The Gloaming. (Softly Open Our Mouths in the Cold.)

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.

...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...