Songfacts®:

• Radiohead guitarist Ed O'Brien has been writing music since the 1990s, but for years he had little confidence any of it was worth pursuing. This song, which he penned in 2009 in response to both the UK's and his own economic woes, was the first tune he considered a keeper.
• "Banksters" finds O'Brien seething at the 2007-8 financial crisis. "It's an angry song," he told The Face. "I was f---ing angry around 2009 – austerity, why did that happen? Because of the f---ing City. I was also angry with my best mate. I was in business with him and he stitched me up."
• O'Brien filed the song idea away before including it on his debut solo album, Earth, a decade later. "Banksters" is EOB's sole blast of pure rage on the record, but he admitted to The Face he wasn't happy with the final recording. "I wanted it to be more Brazilian," he said, "and we made it more electro at the end."