The mongrel cat came home
Holding half a head
Proceeded to show it off
To all his newfound friends
He said "I been where I liked
I slept with who I like
She ate me up for breakfast
She screwed me in a vice
But now I don't know why I feel so tongue-tied"

I sat in the cupboard
And wrote it down neat
They were cheering and waving
Cheering and waving
Twitching and salivating like with myxomatosis
But it got edited, fucked up
Strangled, beaten up
Used in a photo in Time magazine
Buried in a burning black hole in Devon
And I don’t know why I feel so tongue-tied
Don’t know why I feel so skinned alive

My thoughts are misguided and a little naïve
I twitch and I salivate like with myxomatosis
You should put me in a home or you should put me down
I got myxomatosis
I got myxomatosis
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
Strangled, beaten up
I got myxomatosis
I got myxomatosis
I don’t know why I feel so tongue-tied



Lyrics submitted by ruben


Myxomatosis. (Judge, Jury, & Executioner.) song meanings
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52 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:I think this song is about a lot of things, but the most interesting to me is the inclusion of Cuttooth lyrics. The band had planned to include it on Amnesiac but left it off at the last minute, even though it was a really good song and has since become a fan favorite. Perhaps the record company stopped them from including Cuttooth, or (more likely) made them alter it to the point where they didn't like it anymore: "it was edited fucked up strangled beated"


    Cuttooth is still a great song though, as is Myxomatosis.
    Flag Crane42on September 29, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:i think this about media, propaganda and mind control.

    in media right can be wrong and bush can be angel.
    Flag RADIOinmyHEADon January 12, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:thought it was screwed me in a vase? not vice?
    haha
    maybe im wrong, but sounds like something a 'cat' would do..
    Flag fillefrancaiseon April 17, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This kind of seems to be a continuation of I will...

    What I mean is that I think between I will and scatterbrain (I'm not sure about Punchup at a wedding) their is a story going on.

    This part is talking about, I think, the debauchery that goes on in war.

    It's about a guy in an occupied country (I was thinking Middle-Eastern but I'm not sure) who catches some soldiers talking about all the horrible stuff they've done in an uncaring fashion. He's hiding in a cupboard, and gets all this on film. He then sends it straight away to the press. It does not suit the press at this time, however, to have such a story published, so they scrap the recording and mess it up, ruining the one guy's plans. He's so shocked at the callous way that such an important story was simply scrapped, he believes he's going crazy. He becomes completely brainwashed to accept the foreign soldiers as they are represented by the press.
    Flag voice.of.reason?on December 09, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I had my choir director sister listen to this song and the first thing she said after it was finished was: "That took me to a dark place."

    I think that fits the theme of Myxomatosis very well. It really is a dark feeling song- and very emotional. This is by far my favorite Radiohead song. It's a very basic 4/4 song, that goes up an octave every now and then... But I love the emotion.
    Flag SkatFLion August 29, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:To each their own, but I think it's about being fake in general. When I listen to it, I feel a sort of cross between self-hatred and being trapped in an impregnable cage. Think "Hamlet".

    You know what? You could go with "Hamlet" on a lot of Radiohead songs, now that I think about it...
    Flag bentheindividualon July 12, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:whoa whoa..ok I had to come back to clarify: I don't think live shows are insane. what I was trying to get at is mob mentality or something, I was going to relate it to the song but I lost my train of thought.. and it was stating the obvious, anyway.
    Flag l3naon March 10, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:If this is of any use, the Cristian Vogel remix of this song (Remyxomatosis, on the Com-Lag EP) starts with a sample of a cheering crowd. A harsh electronic bleeping noise drowns it out, and the song starts. Apparently the remix is much closer to Thom's electronic demo of the song than the version that ended up on HTTT.

    I agree with earlier posts, though, this is definitely about the attempt to control minds/public opinion and uses myxomatosis as a metaphor. the deliberate introduction of a terrible, painful disease is used in certain countries in order to control the rabbit population (in another sense, of course).. it doesn't matter how much suffering and pain it causes the rabbits (it's an awful way to go), it is convenient and works best so they use it.

    the character in the song has had his own words twisted and the meaning turned on its head, and begins to doubt his own judgment. how do you respond to something so illogical? it is as though he forgets the true meaning of his older statement because he is bombarded with the new, twisted meaning. and if you can't trust your own judgment, what can you trust? it's the disease of self-destructive doubt. disturbing stuff.

    and I don't know how relevant this is, but I saw them last summer and I have to admit it: these massive live shows are to some degree insane. If this song is at least partially about fear of those crowds (or all and any massive, charged crowds), I can't blame them. how do you connect with tens of thousands of excited and screaming people all at once? I mean, I've never tried.. observed objectively a crowd *does* seem to twitch, salivate, cheer and wave almost mindlessly, and you can get caught up in it easily (goes for any group of that size).. and sometimes actual fans are beaten up by people who just came to trip out on whatever drug and feed off of the hype and hysteria.

    I am still so grateful that I got to see them live, don't get me wrong, and it was incredible. I just can't deny that the audience experience overall was a little bit unnerving at times - not so much the people in it as the size and confusion.
    Flagged l3naon March 10, 2009   Link
  • +1
    General Comment: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).
    Flag kida604on June 27, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:without having read any of the above comments, it's about alzheimer's disease... mixed memories.
    Flag amatterofgraceon May 08, 2008   Link

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