This is my favorite song. I've listened to it several times every day for over a year, sometimes listening to it for hours at a time. I've even written a short story inspired by it. I doubt that my interpretation was intended by Radiohead, but it seems to make sense. Here we go.
"I will lead a wallpaper life"
I will spend my life trapped by walls, doing nothing of significance.
"Or run away to the foreign legion"
Or I could go on an adventure to keep from wasting my life.
"As the tanks roll into town "
He chose to go on an adventure by joining a military, which involved him and others in tanks wreaking havoc on a town.
"A little bit of knowledge will destroy you"
The knowledge that he's destroying people's lives will destroy him.
"I don't know why I feel so tongue-tied
I don't know why I feel so skinned alive"
He sees the misery he's spreading, and this knowledge is destroying him with guilt. Intellectually, though, he doesn't know why he feels guilt because he's been trained to not value his victims' lives.
"Run until your lungs are sore
Until you cannot feel it any more"
Keep running to a new adventure until you can't feel your guilt anymore.
"Run until your lungs are sore
Until you find an open door"
Keep running to a new adventure until you find a way out of your misery.
"I build you up to pull you down"
I build an enemy up in my head to turn them into evil subhumans so I can torture them and feel like a hero.
"Tie you to your feet, and watch you drown"
"Tie you to the stake and watch you burn in hell"
He tortures people he's deemed as evil subhumans in order to feel like a hero.
"I don't know why I feel so tongue-tied
I don't know why I feel so skinned alive"
Even after only harming people he believes deserve to be harmed, he still feels immense guilt.
"I'll find another skin to wear
I'll find another skin to wear"
I'll see things from inside someone else's skin. Seeing life from another person's perspective gives him empathy. This understand of why people do the things they do teaches him to forgive people who've done horrible things, including himself. So the line, "A little bit of knowledge will destroys you" also refers to the knowledge that other people's well-being is as valuable as his own will destroy "you", meaning his ego. By finding "another skin to wear" he has gained the empathy required to be a compassionate person.
This is my favorite song. I've listened to it several times every day for over a year, sometimes listening to it for hours at a time. I've even written a short story inspired by it. I doubt that my interpretation was intended by Radiohead, but it seems to make sense. Here we go.
"I will lead a wallpaper life" I will spend my life trapped by walls, doing nothing of significance.
"Or run away to the foreign legion" Or I could go on an adventure to keep from wasting my life.
"As the tanks roll into town " He chose to go on an adventure by joining a military, which involved him and others in tanks wreaking havoc on a town.
"A little bit of knowledge will destroy you" The knowledge that he's destroying people's lives will destroy him.
"I don't know why I feel so tongue-tied I don't know why I feel so skinned alive" He sees the misery he's spreading, and this knowledge is destroying him with guilt. Intellectually, though, he doesn't know why he feels guilt because he's been trained to not value his victims' lives.
"Run until your lungs are sore Until you cannot feel it any more" Keep running to a new adventure until you can't feel your guilt anymore.
"Run until your lungs are sore Until you find an open door" Keep running to a new adventure until you find a way out of your misery.
"I build you up to pull you down" I build an enemy up in my head to turn them into evil subhumans so I can torture them and feel like a hero.
"Tie you to your feet, and watch you drown" "Tie you to the stake and watch you burn in hell" He tortures people he's deemed as evil subhumans in order to feel like a hero.
"I don't know why I feel so tongue-tied I don't know why I feel so skinned alive" Even after only harming people he believes deserve to be harmed, he still feels immense guilt.
"I'll find another skin to wear I'll find another skin to wear" I'll see things from inside someone else's skin. Seeing life from another person's perspective gives him empathy. This understand of why people do the things they do teaches him to forgive people who've done horrible things, including himself. So the line, "A little bit of knowledge will destroys you" also refers to the knowledge that other people's well-being is as valuable as his own will destroy "you", meaning his ego. By finding "another skin to wear" he has gained the empathy required to be a compassionate person.