| Thom Yorke – The Eraser Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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Sorry. Didn't mean to put words in your mouth on what you think. I didn't know what you thought so I used the relationship example as a counter-example. Unfortunately, I have these 3 page long interpretations of just about every Radiohead/Thom Yorke song that I write, and what I post here is usually an abstract of that. I'm tired of posting abstracts and not being able to explain myself, which is causing confusion. I could see how my first post doesn't seem connected to my second post because those are just two pieces of my full interpretation. I was going to do the same for Skip Divided, which I also have a 3-page political interpretation, but I don't think it's worth the hassle to try to condense it. This website annoys me. I want to write a book on my religion based off of Radiohead lyrics, not "add a comment." I'm done here. |
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| Thom Yorke – The Eraser Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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Yes, it could be interpreted many other ways. That's because everything in the lyrics is indirect. By your logic I could say you have nothing to go on other than the fact he says "Princess" to interpret this song is about a relationship with a girl. The lyrics "Doing Me In?" Well I think it's more plausible Thom is 'done in' by the weight of political conflicts, where as you think Thom is 'done in' by a girl. "Are you only being nice Because you want something" I think this refers to political favors, and being civil only because other side wants something. In politics it always seems governments take action when it is in their favor to take action. Where as you think it is about a girl being nice because she wants something. I could go line by line and say how it indirectly relates to politics and you could go line by line and say how it indirectly relates to love. It's a difference of opinion. I think both interpretations are plausible. I also think Thom Yorke purposefully uses double-meanings in his lyrics so if you say 'this is the concrete meaning' you would be wrong because there are meanings on multiple levels. To be honest, I don't know anything about Queen or that song so I can't say anything about your analogy. I'm not going to try to erase anyone's opinion, just saying mine is plausible. |
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| Thom Yorke – The Eraser Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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black_cow... this is Thom Yorke we're talking about, not Queen. A political interpretation can't be dismissed when the album has a song Thom admitted was about David Kelly, former Iraqi weapons inspector, who from the song "will be dispensed with, when [he] becomes inconvenient." Or the apocalyptic imagery of "And It Rained All Night" where the city of New York becomes flooded most likely from climate change and cars have to be "pulled out of a river." Or another song called "Atoms for Peace" which was the title of a speech delivered by Dwight D. Eisenhower to the UN General Assembly in New York City in Dec 1953. There's tons of political references throughout the album and considering Thom's active involvement with 'The Big Ask' and other campaigns I don't see how anyone could ignore that while looking at this album's lyrics. Once again I'm not saying my interpretation is right, just that a political interpretation should be considered. |
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| Thom Yorke – The Eraser Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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No one has suggested a political interpretation. Of course I think it's political, I always do. Why else would the lyrics say an 'Arab Princess'? Does Thom have a thing for Arab girls? No, I think she is a representation of the Arab world in the conflict in the Middle East. "You're like a kitten with a ball of yarn" The ball of yarn is a metaphor for the world, and the 'kitten' or 'Arab Princess' playing with it suggests that the world could completely unravel if things got out of control. If you listen to the song it sounds like he says 'a ball of the world' instead of 'a ball of yarn'. That's intentional. "Be careful how you respond Cause you might end up in this song" For every action there is a corresponding response. Using 'The Eraser' leads to the opposite result. Take Lebanon for example. You could say the Israelis tried to wipe out or erase Hamas, and that resulted in them becoming more prominent in Lebanon. The Arab world has to be careful how it responds because they could be further subject to 'The Eraser' and 'end up in this song.' It also works the other way, when the 'Arab Princess' tries to erase Western governments, they just become more bold, more fascist in my opinion. For this interpretation to work you have to think Thom is taking a back-seat and not the subject of the song. He is also intimately involved with it at the same time. I think this song does have a corresponding personal meaning, but a lot of people's comments dealt with that. I just wanted to suggest a political side to the song. |
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| Thom Yorke – Analyse Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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I think a song can have multiple interpretations, so no interpretation can be 'correct.' Anyway, here's mine... First off, this song is right before 'The Clock', a song about running out of time because of the destruction of the environment (or atleast what I think). So this song is about a person that would like to stop that destruction but can't. It 'gets him down' that he is aware of impending doom, but can't do anything about it. The traveling he's done "You traveled far, what have you found" is about getting information. The information is useless and there's no time to analyse. Everyone else is "sleeping like babies" or oblivious to what he knows. "You're just playing a part" refers to being a part of a society that destroys the environment, kills for profit, and is basically unsustainable. To sum it up, I think it's a song about knowing where we're headed, but being powerless to do anything about it. |
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| Radiohead – Open Pick Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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Agree with eatenbytheworms' post except the ending lyrics: Wishing away the nightmare Wishing away the nightmare You gotta Act You can feel it on your back You gotta Act You can feel it on your back The jigsaw's falling into place --------------------------------------------- I think it's about inspiration through music to take action about "the nightmare" everyone is "wishing away." Everyone is realizing it through the feeling of music, not necessarily through explicit words or instruments(the jigsaw is falling into place). |
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| Thom Yorke – The Drunkk Machine Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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Yeah, eatenbytheworms got the lyrics right. I think the song is about the talking-heads on TV, who all seem to be coming from different angles of the same nonsense. They make up the drunkk machine... Don't listen. |
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