Rolling Stone called it the 'Sulk' [another ignored track, from 1995's The Bends] of OK Computer: Radiohead haven't played it since 1998.
And yet it's hardly an obscure B-side. It's one of the album's most aggressive songs, with distorted guitars and a lyric attacking the salesmanship and cynicism of modern politics. After 28 years, you'd think someone might have suggested dusting it off. The problem may simply be that Radiohead no longer sound anything like the band who recorded it – which is precisely why hearing it again would be so much fun.
2. Man of War (from OKNOTOK, 2017)
Few Radiohead songs have had a stranger life. 'Man of War' – originally known as 'Big Boots' – was being played live as far back as 1995, when Radiohead were touring The Bends. Yorke conceived it partly as an homage to James Bond themes, complete with the sort of swooping, cinematic grandeur that makes its later history particularly appropriate.
The band tried recording it for OK Computer, but shelved it, apparently feeling that it belonged too much to their past. Then, remarkably, they recorded it again decades later as a possible Bond theme for Spectre. That version was rejected because it wasn't considered an original composition for Oscar purposes. It eventually appeared on OKNOTOK in 2017.
Radiohead did play it once as late as 2002, but it hasn't been heard from them since. A 2027 resurrection would be quite a story.
3. High and Dry (from The Bends, 1995)
Here's the crowd-pleaser Radiohead probably don't need. 'High and Dry' was one of The Bends' defining songs and eventually became one of the band's most recognisable tracks. But Radiohead seem to have developed a particularly strong case of stage amnesia where it is concerned.
They played it 174 times between 1994 and 1998, then stopped. Completely. Its last Radiohead performance was in Fukuoka, Japan, on January 21, 1998.
That means a song once central to their live identity has now been absent for nearly three decades. The irony is that its return would probably cause a bigger reaction than many much more adventurous choices. Perhaps that's exactly why Radiohead wouldn't do it. Playing 'High and Dry' in 2027 might feel less like revisiting the past than admitting they actually had a past.
4. I Promise (from OKNOTOK, 2017)
There is something wonderfully poignant about 'I Promise' being played by Radiohead again. The song dates from the OK Computer sessions, but its story actually began earlier: the band first performed it in March 1996, during the The Bends era. They played it repeatedly that year, then effectively buried it.
When it finally emerged on the 2017 OKNOTOK reissue, it sounded like a message from an alternate version of Radiohead: warm, melodic and surprisingly straightforward. They even brought it back for three shows in 2017, but it disappeared again.
That makes it an intriguing candidate for another revival. It isn't a song Radiohead have rejected outright – they've already shown that they are willing to exhume it. They just seem to prefer leaving this particular piece of their younger selves safely in the vault.
5. House of Cards (from In Rainbows, 2007)
'House of Cards' is perhaps the most surprising omission from the 2025 shows. It's one of In Rainbows' most beautiful songs, and unlike some of the more demanding Radiohead material, it seems almost tailor-made for the kind of spacious, atmospheric performances the band have become so good at.
Yet it hasn't been played by Radiohead since August 2018. It was performed 85 times between 2006 and 2018, including 41 appearances in 2008 alone, before quietly disappearing.
There is also a delicious irony in a song built around the idea of intimacy and escape being absent from a band whose live shows became increasingly immersive. If Radiohead are going to surprise people in 2027, this feels like a much more plausible candidate than some of the truly ancient rarities.
6. Sail to the Moon (from Hail to the Thief, 2003)
'Sail to the Moon' is another of those songs that seems almost tailor-made for Radiohead's current incarnation: delicate piano, strange harmonies, an unsettling lullaby quality and lyrics that feel simultaneously intimate and apocalyptic.
It was a regular enough presence during the Hail to the Thief era, with 84 performances by Radiohead, but it wasn't part of their 2025 comeback repertoire. Its most recent performance by the band was back in 2008; Thom Yorke subsequently performed it solo, as recently as 2024.
That makes it tantalising. Yorke clearly hasn't abandoned the song, and the band have recently shown a willingness to revisit Hail to the Thief. But if they didn't find room for it among those 70-odd possibilities in 2025, perhaps its chances aren't great.
7. 'Lift' (from OKNOTOK, 2017)
'Lift' may be the ultimate Radiohead what-if. The band were playing it in 1996, and contemporary recordings show just how enormous it sounded: a melodic, emotionally direct rock song that could easily have become one of their biggest anthems.
Instead, Radiohead famously moved in another direction. The song was recorded during the OK Computer era but didn't make the album, and the band subsequently left it behind as they transformed themselves on Kid A. When the finished studio version finally appeared on OKNOTOK in 2017, it felt almost like discovering the career Radiohead might have had.
They did play 'Lift' again in 2002 during their tour of Spain and Portugal, but haven't performed it since. Given how dramatically the band has changed since then, hearing it now could be fascinating – especially if they resisted the temptation to simply recreate the 1990s version.
8. A Punchup at a Wedding (from Hail to the Thief, 2003)
Radiohead fans could hardly complain that they didn't revisit Hail to the Thief in 2025: the album was among the better represented records on the comeback tour. But 'A Punchup at a Wedding' somehow didn't make the cut.
That's a shame because it is one of the album's strangest and most politically barbed songs, and its subject – rage, confrontation and the absurdity of modern public life – feels perfectly compatible with the band's current worldview. Radiohead have played it 50 times, but its last performance by the band was in 2003.
9. Burn the Witch (from A Moon Shaped Pool, 2016)
'Burn the Witch' is a slightly different case because it isn't that old. But its absence is striking. The opening track from A Moon Shaped Pool was performed 41 times by Radiohead between 2016 and 2018, then disappeared. Its last performance was in Boston on July 29, 2018.
It's also a song that could sound extraordinary now. The clipped strings, ominous pulse and lyrics about mob mentality and persecution seem particularly suited to Radiohead's increasingly theatrical approach to live performance.
The band might have simply decided that A Moon Shaped Pool belongs to another chapter. But if they want a dramatic opener for one of those 2027 shows, 'Burn the Witch' is sitting there waiting.
10. The Tourist (from OK Computer, 1997)
And finally, the song that ought to close the whole thing. 'The Tourist' is the last track on OK Computer, and its famous plea to slow down has made it one of Radiohead's most quietly powerful anthems.
It isn't remotely as neglected as 'Electioneering' – Radiohead have played it 81 times – but it was notably absent from the 2025 comeback tour. And that makes it an interesting prospect for 2027, particularly given the strange circumstances of Radiohead's return after years away.
The song's message has arguably acquired more weight with age: stop rushing, look around, take your time. After a band spent seven years away from the stage and then returned with a famously fluid approach to their setlists, ending a show with 'The Tourist' would feel almost too perfect.
Which, of course, is another reason Radiohead probably won't do it.
Pics Getty Images / Discogs
