My understanding of this song is a story of a relationship gone bad, as many Radiohead songs are.
The first stanza is the narrator speaking from the present about himself after everything has happened that will be told through the song. "Lost in the mountains" - He has become pothead to escape from his emotions. "Rust in my brain" is metaphorical of what a piece of machinery does when it sits and is not used for a long period of time, the brain being this machine. "The air is sacred here In spite of your claim" - she was against him doing drugs and constantly condemned them while they were together.
The second stanza is again refering to him being high and because of this out of reach of the girl that left him, the trickster. A preivous post by gs explains well why the trickster is meaningless and weak. Becuase she is not able to have any effect on him anymore, she no longer has any power (at least on him).
The first time the chorus comes in it is referring to what it is going to explain in the second verse, which is the literal story absent of the metaphors. When Thom says "talking out the world", he is always referring to the mentioned person is complaining, bitching, or however you want to phrase it. In this case the boy is continually talking about this girl that he is head over heals for and complaining about how he is too nervous to ask her out. The "Hey, hey, hey, this is only halfway" is foreshadowing how their relationship is going to be, half full.
The first stanza of the second verse is before they are a couple when the guy has a crush on her and is wanting to be IN a relationship so bad it's driving him crazy. The second stanza is describing the end of their relationship when they both are tired of each other that that want OUT of the relationship.
The second chorus if you notice says, "We're talking out the world" instead of "He's talking out the world." This is because it is the progression of the story. Now instead of the line being a good type of talking, it is referring to them talking bad about each other (probably to their friends). You know, that friend of yours that is always bitching and complaining about the relationship that they're in. And as I said earlier, the line "Hey, hey, hey, this is only halfway" is referring to the way that they view their relationship, half empty or negatively. They can't be just happy with each other, but instead look at all the bad and annoying things that each other does.
The first stanza of the last verse is describing their deviant kids who has also turned to drugs to escape from the situation at home where there is constant yelling and fighting, which you hear of many kids resorting to pot for this reason. The "Chestnut tree" is their safe haven when they are high. As you will notice, Thom always uses places of elevation as places of escape in this song as symbolism to being stoned or just high. "A can of brick dust worms" is referring to the kids environment. They are being related to worms in a can of pure brick dust. Just as worms need healthy soil to develop properly and are not able to survive in such a harsh environment, neither can the childen in this household.
The last stanza is about a the result of a traumatic event that happened between the couple, most likely domestic violence. The first two lines are describing this event. The third line is about the kids being taken away from the parents because of the incident that occurred. The house he was in was the "zoo" and the kids were "escaping" it. In the fourth line a facsimile is a copy, or in this case more like a template. Thom is being sarcastic in this line by calling these scared and screwed up kids an ideal image of a child.
If you read this explanation and listen to the song again, the instrumental mood is very fitting. This song has a very similar sound and message to most of the songs from "she wants revenge." In fact one song, killing time, is very similar to this, but more from a high school point of view.
If anyone has any comments or revisions for my idea, I am open for suggestions.
OK, I've got to correct myself here. I mentioned drug use a few times in my explaination and after listening to the song a bit more I think I was completely wrong on that idea. Each time I mention drug use replace that with the idea of solitude. I feel that all the refrences to being "high" was indead a refrence to being out of reach, bur more specifically emotionally out of reach. Image a guy in a relationship that is "distant" from his girl.
OK, I've got to correct myself here. I mentioned drug use a few times in my explaination and after listening to the song a bit more I think I was completely wrong on that idea. Each time I mention drug use replace that with the idea of solitude. I feel that all the refrences to being "high" was indead a refrence to being out of reach, bur more specifically emotionally out of reach. Image a guy in a relationship that is "distant" from his girl.
My understanding of this song is a story of a relationship gone bad, as many Radiohead songs are. The first stanza is the narrator speaking from the present about himself after everything has happened that will be told through the song. "Lost in the mountains" - He has become pothead to escape from his emotions. "Rust in my brain" is metaphorical of what a piece of machinery does when it sits and is not used for a long period of time, the brain being this machine. "The air is sacred here In spite of your claim" - she was against him doing drugs and constantly condemned them while they were together. The second stanza is again refering to him being high and because of this out of reach of the girl that left him, the trickster. A preivous post by gs explains well why the trickster is meaningless and weak. Becuase she is not able to have any effect on him anymore, she no longer has any power (at least on him). The first time the chorus comes in it is referring to what it is going to explain in the second verse, which is the literal story absent of the metaphors. When Thom says "talking out the world", he is always referring to the mentioned person is complaining, bitching, or however you want to phrase it. In this case the boy is continually talking about this girl that he is head over heals for and complaining about how he is too nervous to ask her out. The "Hey, hey, hey, this is only halfway" is foreshadowing how their relationship is going to be, half full.
The first stanza of the second verse is before they are a couple when the guy has a crush on her and is wanting to be IN a relationship so bad it's driving him crazy. The second stanza is describing the end of their relationship when they both are tired of each other that that want OUT of the relationship. The second chorus if you notice says, "We're talking out the world" instead of "He's talking out the world." This is because it is the progression of the story. Now instead of the line being a good type of talking, it is referring to them talking bad about each other (probably to their friends). You know, that friend of yours that is always bitching and complaining about the relationship that they're in. And as I said earlier, the line "Hey, hey, hey, this is only halfway" is referring to the way that they view their relationship, half empty or negatively. They can't be just happy with each other, but instead look at all the bad and annoying things that each other does. The first stanza of the last verse is describing their deviant kids who has also turned to drugs to escape from the situation at home where there is constant yelling and fighting, which you hear of many kids resorting to pot for this reason. The "Chestnut tree" is their safe haven when they are high. As you will notice, Thom always uses places of elevation as places of escape in this song as symbolism to being stoned or just high. "A can of brick dust worms" is referring to the kids environment. They are being related to worms in a can of pure brick dust. Just as worms need healthy soil to develop properly and are not able to survive in such a harsh environment, neither can the childen in this household. The last stanza is about a the result of a traumatic event that happened between the couple, most likely domestic violence. The first two lines are describing this event. The third line is about the kids being taken away from the parents because of the incident that occurred. The house he was in was the "zoo" and the kids were "escaping" it. In the fourth line a facsimile is a copy, or in this case more like a template. Thom is being sarcastic in this line by calling these scared and screwed up kids an ideal image of a child. If you read this explanation and listen to the song again, the instrumental mood is very fitting. This song has a very similar sound and message to most of the songs from "she wants revenge." In fact one song, killing time, is very similar to this, but more from a high school point of view. If anyone has any comments or revisions for my idea, I am open for suggestions.
OK, I've got to correct myself here. I mentioned drug use a few times in my explaination and after listening to the song a bit more I think I was completely wrong on that idea. Each time I mention drug use replace that with the idea of solitude. I feel that all the refrences to being "high" was indead a refrence to being out of reach, bur more specifically emotionally out of reach. Image a guy in a relationship that is "distant" from his girl.
OK, I've got to correct myself here. I mentioned drug use a few times in my explaination and after listening to the song a bit more I think I was completely wrong on that idea. Each time I mention drug use replace that with the idea of solitude. I feel that all the refrences to being "high" was indead a refrence to being out of reach, bur more specifically emotionally out of reach. Image a guy in a relationship that is "distant" from his girl.