This song is def a twin to "Unfair" (a song she has been quoted as saying is about falling in love with someone who is already in a relationship) so it is presumably about the same person. Given the references to buying an apartment and not being able to see her love interest "after tonight," it's most likely that she's moving away and she'll "wait a day to break the bad news" (i.e. notifying him that she's leaving once she's already gone).
And, of course, the fact that she sees in him a fellow "idealist" and "dreamer" (terms commonly given to people with the INFP personality on the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)) portends that she'll always be left wondering if they would've been perfect together.
I slip away
I slipped on a little white lie
We've got heads on sticks
We've got ventriloquists
We've got heads on sticks
We've got ventriloquists
Standing in the shadows at the end of my bed
Standing in the shadows at the end of my bed
Standing in the shadows at the end of my bed
Standing in the shadows at the end of my bed
The rats and the children follow me out of town
The rats and the children follow me out of town
Come on kids
I slipped on a little white lie
We've got heads on sticks
We've got ventriloquists
We've got heads on sticks
We've got ventriloquists
Standing in the shadows at the end of my bed
Standing in the shadows at the end of my bed
Standing in the shadows at the end of my bed
Standing in the shadows at the end of my bed
The rats and the children follow me out of town
The rats and the children follow me out of town
Come on kids
Lyrics submitted by Vache, edited by BoskoBiati
Kid A Lyrics as written by Colin Charles Greenwood Jonathan Richard Guy Greenwood
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
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this is the most interesting and intriguing lyrics in the album...he said it was about a haunted house but im failing to make the connection. its definitly one of the 'words from a hat' songs...but its got meaning...kid a was the nickname of the sequencer that made the song. i heard they used a sequencer that would randomized notes in a musical fashion and this is what the cpu came up with and they improvised over it. if thats true than i believe it was just a song title that they said oh thats a cool album title. i also heard the story of the pied piper was he was gona be paid by the town gov't to play music to get rid of the rats and he wasnt compensated so he came back to town and played his flute again, this time kidnapping the children...i wonder if thom feels the same way? the govt screwing him over so hes gona use his music to rally the children (or kidnap them, he is very morbid at times)
im just trying to figure out what makes this song brutal and horrible...he sed he used the vocal effect to distance himself from the words due to the b'brutual and horrible' subject matter...is he just that disgusted w/ gov't and hes slightly over exaggerating. gov't and crooked politicians (hints of these are scattered throughout the artwork of the album) would fit the lines 'slipped on a little white lie, heads on sticks (puppets) and ventriliquists (politicians or something...and i dont think heads on sticks is violent imagery like others suggest)...it seems to be about empty politicians and radiohead being the 'piepd piper' who is going to get their revenge on the town/gov't.
standing in the shadows at the end of my bed....no clue...cud be BIg Brother watching you? or is this another random hat lyric referring to the haunted house...is the haunted house a metaphor? i just think its more political than anything. it cud also mean that decisions gov't is making effects how we live in our own home, but the people making changes are faceless...they are the ventriliquists...they are the shadows that are hiding within his own home...trying to instill fear...