A Wolf at the Door (It Girl. Rag Doll)

thom really doesnot know what all hisa songs eeven mean. his lyrics are typically used becasue he like the way they sound with the music, which gives them room to be interpereted any one like. that said i believe he is addressing all of his fears and paranioa in this song. He is worried about the violence that he experienced and he is also worried about the responsibilities and dangers that he faces with being a parent, so he tries his best to keep these fears in the form of a wolf away. But in typical Yorkwe fashion he cannot escape his fears cause the call him up on the phone to keep their hold on him anyway, leaving him powerless and trying to convince him self that they do not exist by repeating nonononono to himself.

Whether or not this song is also about abuse of political authority, I think "Wolf at the Door" graphically describes domestic violence especially with the alternate title of "It Girl/Rag Doll." While the authorities may remove children from their home, it's probably more frequent that an abusive spouse threatens to keep the children in order to control a wife or husband.

I think he's talking about capitalism and the underlying controls it places on people. With chorus having the basic meaning of: I try to keep materialism, finances and money out of my life as much as possible. But, you have to engage in the system to a certain extent, otherwise you'll lose everything, so I just sing about it.

I absolutely love this song. I love the way it's sung; Thom sounds very different from his other performances.

It also has what most Radiohead songs don't have: a lot of lyrics. I think this is a welcome inconsistency.

One thing that struck me when I heard this and read some interpretations of it was that most people seem to interpret the chorus' last line as "I'll never see him again if I squeal to the cops," as in the Wolf, but I hear it as, "I'll never see 'em again if I squeal to the cops," as in his children, whom the wolf has threatened to steal.

The entire song Thom is talking about things he hates with todays society... and how he tries to keep those things at bay... he tries not give in to their hold on society... but at the end of the song he expresses how he cant hold off, how noone can keep it at bay... so he gives in... becoming the wolf... howling. paticularily sad in my opinion. which is quite in contrast to the upbeat overtone of the song... which is why it is fantastic.

A musical version of The Three Little Pigs story. Apparently from an as yet unreleased concept album of nursery tales and fairy stories. Their interpretation of The Gingerbread Man is supposed to be heart-breaking

i think its about fear depression opression and conformity like if your not enjoying the world the way it is and having a good time then there's something wrong with you, maybe pretending to be happy so you don't steal your childrens wonder. maybe hes tempted to just end it all, give in to fear and finally kill himself for the future, no matter how stupid that seems. tempted to make millions and millions of dollars to take care of his family, at any cost. as if the only decent incentive people have to create wealth is relief from fear and to stop a family from starving, if he doesnt produce records they'll all die. or leave him and find someone who can, it stops being about love. if you dont love them there's something wrong with you, you have to always love them, you have to remember this, you dont love them (now what?) you better love them. or fake it (kill yourself, forget what it means to be yourself, its for all the best reasons. the world will be a better place because of your personal sacrifice. and the rebirth will be so magnificent and freeing.nervous twitch) but that probably has more to do with me than the song

I think this is a very personal song. I don't so much think it has to do with the corruption of the world. In regards to the chorus, it TOTALLY changes the meaning of the song for me if it's 'em, or him. I think it may actually be "Him" the original title of the song "It Girl Rag Doll", seems like a kinda trashy woman getting abused by her man

Its a suburban burnout trying to balance all of the useless modern shit he has to do-the job, the mortgage, keeping up with the joneses in general- lest the wolf/world comes to get him for not being an upstanding citizen....its clearly driving him insane & I don't think he minds that at all

so I just go ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo