| Radiohead – Fitter Happier Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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As has been said, the lyrics for this song were taken from magazine clippings, and read by a Macintosh computer. The lyrics, taken right from the horse's mouth, show us what we have taken to believe as the ideal lifestyle. A lifestyle where we are all fitter, happier, and more productive. But the final line gives us a twist: it shows us what we've really become: a pig in a cage on antibiotics. The perfect tongue-in-cheek line to slap us all in the face with. We've given our lives away. We didn't lose them, they weren't stolen, we handed them away. We handed them to the very magazines that Thom got his lyrics from. We turn to them to learn how to live our lives. We turn to them to learn what the ideal lifestyle is. And as a result we are all identical slaves. We are all pigs in cages on antibiotics. Because we have stopped thinking for ourselves and deciding the best way to live our individual lives. Now we have no individual voice, just the voice of the computer that we are shackled to. We have no words, for we have given them to the magazines which must now provide our lyrics. We are not men. We are enslaved pigs with computerized voices, taking antibiotics because we're told they will help. |
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| Radiohead – 2 + 2 = 5 (The Lukewarm) Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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I'm going to start off by saying that "2+2=5" is an undeniable reference to 1984. It's a major theme of the work, which has clearly influenced Radiohead's work. Check out the link to the Chestnut Tree Cafe on their website if you don't believe me. Or just read 1984. In 1984, everyone will believe that 2+2=5 if the party tells them it does. In fact, one character is tortured until he honestly believes that 2+2=5. Just saying it isn't enough for the party. He has to belief it. He's forced to confess to crimes that he never committed, and later forced to believe that he had actually committed them. The party has complete control over the minds of the people, and therefore can create and rewrite reality as they see fit. "Are you such a dreamer To put the world to rights? I stay home forever Where two and two always makes a five" This is told from the perspective of someone who clearly believes that 2+2=5, someone who will take the comfort of forged reality over the truth any day. They seem to be addressing someone who refuses to believe the lies, and wants to try to put a stop to them, to bring back truth and put the world to rights. This makes them a dreamer to the speaker; to them the task is impossible. "I'll lay down the tracks Sandbag and hide January has April's showers And two and two always makes a five" It sounds to me like the speaker want to hide in their false reality, where January has April's showers and two and two make five, where lies are truth. "It's the devil's way now There is no way out You can scream and you can shout It is too late now" Thinking in the context of 1984, I interpret this as a statement made toward the "dreamer" saying that their pursuits are futile, that the Party has complete control over reality. I think the "devil's way" is the party's way, the way of lies. "Because you have not been Paying attention (etc.)" You haven't paying attention, you haven't noticed the "devil's way" taking over. You didn't notice the rise of doublethink and the fall of truth. "Yeah, I need it I needed attention (etc.) Yeah, I love it, the attention" The attention could be a possible motive for following the "devil's way." "I try to sing along I get it all wrong Because I�m not Because I�m not" The speaker can't get the song right, probably because they're not in touch with reality. They're also clearly in denial, stating not once but twice that they're not wrong. "I swat them like flies But like flies the buggers Keep coming back But I�m not" The speaker tries to silence the dreamers, but they always seem to return to challenge the "devil's way." This time the "I'm not" could mean that the speaker's not coming back. Perhaps not back to the truth? "Oh, hail to the thief Oh, hail to the thief But I'm not But I'm not But I'm not But I'm not" Twice the speaker cries "hail to the thief", a pretty bold accusation of a leader, while denying four times that they aren't a thief. Sounds rather hypocritical to me. "Don't question my authority or put me in the dock Because I'm not Because I'm not" Very defensive. "Oh, go and tell the king that the sky is falling in But it's not But it's not But it's not Maybe not Maybe not" The speaker seems to want to tell the king something that they believe to be false, that the sky is falling in when it's not. However, the transition into "maybe not" reveals the speaker's doubt as they start to believe their own lie. |
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| Radiohead – 4 Minute Warning Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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To me the song is about the fear of the Cold War era. I think the opening instrumentals symbolize the siren or at least the ominous knowledge of the coming bombs. Then an almost dreamlike beat that reminded me of No Surprises in its depressingly carefree tone takes over. Then in comes Thom's voice like a fearful cry that's also somehow burden-less. He just wants to escape, but there's nowhere he can run to escape it. So he tries to hide in his mind, to convince himself that it's just a nightmare. He tries to disappear completely. I'm not here. This isn't happening. |
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| Radiohead – Down Is the New Up Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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Have you ever heard the phrase "black is the new pink?" Or that a certain style is "so last week"? Societal trends change so frequently and in such a fickle fashion. Lets look at the phrase "black is the new pink." One day everyone could be wearing black, every single person, because it's what they are told is fashionable. Suddenly someone enters saying that pink is fashionable, that "black is the new pink." Next thing you know, everyone completely disposes of their pink wardrobe in favor of black out of fear of being deemed outdated or unfashionable. In an instant pink, a color once adored by all, becomes a disgusting object of hatred, replaced by black. Pink is not stylish. Black is. If you've ever read 1984, you will be familiar with the concept of "doublethink": the process by which one essentially rewrites reality in their own mind. In this context, they hold two contradictory ideas to be true: the established idea that pink is stylish and the new idea that black is stylish. And through the process of doublethink they forget that pink is stylish, even adopting the belief that it's ugly, in favor of the new idea, and then using doublethink to forget that they ever used doublethink in the first place (a little tough to wrap your head around, I know). Here's another example is from 1984. The country Oceania was at war with the country Eurasia. Therefore, as far as everyone in the party believed, Oceania had always been at war with Eurasia. Suddenly, Oceania is at war with East Asia, not Eurasia. Therefore everyone believes that Oceania has always been at war with East Asia, and always at peace with Eurasia. They become enraged by all of their own posters against Eurasia, convincing themselves that East Asian spies had placed them there. Reality is rewritten in their minds, and truth ceases to be about objective facts and becomes the subjective whim of the party. That is the danger of doublethink: it is reality control. Reality is defined by the party, who has complete control over its members minds. They control the present, and therefore control the past, therefore having control over the future. I think that with "Down is the New Up" Radiohead is pointing out the use of doublethink in our society. Pink becomes the new black. Reality is changed. Down is the new up. We don't need you anymore, because you're outdated, you're so last week. To convince yourself of such lies requires amputation, contortion, you must twist and turn your way to fit into this new fabricated reality. You perform a 180 flip-flop, you convince yourself that down is up, that 2 and 2 always make 5. Because that's what society says. Let society tell you what's stylish, let the government tell you what's real. Shake out your pockets. Pass your money on down, which of course is up. My interpretation is that this section is referring to the flow of money going to the rich under the guise of going to the poor. After all, we live in topsy-turvy town. And anyone who disagrees, anyone who clings to their objective reality is a bastard, crawling away. An outcast who sits down and stands up, not the other way around. |
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