Synopsis

Drugstore's Isabel Monteiro and Thom Yorke perform the song in a stark, intimate room while projected images of the band flicker across the walls. Their restrained duet and the video's subdued visual style underscore the song's subject: the 1973 military coup in Chile and the death of President Salvador Allende. A later re-edit incorporates archival footage of La Moneda burning, making the political meaning more explicit than in the original promotional version.

Factoids & Trivia

• "El President" was written as a tribute to Salvador Allende, the Chilean president overthrown during the 1973 coup. Isabel Monteiro has described being moved by footage of the bombardment of the presidential palace, La Moneda.

• The song grew out of Drugstore's friendship with Radiohead after the bands toured together. Yorke agreed to sing after hearing Monteiro's demo, with the collaboration completed during the final sessions for "White Magic for Lovers."

• The original promotional video was deliberately kept relatively safe. The record company reportedly worried that footage connected to the coup would prevent MTV from showing it.

• A later personal re-edit restored Chilean archival imagery, including footage of La Moneda in flames, bringing the video's political context to the foreground.

• The song became Drugstore's biggest UK single, reaching No. 20 in 1998. It remains the band's best-known recording largely because of Yorke's appearance.

• Contemporary publicity suggested that Yorke and Monteiro would appear nude and bound together. That provocative concept became a rumor rather than the finished video's main visual approach.

• The recording is more sparsely arranged than its orchestral sound initially suggests, built around acoustic guitar, cello, piano, bass, and drums.