Sit Down. Stand Up. (Snakes & Ladders.)

"Hail to the Thief", like the rest of Radiohead's albums, is conceptual. It's a statement--through music--on rarely addressed issues in our society. And with a title like "Hail to the THeif", it's obvious that this album's general concept is about the tyranny of government (or more specifically the Bush Admin.).

So this song, like 2+2=5, pretty much falls in line with the concept of government tyranny and dictatorship. I believe the title "Sit Down, Stand Up" is a euphemism for the control the government has over us all. To think that the government (especially one as the US-govt) doesn't have control over us would be foolish and stupid. Through propaganda, informational filtering, and other manipulations, we are basically told when to "sit down" and to "stand up" "anytime" at the government's will. When to support, when to oppose; what should be our concern, what shouldn't; when to sit down, when to stand up. have little influence in global "We can wipe you out anytime" is self-explanatory as being another allusion to the power of government. We, as normal people, who have no major influence (international decisions, war, peace), as oppose to people in power (government-ranking individuals) who do have that kind of influence, can be "wiped out anytime".

To sum up, I basically interpret "Sit Down, Stand Up" to be about the secret power of government. Or perhaps Thom is talking about some force (i.e secret organization, occults, movements) in this world we don't know of.