Drag him out your window
Dragging out the dead
Singing I miss you
Snakes and ladders flip the lid
Out pops the cracker
Smacks you in the head
Knives you in the neck
Kicks you in the teeth
Steel toe caps
Takes all your credit cards
Get up get the gunge
Get the eggs
Get the flan in the face
The flan in the face
The flan in the face
Dance you fucker dance you fucker
Don't you dare
Don't you dare
Don't you flan in the face
Take it with the love its given
Take it with a pinch of salt
Take it to the tax man
Let me back
Let me back
I promise to be good
Don't look in the mirror at the face you don't recognize
Help me, call the doctor, put me inside
Put me inside
Put me inside
Put me inside
Put me inside

I keep the wolf from the door
But he calls me up
Calls me on the phone
Tells me all the ways that he's gonna mess me up
Steal all my children if I don't pay the ransom
And I'll never see them again if I squeal to the cops

Walking like giant cranes
And with my X-ray eyes I strip you naked
In a tight little world
And are you on the list?
Stepford wives who are we to complain?
Investments and dealers
Investments and dealers
Cold wives and mistresses
Cold wives and Sunday papers city
Boys in First Class don't know we're born just know
Someone else is gonna come and clean it up
Born and raised for the job
Someone always does
I wish you'd get up get over
Get up get over and turn the tape off

I keep the wolf from the door
But he calls me up
Calls me on the phone
Tells me all the ways that he's gonna mess me up
Steal all my children if I don't pay the ransom
And I'll never see them again if I squeal to the cops

So I'm just gonna



Lyrics submitted by ruben

"A Wolf at the Door (It Girl. Rag Doll)" as written by Thomas Edward/selway Yorke

Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


A Wolf at the Door (It Girl. Rag Doll) song meanings
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141 Comments

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  • +1
    General Comment:To me, this is about gambling debts, he's got to pay but not to tell the cops, he doesn't recongnize himself at the mirror, his family is being threatened, he's got money problems etc....
    Flag Cooliveron March 12, 2013   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:To me, this is about gambling debts, he's got to pay but not to tell the cops, he doesn't recongnize himself at the mirror, his family is being threatened, he's got money problems etc....
    Flag Cooliveron March 12, 2013   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:A musical version of The Three Little Pigs story. Apparently from an as yet unreleased concept album of nursery tales and fairy stories. Their interpretation of The Gingerbread Man is supposed to be heart-breaking
    Flag shamone12on December 19, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:it sounds like he's saying "papacy" rather than "paper city", makes more sense with "sunday" as well.
    Flag vincecartercrazyon June 07, 2012   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:This song has Monarch Mind control references it isn't even funny.
    Hide the face in the mirror you don't recognize. (talking about a fractured personality) He also says "are you fracturing" during we want young blood. A common term for a persons psyche splitting off into two alternate personalities and in many cases the person who has been "fractured" does not realize that there is an alter. I ran across an article that gives pretty convincing evidence that thom was violently molested as a child, as the left eye normally develops a droop in the eyelid. You can see thoms is heavy. I myself was abused at a young age and I have a drop in my left eyelid as does my girlfriend who was abused too.
    Flagged Midastouchon November 15, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I've not got the time to read the 135 comments so I may as well just chip in my 2 cents worth anyway. A while back Thom was in the papers saying MI5 were taping his phones ect. I'm sure he also made a veiled remark in the story about being threatened by certain elements of the UK government but you'd have to check that out for yourself.

    Given the general nature of Thom's Lyrics especially on Hail to the thief (the title being taken from a sign a protester had when George Bush the 2nd stole the election with the whole Florida farce) I think its partly about some threat he may or may not have been made by the authorities in the UK. A sort of 'tone it down or your getting it and so are your kids' sort of thing.

    Let's face it, these people don't play and Radiohead are arguably the biggest band in the world. A lot of people listen to them and a lot of their lyrics are about subject matter the powers that be don't really want you listening to on a daily basis. It may also be the reason that, since they have developed as a band, their lyrics have become more and more cryptic? Who knows? I remember being in Miami when Hail to the thief came out over there and it was being promoted everywhere (in fact I think it may have been number 1 album in the US?). When you think of what was going on back then in the states, this album seemed to be some sort of voice of the silent masses against it all.

    Look at what happened to 3D from Massive Attack a while back when the UK tabloids tried to accuse him of being caught with child pornography on his computer. All this turned out to be bullshit of course but its strange because I'm pretty sure it wasn't long after they released the track 'False Flags'. Massive Attack are another great British band with a heavy political agenda of their own which in my opinion certain people couldn't handle and set in motion some sort of smear campaign about 3D being a paedophile.
    Flag GMan2012on July 31, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I agree with JohnBearClaw - this song is in essence a stream-of-consciousness littany of a father's endless fears for his children. The fears never stop (the lyrics reflect his racing mind), to the point they almost can drive him crazy ("call a doctor, put me inside").

    He tries to keep the wolf at bay (keep bad things from happening to his family) but no matter what he does the fears are always there.

    I think this song is one of Radiohead's most amazing.
    Flag stovernyon April 03, 2011   Link
  • 0
    Lyric Correction:I'm not sure how this could have gone so long without anyone just checking it against the lyric booklet. There are a few differences here:

    "Flip" not "Lift the lid."

    "Step up, get the gunge" not "Get up, get going"

    "And are you on the list?" not "Why are you on the list?"

    "Don't know we're born, just know" not "...born little"

    and finally,

    "I wish you'd get up" not "Always pick it up"
    Flag MrHeywireon January 16, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Listen to this song in this economical day and age and I think it may ring home to someone who is trying to raise a family.

    Love the song.
    Flag soonerpaon January 09, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I think it's partially about how violence doesn't solve anything. He keeps a "wolf at the door," or large military/amry for protection, only to have it mess him up and corrupt the world.
    Flag Boosemoon December 24, 2010   Link

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