How to Disappear Completely

Momentum

This song has not appeared on a Rotation chart, so it has no score and no receipts. The rank history below is the ledger; a score is only published once the momentum run puts it on a chart.

Why it's here

The song's discordant string arrangement, composed by Jonny Greenwood and inspired by Krzysztof Penderecki's Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima, was recorded in a single take by the Orchestra of St John's at the 12th-century Dorchester Abbey, with musicians reportedly bursting into giggles at first finding the score unplayable. [1] The chorus line "I'm not here / This isn't happening" originated from advice R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe gave Thom Yorke to cope with tour stress, and it later inspired Stipe to write R.E.M.'s "Disappear." [2] It is the first track on Kid A to present Yorke's vocals clearly and without electronic processing, following the heavily processed opening songs on the album. [3]

In culture

Every place this record has lived. A solid chip states a fact and carries the citation that earns it; a dashed one is a connection somebody drew, and carries their name instead.

• Covered Alex Schaafsource
• Covered Ane Brunsource
• Written by Colin Greenwoodsource
• Covered Daniel Cavanaghsource
• Written by Ed O’Briensource
• Covered Elizabeth Setzer & La Taniasource
• Covered Goodknight Productionssource
• Written by Jonny Greenwoodsource
• Covered Lotte Kestnersource
• Covered Lunasectsource
• Covered Mike Massé feat. Jeff Hallsource
• Written by Philip Selwaysource
• Covered Portland Cello Project feat. Nafisaria Scroggins-Thomassource
• Covered Quinton Sungsource
• Covered Tallywood Stringssource
• Written by Thom Yorkesource
• Covered Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwoodsource

Across markets · earliest pickup first

Every date here is the date the source chart covers, never the date we fetched it. Sources publish on different lags: the Spotify mirror runs about two days behind, TurnTable publishes weekly.

1. MarketFirst seenLatestDaysPeakRank path
2. Nepalnp · applemusic2026-07-272026-07-28#422#39
   #42
3. Turkmenistantm · applemusic2026-09-042026-09-05#752#75
   #75

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Editions

No published edition carries this song yet. Every edition it appears in will be listed here and stay listed: an edition is immutable, so a citation to one never rots.