| Pulp – Underwear Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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A few weeks ago I realized for the first time that this is probably about a the narrator looking at a lingerie catalogue and then kind of letting his imagination run wild. Especially with the lines "If fashion is your trade Then when you're naked I guess you must be unemployed" I think the idea is that it seems such a bizzare situation to him, and attracts a kind of morbid curiosity in him - he imagines it getting worse than it's likely to, and really wants to see it... |
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| Radiohead – Paranoid Android Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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I once read an interview where Thom said it was about chaos - I like that take on it (I only accept the band's explanations when I like them :D), only that I connect it to the confused chaos of depression, especially considering the song's title, which hints at Marvin the Paranoid Android, who, as we know, was constantly depressed. Being quite depressed for the last few years it's a very familiar sensation to me when your mind's stretching out in every direction trying to find something to hold on to ("unborn chicken voices in my head"), often falling into hysterics ("off with his head"). I take the "rain down" part as a fantasy of finding a solution, and the last bit as a kind of sadly paranoidic acceptance of the situation. A cynical kind of wistfullness. I'm hoping I'm not using too many adjectives here. Astonishingly, this song doesn't get me down, probably because it has an evident self of humour about it, as its title would hint, coming from one of the funniest books ever written. |
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| Radiohead – Karma Police Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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What this songs is about to me, regardless of what the bandmembers meant, is the contant needless judgement people pass on you for incredibly stupid reasons - "talks in maths", "buzzes like a fridge", criticizing the hairdo while they'd "crashed her party". They're there as visitors and they're passing judgement. It's all about society wanting to put you into a pigeonhole, wanting you to conform and when you resist, "mess with us", the "karma police", as in reactions of society, will set you right. "For a minute there I lost myself" is I lost my individuality inside this whole machine of personalities ("another brick in the wall pt. 2 anyone?). The second paragraph I just found an interpretation for that I liked. "I've given all I can" is the narrator talking to the police, saying that he's conformed as much as he can without going crazy and completely losing himself. "It's not enough" is the response. He repeats his plea but they're "still on the payroll", which is a cynical comment about just how far he is removed from the rest of society. There, hope I didn't use too many quotes for it to be readable. I'm surprised how many people think virtually the complete opposite of this interpretation. |
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| Radiohead – The Tourist Lyrics | 20 years ago |
| One quick note: The title of "The tourist" could be attributed to his decision in "No Surprises" to not live life but observe it quietly. He's touring life rather than living in it. It's a different but somehow similar kind of alienation to that in Subterranian Homesick Alien. | |
| Radiohead – Airbag Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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Possibly my favourite ever starting track on what is definitely my favourite ever album. It doesn't matter to me whether the song's about a real car-crash or a metaphorical one. What I think is important is the ecstatic feeling he gets of being alive, that feeling that is always so close to depression. "I am back to save the universe" is a dangerous thought, since it's not an easy objective to follow through. This in turn leads to his panicky confusion on Paranoid Android, but more on that later (and on that song's board) I can feel a sort of sense of foreboding all over this song of pure happiness and life. What I'd like to know is what "jack-knifed juggernaut" or either of the terms, mean. Not the symbolic meaning you attribute to it, though that'd be interesting too, but what the words actually mean. Any takers? |
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| Radiohead – The Tourist Lyrics | 20 years ago |
| Just wanted to add, that the title "the tourist" could refer to the fact that the narrator - or whatever you call these song heros - is basically just observing the world rather than living in it, because of the decision made in No Surprises. It's a different kind of alienation than that in Subterranian Homesick Alien, but it's the same basic feeling. | |
| Radiohead – The Tourist Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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I found Tourist one of OK Computer's more difficult tracks to understand, but in the end I disagree with most of you (as much as you can disagree about interpretations). I reckon it's kind of a follow-up to No Surprises where he'd decided to go for a fake life, and now here the cracks (or "sparks", as he calls them) are beginning to show. He panics ("overcharged") and begins to run madly away from where he was an in an unknown direction. I like the idea that he ends up brushing death, and we return to the beginning with "airbag". The danger of his wild and unplanned change of direction is expressed by the chorus, where he's told to slow down - to basically lie down before he hurts himself. |
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