Dawn Chorus

"Dawn Chorus" is a song that Thom Yorke has been working on since Radiohead's In Rainbow sessions. Back in March 2009 he was asked to name his favorite Radiohead song. The singer responded by saying: "Whatever I'm finishing at the moment. There's one called 'Dawn Chorus' I'm trying to finish at the moment: that's really great... I think." Yorke eventually recorded the track as the centerpiece of his 2019 Anima album. He explained to Apple Music why it took so long: "I was trying to develop how 'Dawn Chorus' was going to work, and find the right combinations on the synthesizers I was using. Couldn't find it, tried it again and again and again. But I knew when I found it I would have my way into the song. Things like that matter to me - they are sort of obsessive, but there is an emotional connection. I was deliberately trying to find something as cold as possible to go with it, like I sing essentially one note all the way through."

Lyrically the song is a stream of consciousness concerning the end of a relationship. If you could do it all again Yeah, without a second thought I don't like leaving The door shut There is also a theme of regret over making the same mistakes. It's a bloody racket It's the dawn chorus If you could do it all again A dawn chorus is the singing of birds at the start of the day, which signifies starting over again.

The end of this song is accompanied by the sound of synthesized birds chirping. Thom Yorke previously incorporated birdsong in Radiohead's King of Limbs track "Morning Mr. Magpie."