It is a Can cover, and being a fan of both bands for years now, I was delighted when I finally heard this version. What an amazing job they did of it. If you like this, you'll love the original. It's just a shame that Radiohead have only played this once in public.
As for the meaning, you have to understand a bit of Can's background. Basically, Can were a German band, but their at the time was Malcolm Mooney, an African-American sculptor living in Europe. Mooney supposedly wrote this about his lonliness and isolation living in Germany, as well as his crushing homesickness.
It is a Can cover, and being a fan of both bands for years now, I was delighted when I finally heard this version. What an amazing job they did of it. If you like this, you'll love the original. It's just a shame that Radiohead have only played this once in public.
As for the meaning, you have to understand a bit of Can's background. Basically, Can were a German band, but their at the time was Malcolm Mooney, an African-American sculptor living in Europe. Mooney supposedly wrote this about his lonliness and isolation living in Germany, as well as his crushing homesickness.