Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor Rich Man Poor Man Beggar Man Thief Lyrics

All the holes at once are coming alive, set free
Out of sight and out of mind, lonely
And they pray

The ones you light your fires to keep away
Crawling out upon it's belly
And all you have to do is say yeah

All the birds stay up in the trees
All the fish swim down too deep lonely
And they pray
Honey, come to me before it's too late

The ones you light your fires to keep away
Is crawling out upon it's belly
And all you have to do is say yeah
7 Meanings

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Cover art for Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor Rich Man Poor Man Beggar Man Thief lyrics by Radiohead

Death is coming

My Interpretation
1
Cover art for Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor Rich Man Poor Man Beggar Man Thief lyrics by Radiohead

From Wikipedia:

"Tinker Tailor" is a counting game, nursery rhyme and fortune telling song traditionally played in England, that can be used to count cherry stones, buttons, daisy petals and other items. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 802. It is commonly used by children in both Britain and America for "counting out," e.g. for choosing who shall be "It" in a game of tag. The most common modern version is:

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor, Rich Man, Poor Man, Beggar Man, Thief.[1]


So...who is in danger of being "it", and who are they/we being chased by? I know that climate change is a theme in the album, perhaps it is about humanity in general being a threat to itself.

My Interpretation
Cover art for Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor Rich Man Poor Man Beggar Man Thief lyrics by Radiohead

To me this is a haunting, desperate plea for connection to someone who has their walls up / is avoidant / fears connection.

My Interpretation
Negative
Subjective
Sadness
Connection
Desperation
Avoidance
Fear
Isolation

From Genius:

A possible reference to how wolves went from man’s enemy to it’s ally, and eventually evolved into dogs. Humans lit fires to drive off wolves for generations. Then, a few wolves decided to befriend the humans. A wolf would theoretically crawl out from the forest and approach the tribe on its belly to show submission. All the humans had to do was accept the wolf as a friend (say yes), and give it food in exchange for protection.

Cover art for Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor Rich Man Poor Man Beggar Man Thief lyrics by Radiohead

I'm pretty sure in the last verse it's "is crawling it upon its belly," not "expelling."

Cover art for Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor Rich Man Poor Man Beggar Man Thief lyrics by Radiohead

Yeah.

My Opinion
Cover art for Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor Rich Man Poor Man Beggar Man Thief lyrics by Radiohead

It’s about when Christian missionaries come knocking.

My Opinion
Cover art for Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor Rich Man Poor Man Beggar Man Thief lyrics by Radiohead

Decay Depression Down Death

 
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