John Mayer – Kid A (Radiohead cover)

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I slip away
I slipped on a little white lie

We've got heads on sticks
You've got ventriloquists
We've got heads on sticks
You've got ventriloquists

Standing in the shadows at the end of my bed
Standing in the shadows at the end of my bed
Standing in the shadows at the end of my bed
Standing in the shadows at the end of my bed

The rats and children follow me out of town
The rats and children follow me out of their homes
Come on Kids

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Lyrics submitted by chibizena


Kid A (Radiohead cover) song meanings
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  • 0
    Song Meaning:the only lines in this song that to me have a universal meaning are as follows:

    "I slip away
    I slipped on a little white lie

    We've got heads on sticks
    You've got ventriloquists"

    When he says he slips away, he slips away in his mind. I slip away myself so I can relate. Into a mental void. So dark, so deep. Emptiness. De-realization

    When he says we've got heads on sticks he means that we as a people are partly controlled by those in power. Trust me when I say that there are people who are aware that we are unaware.

    You've got ventriloquists is just an artistic expression of the line above interconnected in a poetically written verse. But basically states that we have controllers just as a wooden dummy has a puppet master.



    As far as the rest goes, "Standing in the Shadows at the end of my bed" and "The rats and children follow me out of town"

    I cannot say.
    I hope that I have shed light for you on this song. I myself have heard this song time after time and always question to myself what are it's meanings. I just came to the realization all of a sudden and basically face-palmed myself because it was so obvious.

    "The minds of a few rule the minds of many." And the vast majority of us had better start waking up to that fact.

    THINK. do not believe.

    -Brandon
    Flag RiseLikeLionsFromSleepon December 21, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Greeaaaatt cover. love love love
    Flag lane.on February 19, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:It's a very good cover.
    Flag sweatersdotcomon March 24, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I feel like I'm sinning for saying this, but I think I like John Mayer's cover better the orginial. It's just so beautiful.
    Flag gustergusheron September 13, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:i really love johns version of this song!! his voice sounds so beautiful. i have absolutely no idea what it means though!
    Flag brynski15on October 26, 2004   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Coming back to this a year and a half later, this might be better than Radiohead's version... I rarely (if ever) listen to Kid A, but this one crops up repeatedly on my playlist. There's something about it, I dunno... it just really works.
    Flag Cherub Rockon October 20, 2004   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:john loved the sound of this song and said to himself that he could do it. So he did :)
    I think its a great song and shows that he loves good music
    Flag rubenon April 08, 2004   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I dont think he should have done a cover of KID A and whoever said that radiohead and john mayer had a connection somehow after being a radiohead fan and john mayer fan since the begining of both their music careers i find this extremely hard to comprehend.
    Flag Sophie400on April 23, 2003   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I have some experience with the gutair, but playing this on a guatair after it was a played off some type of sythesizer by Radiohead is unreal to me. I am both a John Mayer and Radiohead fan, (Kid A being my Favorite of Radiohead) this blew me away. This song shows how talented John Mayer is. But the sad thing is everyone and thier brother has his CD now, and going to see Mayer will never be the same as it was for me a year ago. So now I'll be seeing Mayer from about 100 yards away on a huge TV instead of 10 feet away the first time I saw him. What a shame.
    Flag Soundboyon April 08, 2003   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This is really really good...sorta dry and cold feel to it. it's a weird choice for john mayer to cover, but he does it well and shows underneath the computers radiohead's newer stuff still has basic song structure. of course radioheads version's better. btw about the lyrics, it's not drugs. thom yorke has said with most of this album's songs he just took a number of snippets of lyrics and chucked em in a hat and drew them out in random order. that's why the lines don't fit each other
    Flag Cherub Rockon March 25, 2003   Link

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