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
Too cynical to speak
We are loosing it, can't you tell?

We scratch our eternal itch
Our twentieth century bitch and we are grateful for our
Iron lung

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

This this is our new song
Just like the last one
A total waste of time
My iron lung

If you're frightened
You can be frightened
You can be, it's okay

If you're frightened
You can be frightened
You can be, it's okay


Lyrics submitted by piesupreme, edited by rahvii, mattbirt, AnytimeAnyhow, Zainy

My Iron Lung Lyrics as written by Edward John O'brien Colin Charles Greenwood

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Downtown Music Publishing, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.

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My Iron Lung song meanings
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  • +14
    General Comment

    Iron Lung is an extended metaphor for a 20th century sell out song. The lung gives the band some breathing room and keeps their popularity up to par. The lung however is Iron; cold and shallow. It's not real. Not real Radiohead.

    Thom was suffering from writers block and he understood that the band needed a hit song. Frankly he hates the track he says so in the lyrics. But it ended up the song was a huge hit and people listening to it on top 40 didn't even realize that the lyrics are just him trashing his own song. Priceless.

    pasosportson April 23, 2009   Link

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