On the base level, yes, the song is about divorce. But we all know radiohead are cleverer than that. The reason most of us like them is that most of their songs are extremely difficult to find the exact meaning of, it generates conversations like this!
I like to think of morning bell in the context of the whole album (kid A). So firstly I'll talk about what I think Kid A is all about. Skip further down if you just want to know what i think of Morning Bell.
Kid A is a concept album, borne out of Radioheads abivalent feelings towards their own success after Ok computer; they didn't just want to churn out another similar sounding album and gradually fade away, churning out album after album, each slightly worse than the last, until nobody likes their new stuff any more.
Kid A in my opinion is an experiment conducted by radiohead to see if they can escape this type of decaying popularity so many bands suffer from.
Also, thnk about their music as a whole. Generally speaking, it is about the worries and anxieties created by a capitalist society that is fully in control of the world, but not in control of itself, to the extent that it will eventually destroy the planet and all of us along with it.
Take for example idiotech: (we are not scaremongering, this is really happening! Women and children first etc.) Women and children first being a reference to the titanic, this is a metaphor that suggests living on earth is like being stuck on a sinking ship; hopelessly inescapable. Yet Kid A i think is about somehow trying to escape it, just like their own success.
So, take these two things into consideration:
1-Radiohead wish to escape their own success. (this doesen't mean they want to be unsuccessful, but rather, they are worried that the future of their band if they carry on like they have been doing)
2-Their music (from the bends onwards) is generally about trying to escape a capitalist system which will destroy the earth.
OK. BACK TO MORNING BELL.
'Cut the kids in half', as a few of you have suggested, refers to the well-known story about the two women claiming to be the mother of one child. I agree with you. However, notice the difference between this story and the lyrics in morning bell.
In the story, 'cut the kids in half' is a test to find out who the real mother is; and the real mother' sentiment is that she would rather give her child to the other woman than allow her child to be cut in half.
In the song however, the narrator (the father) is addressing the mother when he says 'you can keep the furniture'; and he is adressing her throughout the whole song. So 'cut the kids in half' is a way of saying 'you care more about the furniture than our children, and if we were tested (like the two women) I would be the one that really cared about them.
The song in my opinion therefore , although about divorce, is more about the differences between the father and the mother.
The father is the antithesis of capitalism; he wants to escape it. However, the mother is an embodiment of capitalism; she cares more about her material possessions than her children. And as the mother is an embodiment of capitalism, the father wants to escape her too.
I like the comment about father christmas coming down the chimney. For me it further shows the mother's obsession with capitalism (christmas being the retailers favorite time of year). 'Bump on the head' for me symbolizes that father christamas (symbolic of her material possessions) have confused the mother to the extent that she is a slave to it.
'Nobody wants to be a slave' suggests more anxiety in the father's mind: he doesen't want to be a slave, he realizes what is important, being a friend to people, being there for his children. He believes that the mother is a slave to capitalism without even realizing it. He isn't, he tells her 'you can keep the furniture'.
'Release me'; well, after everything i've already said i think you see my train of thought on what this means.
However, as I said before, the divorce, the mother and the father are metaphorical. The 'father' is somebody who thinks there are more important things in life than capitalism, while the 'mother' is a slave to capitalism, while the 'divorce' signifies a split between the two.
THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION TO ASK ABOUT THE SONG!!! WHO DO THE KIDS REPRESENT?
They represent us!
We have a very grim choice; either we can go and live with the mother (capitalism), indulge ourselves in material posessions and contribute towards the destruction of the planet. OR we can go and live with the father (anticapitalism) and realise the truth; that friendship and humanity (and great music) are more important than material things. But then we come to a problem, how the hell are we going to do be independent from capitalist society, really?
Radiohead face the same problem with their music; how can they write music with anticapitalist sentiments when they are signed to a record label, and we, the fans, escape capitalism when we need to buy their music?
This is the main problem that Kid A tries to solve. But it can't. It tries to get away from itself (im not here, this isn't happening) And suceeds for a while in 'treefingers'. The struggle is born again in 'optimistic' with a new answer to the problem (you can try the best you can, the best you can is good enough). But too soon we find ourselves 'In Limbo', and then the original problem arises in idiotech and morning bell. And at the end, the only answer we get is 'i will see you in the next life'.
On the base level, yes, the song is about divorce. But we all know radiohead are cleverer than that. The reason most of us like them is that most of their songs are extremely difficult to find the exact meaning of, it generates conversations like this!
I like to think of morning bell in the context of the whole album (kid A). So firstly I'll talk about what I think Kid A is all about. Skip further down if you just want to know what i think of Morning Bell.
Kid A is a concept album, borne out of Radioheads abivalent feelings towards their own success after Ok computer; they didn't just want to churn out another similar sounding album and gradually fade away, churning out album after album, each slightly worse than the last, until nobody likes their new stuff any more.
Kid A in my opinion is an experiment conducted by radiohead to see if they can escape this type of decaying popularity so many bands suffer from.
Also, thnk about their music as a whole. Generally speaking, it is about the worries and anxieties created by a capitalist society that is fully in control of the world, but not in control of itself, to the extent that it will eventually destroy the planet and all of us along with it.
Take for example idiotech: (we are not scaremongering, this is really happening! Women and children first etc.) Women and children first being a reference to the titanic, this is a metaphor that suggests living on earth is like being stuck on a sinking ship; hopelessly inescapable. Yet Kid A i think is about somehow trying to escape it, just like their own success.
So, take these two things into consideration:
1-Radiohead wish to escape their own success. (this doesen't mean they want to be unsuccessful, but rather, they are worried that the future of their band if they carry on like they have been doing)
2-Their music (from the bends onwards) is generally about trying to escape a capitalist system which will destroy the earth.
OK. BACK TO MORNING BELL.
'Cut the kids in half', as a few of you have suggested, refers to the well-known story about the two women claiming to be the mother of one child. I agree with you. However, notice the difference between this story and the lyrics in morning bell.
In the story, 'cut the kids in half' is a test to find out who the real mother is; and the real mother' sentiment is that she would rather give her child to the other woman than allow her child to be cut in half.
In the song however, the narrator (the father) is addressing the mother when he says 'you can keep the furniture'; and he is adressing her throughout the whole song. So 'cut the kids in half' is a way of saying 'you care more about the furniture than our children, and if we were tested (like the two women) I would be the one that really cared about them.
The song in my opinion therefore , although about divorce, is more about the differences between the father and the mother.
The father is the antithesis of capitalism; he wants to escape it. However, the mother is an embodiment of capitalism; she cares more about her material possessions than her children. And as the mother is an embodiment of capitalism, the father wants to escape her too.
I like the comment about father christmas coming down the chimney. For me it further shows the mother's obsession with capitalism (christmas being the retailers favorite time of year). 'Bump on the head' for me symbolizes that father christamas (symbolic of her material possessions) have confused the mother to the extent that she is a slave to it.
'Nobody wants to be a slave' suggests more anxiety in the father's mind: he doesen't want to be a slave, he realizes what is important, being a friend to people, being there for his children. He believes that the mother is a slave to capitalism without even realizing it. He isn't, he tells her 'you can keep the furniture'.
'Release me'; well, after everything i've already said i think you see my train of thought on what this means.
However, as I said before, the divorce, the mother and the father are metaphorical. The 'father' is somebody who thinks there are more important things in life than capitalism, while the 'mother' is a slave to capitalism, while the 'divorce' signifies a split between the two.
THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION TO ASK ABOUT THE SONG!!! WHO DO THE KIDS REPRESENT?
They represent us!
We have a very grim choice; either we can go and live with the mother (capitalism), indulge ourselves in material posessions and contribute towards the destruction of the planet. OR we can go and live with the father (anticapitalism) and realise the truth; that friendship and humanity (and great music) are more important than material things. But then we come to a problem, how the hell are we going to do be independent from capitalist society, really?
Radiohead face the same problem with their music; how can they write music with anticapitalist sentiments when they are signed to a record label, and we, the fans, escape capitalism when we need to buy their music?
This is the main problem that Kid A tries to solve. But it can't. It tries to get away from itself (im not here, this isn't happening) And suceeds for a while in 'treefingers'. The struggle is born again in 'optimistic' with a new answer to the problem (you can try the best you can, the best you can is good enough). But too soon we find ourselves 'In Limbo', and then the original problem arises in idiotech and morning bell. And at the end, the only answer we get is 'i will see you in the next life'.
@BlakeNewland excellent!
@BlakeNewland excellent!