Radiohead & Spirituality

Radiohead is one of those rare bands that I simply feel "gets it" in terms of what's going on in the world.

I feel Radiohead's songs are brilliant because they are always open to interpretation. Here is my analysis of several different songs from various albums.

"Nude"

"Don't get any big ideas
They're not gonna happen
You paint yourself white
And fill up with noise
But there'll be something missing
Now that you've found it, it's gone
Now that you feel it, you don't
You've gone off the rails
So don't get any big ideas
They're not gonna happen
You'll go to hell for what your dirty mind is thinking"

Simply put, we erase our origins ("paint yourself white") and fill our lives with material objects ("noise"), and when we finally realize that all of what we attained has no meaning, it is too late. We've already sold our souls, in a sense. So we shouldn't get any "big ideas" of changing the way things are now, because we're already doomed. The last line represents how religion, and the overall concepts of Good and Evil, are engrained in our culture to the point that it prevents us from questioning anything.

"Up On The Ladder"

"I'm stuck in the tardis
Trapped in hyperspace
One minute snake charming
The next in another place

All the right moves and
Earn the right percent
Watch me dance like a puppet
You can almost see the strings

Give me an answer
Give me a sign
I've been climbing up this ladder
I've been wasting my time...

Up on the ladder
Try to call out your name
Up on the ladder
You're all the fucking same

Oh, you let the people down..."

I feel this song is simply about people who live their lives around the pursuit of money, power and physical looks. They keep going "up the ladder" of social status, yet they wonder why they feel so low.

"Bangers And Mash"

"You bit me, bit me, and i want more...
Bangers in the mash
The negatives for cash
You're either in the club, baby, or you're not

Whatever turns you on
Whatever gets you off
Chief of police, the vice-chancellor
Lord and Lady Blah Blah
The Vicar and The Judge
You're dancing to my little red book

Bit me, bit me, bit me, oh
I've got the poison, poison
And I want more
Get you an armoured car
They're gonna throw a rock
Stare into the light
The pyramid is power
If you are on the top
Then it is a long drop
If you stare into the dark,
The dark will stare back
Back into your soul..."

I think this was a shout-out to the British government (mostly for the "Bangers" reference, which reminds me of the "meat-packing glitterati" mentioned in Pink Floyd's "Fletcher Memorial Home.")

"You're either in the club or you're not" seems to reference the rich-elite. Then, of course, "the pyramid is power if you're on top"; an obvious reference to the All-Seeing Eye. "You're dancing to my little red book" seems to be Satan himself, making fun of the "powers that be" that he so easily deceives.

"2 + 2 = 5"

"Are you such a dreamer
To put the world to rights
I'll stay home forever
Where two and two always makes a five
I'll lay down the tracks
Sandbag and hide
January has April showers
And two and two always makes a five
It's the devil's way now
There is no way out
You can scream and you can shout
It is too late now
Because you're not there
Payin' attention...
Don't question my authority or put me in the box
Oh go up to the king, and the sky is falling in
But it's not..."

This song always reminds me of George Bush, and the general stupidity the nation suffered on account of his presidency. Of course, we are "supposedly" the ones who elected him into office.

"Where I End And You Begin"

"There's a gap in between
Where I end and you begin
And I'm sorry for us
The dinosaurs roam the earth
The sky turns green
Where I end and you begin
I am up in the clouds
And I can't and I can't come down
I can watch and cant take part
Where I end and where you start
Where you, you left me alone
You left me alone
X'll mark the place
Like the parting of the waves
Like a house falling in the sea
In the sea
I will eat you alive [x4]
There'll be no more lies [x4]..."

This song reminds me of a conversation between a human and God. The references of "parting of the waves" and "house falling in the sea" echo biblical symbolism, while "I can watch and can't take part" seems to be God speaking, from his place "up in the clouds." This track basically seems to be about the separation humans feel from God, as if God is trapped in his world and we are trapped in ours, without him.

"Pull / Pulk Revolving Doors"

"There are barn doors
And there are revolving doors
Doors on the rudders of big ships
We are revolving doors
There are doors that open by themselves
There are sliding doors
And there are secret doors
There are doors that lock
And doors that don't
There are doors that let you in
And out
But never open
But they are trapdoors
That you can't come back from"

This lyrics in this song are simple and self-explanatory; that is, if you've ever been through a secret door or trap door.

"Dollars And Cents"

"There are things to talk about
Be constructive

There are weapons, we can use
Be constructive
With your blues

Even when they tore the wall down
Why don't you quiet down?
We are the dollar and cents..."

We are nothing but numbers and statistics in the eyes of those in power. Why than are we not using the tools we have (such as technology) to speak out?

"Life In A Glass House"

"Once again, packed like frozen food and battery hens
Think of all the starving millions
Don't talk politics and don't throw stones
Your royal highnesses

Well of course I'd like to sit around and chat
Well of course I'd like to stay and chew the fat...
But someone's listening in..."

I feel this song could be sung from the eyes of any celebrity, who has to walk on egg shells around the media to avoid exposure of their personal lives. The media, of course, is an extension of government, so this could also be about the lack of privacy all citizens face when their government has ill intentions.

"Kid A"

"We got heads on sticks
You got ventriloquists"

Whenever I think of "heads of sticks," I immediately think of the monarchies and religious rulers who executed people this way, while also the revolutionaries of history who revolted against their leaders. "You got ventriloquists" could symbolize the government and its puppet-leaders who are controlled by upper forces, as well as the media itself that influences its people. Moreover, it's rumored this song is about cloning, which would than be an obvious insult to the people, since a clone is stating that it may just be a head on a stick, but real humans don't even have the guts to pull their own strings.

"Paranoid Android"

"Please could you stop the noise, I'm trying to get some rest
From all the unborn chicken voices in my head
What's that...? (I may be paranoid, but not an android)...
When I am king, you will be first against the wall
With your opinion which is of no consequence at all
Ambition makes you look pretty ugly
Kicking and squealing gucci little piggy
Why don't you remember my name?
Off with his head, man
That's it, sir
You're leaving
The crackle of pigskin
The dust and the screaming
The yuppies networking
The panic, the vomit
God loves his children, God loves his children, yeah!"

This song speaks of the arrogant leaders and narcissistic dictators that have ruled at one time or another. Moreover, it speaks of all the victims of these rulers, and what would happen if the tables were turned, suggesting that anyone in power pretty much becomes consumed by it; "off with his head." Then, "the panic, the vomit"; the chaos that ensues.

"Fitter Happier"

"more productive
comfortable
not drinking too much
regular exercise at the gym (3 days a week)
getting on better with your associate employee contemporaries
at ease
eating well (no more microwave dinners and saturated fats)
a patient better driver
a safer car (baby smiling in back seat)
sleeping well (no bad dreams)
no paranoia
careful to all animals (never washing spiders down the plughole)
keep in contact with old friends (enjoy a drink now and then)
will frequently check credit at (moral) bank (hole in wall)
favours for favours
fond but not in love
charity standing orders
on sundays ring road supermarket
(no killing moths or putting boiling water on the ants)
car wash (also on sundays)
no longer afraid of the dark
or midday shadows
nothing so ridiculously teenage and desperate
nothing so childish
at a better pace
slower and more calculated
no chance of escape
now self-employed
concerned (but powerless)
an empowered and informed member of society (pragmatism not idealism)
will not cry in public
less chance of illness
tires that grip in the wet (shot of baby strapped in back seat)
a good memory
still cries at a good film
still kisses with saliva
no longer empty and frantic
like a cat
tied to a stick
that's driven into
frozen winter sh*t (the ability to laugh at weakness)
calm
fitter, healthier and more productive
a pig
in a cage
on antibiotics"

"Fitter Happier" = Government Programming (Brainwashing).

"No Surprises"

"A heart that's full up like a landfill
A job that slowly kills you
Bruises that won't heal
You look so tired and unhappy
Bring down the government
They don't, they don't speak for us
I'll take a quiet life
A handshake of carbon monoxide
No alarms and no surprises
Such a pretty house, such a pretty garden"

This is one of my favorite Radiohead songs, as it describes the majority of people I know. People slave their lives away working "a job that slowly kills" them. Their "tired and unhappy," but because they need their "pretty house" they do nothing about it. They prefer "a quiet life...a handshake of carbon monoxide," or a life that's leading them to a slow death. They don't want to be bothered with anything that would disturb their peaceful little bubble, when in reality, this bubble is a subtle form of hell.

"The Tourist"

"It barks at no one else but me
Like it's seen a ghost
I guess it seen the sparks a-flowing
No one else would know
Hey man slow down...
Idiot, slow down...
Sometimes I get overcharged
That's when you see sparks
You ask me where the hell I'm going
At a thousand feet per second."

This song is a metaphor for flirting with death. For some reason, I felt it should be included.

"My Iron Lung"

"Faith, you're driving me away
You do it everyday
You don't mean it
But it hurts like hell

My brain says I'm receiving pain
A lack of oxygen
From my life support
My iron lung

We're too young to fall asleep
To cynical to speak
We are losing it
Can't you tell?

We scratch our eternal itch
A twentieth century bitch
And we are grateful for
Our iron lung

The headshrinkers, they want everything
My uncle Bill, my Belisha beacon...

Suck, suck your teenage thumb
Toilet trained and dumb
When the power runs out
We'll just hum

And if you're frightened
You can be frightened
You can be, it's OK"

The "headshrinkers" could be a reference to those in power who want us to be mindless drones, yet we're "too young to fall asleep." We know the world's messed up, but we don't really care cause that's the way it's always been. Of course, faith is blind, and the first four lines describe how many feel when they realize they've been clinging to false beliefs and false hope.

"Street Spirit (Fade Out)"

"Rows of houses, all bearing down on me
I can feel their blue hands touching me
All these things into position
All these things we'll one day swallow whole
And fade out again and fade out

This machine will, will not communicate
These thoughts and the strain I am under
Be a world child, form a circle
Before we all go under
And fade out again and fade out again

Cracked eggs, dead birds
Scream as they fight for life
I can feel death, can see its beady eyes
All these things into position
All these things we'll one day swallow whole
And fade out again and fade out again
Immerse your soul in love..."

"Blue hands," "death" and "rows of houses" are synonymous. We go after material things, but once we die, none of that will matter. I adore this song.

For my analysis of Thom Yorke's "The Eraser," click here.