This song seemingly tackles the methods of deception those who manipulate others use to get victims to follow their demands, as well as diverting attention away from important issues. They'll also use it as a means to convince people to hate or kill others by pretending acts of terrorism were committed by the enemy when the acts themselves were done by the masters of control to promote discrimination and hate. It also reinforces the idea that these manipulative forces operate in various locations, infiltrating everyday life without detection, and propagate any and everywhere.
In general, it highlights the danger of hidden agendas, manipulation, and distraction, serving as a critique of those who exploit chaos and confusion to control and gain power, depicting a cautionary tale against falling into their traps. It encourages us to question the narratives presented to us and remain vigilant against manipulation in various parts of society.
Genie let out the bottle
It is now the witching hour
Genie let out the bottle
It is now the witching hour
Murderers you're murderers
We are not the same as you
Genie let out the bottle
Funny ha ha funny how
When the walls bend
When the walls bend
With your breathing
With your breathing
When the walls bend
When the walls bend
With your breathing
With your breathing
With your breathing
They will suck you down
To the other side
They will suck you down
To the other side
They will suck you down
To the other side
They will suck you down
To the other side
To the shadows blue and red
Shadows blue and red
Your alarm bells
Your alarm bells
Shadows blue and red
Shadows blue and red
Your alarm bells
Your alarm bells
They should be ringing
They should be ringing
They should be ringing
They should be ringing
They should be ringing
They should be ringing
They should be ringing
They should be ringing
They should be ringing
They should be ringing
They should be ringing
They should be ringing
This is the gloaming
It is now the witching hour
Genie let out the bottle
It is now the witching hour
Murderers you're murderers
We are not the same as you
Genie let out the bottle
Funny ha ha funny how
When the walls bend
When the walls bend
With your breathing
With your breathing
When the walls bend
When the walls bend
With your breathing
With your breathing
With your breathing
They will suck you down
To the other side
They will suck you down
To the other side
They will suck you down
To the other side
They will suck you down
To the other side
To the shadows blue and red
Shadows blue and red
Your alarm bells
Your alarm bells
Shadows blue and red
Shadows blue and red
Your alarm bells
Your alarm bells
They should be ringing
They should be ringing
They should be ringing
They should be ringing
They should be ringing
They should be ringing
They should be ringing
They should be ringing
They should be ringing
They should be ringing
They should be ringing
They should be ringing
This is the gloaming
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Son Şansın - Şarkı Sözleri
Hayalperest
Hayalperest
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
Direct quote from a show in 2003: "The next song we're gonna do is a song about the rise of fascism and the right wing. The only way to stop them is to do something. If you do nothing, they'll win. And these people are fucking crazy." - Thom Yorke before performing this song.
i just need to say that i hate it when people waste time and space typing out that they dont know what this song is about.... if you dont have a sense or idea, then no need to type anything.. if you want, wait and see what others share. it can be a nightmare scrolling throgh dozens of useless messages to find gems of meaning in them...... thanks :)
k so i will add a little of my own interpretation.... i love the words witching hour. it just reminds me of a witch hunt.. of the crucible... the hype.. hyteria.. the bullshit in accusation... the manipulation.....
i also love the line ' we are not the same as you' because we ARE clearly ALL the same as each other. we all want power, freedom, safety....etc.... i find this as a pattern in thom's writing about war/politics etc.. it has a flipside.... its not always black and white..... good and evil. so while he does make his accusations... there is always the fingers pointing back... if you knwo what i mean....
the word 'gloaming' means "twilight" or "dusk"... inside the booklets lyrics it says "Hail to the Thief" (or, The Gloaming)... i have no idea what it might pertain to not only in the song but as the alternate title of the album as well
The title is indeed the last light of a sunset and obviously refers to mankind's impending extinction. I think it's one of the easiest Radiohead songs to interpret because most of the lyrics are literal. We HAVE let the genie out in terms of giving up any control over who runs the world. These people ARE murderers and try to claim it is done in our name. One day it will dawn on us what has been happening over the last few decades but it will be too late to do anything about it. Our heads will ache so much with this new-found reality that the walls will bend and we will feel totally trapped. His tone is increasingly desperate and to emphasise this, he repeats phrases over and over again (just like "sit down, stand up").
Agree with pretty much everything said... this is a wake-up call to the world, as if it weren't painfully obvious already that the human race is in danger of self-destruction.
The bassline in this song is pure genius, like the murmur of an earthquake before it begins, signalling its approach. Heard it's even more intense live.
I love its album version too
the part when he says when the walls bend with your breathin,
the feeling to me is when you're in a room or somewhere like that, and the air in the room is so depressing, and isolated, and you feel bounded somehow, it will feel like you are trapped in. Kinda claustrophobic. So much that walls bend when you breathe in. it is so in your mind. Like there's no air left. No air from outside.
and kind of the creativity block maybe. or an emotional block. or when u feel the world is all coming on you, weighing over you..
I can relate best to this song when I'm in a depressive mood, and I want to explode, I'm the reason why the alarms should be ringing.
:) though its obvious it has political meaning too. I agree with Thom. This is the gloaming. When you kill&use&abuse people that are innocent, it will bring the bad. It will let the nightly creatures out of their dens.
And the way the world is going, it will be the gloaming. If noone cares..
I like the hardness of the song. And the "hitting" kinda feeling of the rhytms. hitting and bouncing back. like to a wall.
And the frenzy feeling.
I also liked all the above comments.
For me, if I listen to this song while in bed, with the lights off, I feel as if something in my mind is overcoming me, like the shadow mentioned; just taking over. Chills every time.
A great song, however I've thought that it would sound better to me without the scratchy noise throughout the whole song.
The scratchy noise is the sound of the needle of the record player from which Johnny Greenwood took his sample.
...Old Radio broadcast with white noise from the special place... ...Someone's fist knock at your skull, someone's celestial voice penetrate deep into the brain ...It is inexplicable...
"Genie let out of the bottle It is now the witching hour"-"genie" let out of the already dead body along with the last exhalation... "Murderers, you're murderers We are not the same as you"-street spirits, our curse for deafness to the Truth's Voice, blindness to the Truth's Light... "When the walls bend When the walls bend With your breathin' With your breathin'"-this breathing too strong...if you forget whose child you REALLY are... "They will suck you down to the other side To the shadows blue and red"-This is not a tales.Trust in Thom.He never deceive you. Watch the clip "Street Spirit".This is The Gloaming.
Move on...
Aha! The Gloaming appears at last. Hard to say why but this is one of my favourite songs on HTTT. Great atmosphere, wonderfully sinister. The fast repetition is cool, too. Sort of like the illegitimate child of Idioteque.
(this song is amazing.) I read in Spin and in RollingStone (two of the worst music publications known to man) that this song was inspired by Thom Yorke's rainy drive through the night when he heard Bush was elected. ...don't know if it's true, but it explains the music...