Skip Divided

I find it in no way stalker like. A tragic unconditional hopeless love, each word makes sense. By far my new favorite on the album

Excerpt from an interview with Thom Yorke on XFM, 21 August 2006: Kennedy: "Now is that one of the love songs that you referred to earlier on?" Thom Yorke: "Yeah... kind of. It's a bit messed up for that. It sounds like it's more of a love song than it really is. It's actually a song... it's more about the dislocation than anything else to me. When I... when I sing it, I always have this image of slick black oil" Interviewer: "So that's what you're thinking about when you're performing that?" Thom Yorke: "Yeah, that and sex"

missing lyrics - enveloped in a sad distraction I'm known to bite in tight situations

I think this is Thom's own way of describing what goes on in his head when he's involved with women or relationships. There's a notable tension in the heart monitor-like beep throughout the song, as well as the percussive aspects of Thom's breathing/hyperventilating. He feels dread for loving whoever the woman is, beneath her, as he is 'blinded by her light.' I don't think it's stalkerish, as he describes himself as a lapdog, something that would leave the woman in control, not the speaker.

ah cool! i hadn't noticed the cyber aspect in the song. it makes more sense now. but he has obviously heard her talk and is around her... they just can't move forward. sad...

I agree with quercusalba. It is not a stalker song. It is not about unrequited love either. It's a love song about two people who connected in every way except they couldn't take the last step to connect physically. Their hangups and the fact that the connection was so strong psychologically kept them from approaching each other. I think the mood of the song is because Thom just wanted to make light of these feelings.

Name and location sounds like ASL, nes pas?

Cyber relation ship: check.

I think eatenbyworms has a good idea of the song. It seems maybe like the song is about an online relationship...which would explain the vaguely electronic feel to the ambience. Two people are in love in cyberspace and then when they are to meet in real life, the anxiety they feel is detailed by this song.

"i got a number and location" (ip address, a representation of the safe disconnect the internet provides) "i only got my name, i only got my situation" (the other person can't know anything about you but what you let them know)

Thinking about it this way, the first verse (and maybe most of the other lyrics) suggest the singer has given up prematurely on the relationship out of fear of this meeting and curses his stupidity: "enveloped in a sad distraction", "i thought there was this big connection". But then near the end he says, "don't look into your eyes cause i'm desperately in love", so the singer may be trapped in some sort of anguish saying "should I or shouldn't I"

just my disjointed thoughts

Raspo, do you even listen to Thom's interviews on the radio? He said it's about sex. Wake up! There are love songs, there are political songs and there are very personal songs in this album. That's what Thom said.

I interpreted the song as being narrated by a guy who's stuck in the "Friend Zone." He's desperately trying to get the attention of a girl who he likes so much, but he's just too inept/shy to get her to notice him as more than just a friend. All the while, he's mentally beating himself up for making such a futile effort ("You are a fool, you are a fool...I'm a lapdog"). I wish this song had been released a little earlier than July...I was in a situation similar to this one last spring, it would've reflected my mood perfectly.

Perhaps the lyrics allow a few different interpretations but for me it's pretty clear. It's about someone (who has some relationship with a girl- not a stalker) who has completely fallen in love, to a point of them needing to see them / follow them everywhere, and the feeling isn't neccesarily reciprocated to the same extent, hence he questions wh heis in the relationship in the first place "you are a fool For sticking round," but can't / doesnt want to do anything about it, hence the rather trapped feeling lyrics towards the end.