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The Present Tense Lyrics
This dance
This dance
Is like a weapon
Like a weapon
Of self defense
Of self defense
Against the present
Against the present
Present tense
I won't get heavy
Don't get heavy
Keep it light and
Keep it moving
I am doing
No harm
As my world
Comes crashing down
I am dancing
Freaking out
Deaf, dumb, and blind
In you I'm lost
In you I'm lost
I won't turn round while the penny drops
I won't stop now
I won't slack off
Or all this love will be in vain
Oooh oooh
Stop from falling down a mine
It's no ones business but mine
Or all this love will be in vain
Oooh
In you I'm lost
In you I'm lost
In you I'm lost
In you I'm lost
This dance
Is like a weapon
Like a weapon
Of self defense
Of self defense
Against the present
Against the present
Present tense
Don't get heavy
Keep it light and
Keep it moving
I am doing
No harm
Comes crashing down
I am dancing
Freaking out
Deaf, dumb, and blind
In you I'm lost
I won't stop now
I won't slack off
Or all this love will be in vain
It's no ones business but mine
Or all this love will be in vain
In you I'm lost
In you I'm lost
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
just because, I realized five minutes ago this is very similar to my denial of feelings for someone. The dance of trying to deny any sort of attraction since shes so very far away. but I doubt if anyone in the world cares so let me stop there.
I like the way he says "It's no ones business but mine" love his voice. But the meaning of this... i do not know.
I think this is about trying to escape one's life through music, etc. so that we keep going without giving up... there's a very strong sense of hope in the future in this song, so even though the music is very sad, it's very positive, very assertive. Love the line 'it's no ones' business but mine'.
I think this is about trying to escape one's life through music, etc. so that we keep going without giving up... there's a very strong sense of hope in the future in this song, so even though the music is very sad, it's very positive, very assertive. Love the line 'it's no ones' business but mine'.
What's this from?
This could be about the difficulties of a long-term relationship. Or, it could be about having a fragile relationship with happiness. Or finally it might be about wanting or not wanting to be in a band.
There's been a lot of sunk effort and emotion ("all this love will be in vain") and he's telling himself to stick with it, despite his tendency to freak out.
"This dance is like a weapon against the present tense" is very evocative but I don't know what it means. It sounds reminiscent of Fela Kuti's album title, "Music is the weapon of the future" but probably not related.
The dance could be a literal dance, or it could be sex, or it could be a relationship, or it could just be some sort of back-and-forth situation, or it could be his aforementioned tendency to freak out.
I think it's a stretch to say that the line 'or all this love will be in vain' is about his love for performing, no matter how much he loves music and being in front of an audience. I think the song is about escaping a difficult present life through music and maybe other pleasurable things... it's about escaping so that he can continue carrying on since he seems to feel the future is worth looking out for, and things will get better.
I think it's a stretch to say that the line 'or all this love will be in vain' is about his love for performing, no matter how much he loves music and being in front of an audience. I think the song is about escaping a difficult present life through music and maybe other pleasurable things... it's about escaping so that he can continue carrying on since he seems to feel the future is worth looking out for, and things will get better.
"this dance is like a weapon of self defence against the present tense" seems to imply someone not wanting to face up to what's happening, the dance is a distraction from reality or "the now". keeping it light and frothy again would deny any real contemplation or reflection on our existence and where we are collectively heading.
I believe this song is about Thom speaking to somebody he knows(lieing to this person). In reality his world is crashing down, but he's dancing around that, because that's the self defense mechanism he's built through the years. The wall he has built that tells him to keep it light, and keep it moving, as to not get hurt. He's torn between what to do, and scared that this person will think badly of him, if he said what he wanted 100% of the time.
this is Norwegian Wood Soundtrack by Jonny "In you I'm lost" maybe thom got inspired by the book Norwegian Wood
I made this account just to add this theory. IF we assume for a moment that illuminati does exist. Read this theory http://occultmediadeception.blogspot.com/2011/01/radiohead_30.html
This dance This dance Is like a weapon Like a weapon Of self defense Of self defense Against the present Against the present Present tense
In video for lotus flower and for ingenue Thom is dancing and in that verse he explains that it is his self defense.Maybe he is dazed or something.
As my world Comes crashing down I am dancing Freaking out Deaf, dumb, and blind
I'm not going to check every line of this song and make it more sense but to me that song is really depressing. What IF illuminati have been helping radiohead to get on the top.Now Thom is trapped and he has to pay the bills.He is deaf,dumb and blind cause he cant do nothing.
Thom Yorke is smart.. he's not just this depressed guy making songs about past relationships that went wrong blah blah. He's Thom Yorke lol.. he met the love of his life in his early 20's and Radiohead started a bit after. He's a guy who's been through a lot and understands more about life than most, even though more and more are getting there.
The song:
This dance This dance Is like a weapon Like a weapon Of self defense Of self defense Against the present Against the present Present tense
** Okay, this dance is like a weapon of self defense against the present tense. The dance is the dance of life we all participate in everyday.. and for most of us we don't take in the present as much as we should; instead we focus on the past and future and create unnecessary anxiety for ourselves. So yes, the dance is a weapon because the present tense is something special that when realized, makes the things we thought were more important 'the dance', much less.
The song just goes on to add to it. Your world crashes, you enter the dance of life and freak out and worry and make yourself crazy all because you're deaf, dumb, and blind. You haven't gotten to the place where you take in the present, the past is what it is, you do now to make the future you want.
Finally, he says it's no one's business but his, because it is. It's everyone's battle to get to the place where they can confidently say they believe in life and it' s not just same random collection of things. And you if you give up and let life take over, all the love that went into making life in general is for nothing.. then 'in you i'm lost' because life is confusing if you let it be, take it simple and take in the now, and watch what happens.
-Joe