Myxomatosis. (Judge, Jury, & Executioner.)

a conversation i had with a friend i am 'You and whose army?':

The Lost Riots says: lol I think Hail To The Thief is wonderful You and whose army? says: yeah totally, i spent like an whore skanking registration this morning on the computers in the library trying to work out the meaning behind myxomatosis The Lost Riots says: it's a rabbit disease
You and whose army? says: yeah but i think its about something more... You and whose army? says: i think its about him actually being a performer and what it's like to play infront of a live crowd You and whose army? says: mongrel cat at the staret of the song being him You and whose army? says: home being the stage You and whose army? says: *start The Lost Riots says: yeah You and whose army? says: and the crowd like 'twitchin and salvatin' You and whose army? says: like with myxomatosis The Lost Riots says: yeah, and how he doesn't like showing off The Lost Riots says: maybe he's actually scared performing You and whose army? says: yeah The Lost Riots says: but their "twitching and salivating" is infectious, and once you get up there you become one of them You and whose army? says: 'don't know why i feel so tongue tied' The Lost Riots says: yeah, nerves You and whose army? says: yeah that makes sence too You and whose army? says: and this half a head he talks about may be his songs that he has written You and whose army? says: the next 4 lines being parts of a song, or an example of a song You and whose army? says: songmeanings.net/lyric.php You and whose army? says: the song You and whose army? says: his new found friends: the audience You and whose army? says: he perfects his song: sat in the cupboard, wrote it down neat You and whose army? says: and then the second verse past the twitching and salvating You and whose army? says: may him afraid of his songs being rejected You and whose army? says: maybe angry that people underestimate his songs The Lost Riots says: yeah

This doesn't really have to do with the meaning of the song, but I always thought it was interesting that Radiohead had a song named Paranoid Android. It seemed that they were fans of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy because of Marvin the Paranoid Android who's one of the better characters of the book. Anyway, for the upcoming movie release I thought that I'd read the book again. Lo and behold! At the end of Chapter 24 the disease myxomatosis is referenced. Maybe there's something to this? Who knows. What makes Radiohead interesting is that we don't really know what the songs are about and we can use our own imaginations. I think that's what they're really trying to do - using art to make us think.

This song is obviously about Radiohead's climb to fame, and what it's like to Thom to be an international superstar.

The first verse is about Radiohead showing off their songs. Thom refers to them as "half a head," which is a reference to the fact that they now see them as pretty poor, and particularly dislike the song which initially got them fame, Creep. The lines "She ate me up for breakfast, She screwed me in a vice" refer to the fact that the record company were eager to sign Radiohead, but in the process severely inhibited them in what they really wanted to sing about.

The next part "I don't know why, I feel so tongue-tied, I sat in the cupboard, And wrote it down real neat" refers to Thom's depression (around the time of OK Computer), and how he felt that the only way to express this was through writing songs.

"But it got edited fucked up, Strangled beaten up, Used in a photo in time magazine" shows how Thom's songs (and the meanings behind them) were changed by the record company in order to mass commercialise them, and then subsequently misunderstood by the masses.

"Buried in a burning black hole in devon" is another reference to his depression, and writing songs while depressed (in Devon).

"Yeah no one likes a smart ass but we all like stars But that wasn't my intention, I did it for a reason It must have got mixed up" is a final reference to the fact that he's been mistaken frequently by the press, and seen as someone completely up himself and who thinks his message is all important (a la Bono), when that wasn't his intention in the slightest.

I think this song is about about fame and it's affect on someone. I don't know if Thom's writing it from his own point of view or as someone else.

In the first verse he's only just found fame and he's still cocky about it and enjoying himself: '"I been where I liked", "I slept with who I like"' 'New found friends' probably refers to all of the new people fawning over him now he's famous and sucessful. Not sure about the last bit of this verse, it might be refering to people fucking him about and using him.

In the second verse the first bit 'i sat in the cupboard and wrote it down neat' is presumabley refering to him writing his songs on his own and how he likes. But later on his original ideas get "edited fucked up strangled beaten up", presumabley by producers and record companies attempting to make his music more public friendly or something. The 'cheering and waving' bit is obviously the fans. The rest of the verse is about him being pulled from all directions, doing shows and photoshoots etc.

The last verse mostly seems to be about how he feels it has all affected him. 'my thoughts are misguided and a little naive' is probably about him feeling that he's being by other people. He uses the disease myxamatosis as he feels that the pressure of fame and success has driven him insane. 'yeah no one likes a smart ass but we all like stars but that wasn't my intention, I did it for a reason ' I think is fairly self explainatory. He wanted stardome but now he has it it's not what he wanted it to be.

That was my first song analysis on here :)

I first like to say there are some great writers here, and some deep thinkers. I feel rather inferior (and hopefully a lot younger then everyone).

I don't have any other points different then the ones here. However, I'd like to make a comment to anyone who wants to take it as a challenge. Most people posting have tried to link the song to "Myxomatosis", but this song just like every other song on the CD has the other title in the brackets. I may have missed the meaning behind this, I don't do enough research on music, but anyone got any comments on the (Judge, Jury & Executioner)? Maybe the Jugde could symbolize the media, "editing" his lyrics. Judging his style of music (Creep "to depressing for Radio"). The Jury could be the people, Powerful by the masses, being able to make or break him at any time. The Executioner could even be himself. He is ultimately in charge of himself, he gets to decide his fate.

I could go in to more detail about it, but I normally go off track and get everything totally wrong. Anyone have some thoughts on this (preferably to back me up).

thought it was screwed me in a vase? not vice? haha maybe im wrong, but sounds like something a 'cat' would do..

"We boiled up the head We dug into the meat" - isn't that from the Kid A booklet that came with the album? I can't remember, I lost my copy ages ago.

I notice that violence has become a more common feature of Radiohead lyrics in recent times (eg. Knives Out, Morning Bell, Cuttooth et al.)

Actually, mentioning Cuttooth, this song also has the same chorus.

Anyway, it rocks. The lyrics are describing all sorts of weird and fascinating things. I would love to know what inspired it. The guy above me seems to be using Babelfish, though it all sounds pretty interesting!

haha, yes he does

greenplastic.com has a vital tidbit of info about this song: myxomatosis is a blood-borne virus that infects the brains of rabbits, making them go insane and die.

Now that you know that, listen to the song again and picture that each time he says it. I tell ya, it gives me the chills, especially the lines

"they were cheering and waving cheering and waving twitching and salivating like with myxomatosis"

Absolutely creepy, you can picture the crowd cheering, and then they mutate horribly in your mind as Thom sings that last line.

I take this to be at least in part about Thom's relationship with stardom and the press. "The cheering and waving" for me equates to the now numbing affect of fans and reporters clawing for shreds of the band's attention. I think Thom equates himself with the "mongrel cat", dragging home the spoils of the rock star lifestyle to place conspicuously on display. The compelling aspect of this delivery is that Thom is aware of the changes in himself that his career has catalyzed. In this context, the title and principle metaphor of the song makes a lot of sense. In humans, myxomatosis is a condition of multiple tumors that are frequently localized in the heart. Thom seems to be witnessing and commenting on the growth of something dark in himself...