Lyrics for Optimistic as interpreted by shut

Optimistic Lyrics
Flies are buzzing around my head
Vultures circling the dead
Picking up every last crumb
The big fish eat the little ones
The big fish eat the little ones
Not my problem give me some

You can try the best you can
If you try the best you can
The best you can is good enough

You can try the best you can
If you try the best you can
The best you can is good enough

This one's optimistic
This one went to market
This one just came out of the swamp
This one dropped a payload
Fodder for the animals
Living on an animal farm

If you try the best you can
If you try the best you can
The best you can is good enough

If you try the best you can
If you try the best you can
The best you can is good enough

I'd really like to help you, man
I'd really like to help you, man
Nervous messed up marionette
Floating around on a prison ship

If you try the best you can
If you try the best you can
The best you can is good enough
If you try the best you can
If you try the best you can
Dinosaurs roaming the earth
Dinosaurs roaming the earth
Dinosaurs roaming the earth

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goodbyeskyharbor
05-27-2002

Rated 0 
i absolutely love the part that goes "fodder for the animals". the way he sings that is so cool.

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kaisute
07-05-2002

Rated 0 
To me the way he sings of somebody being optimistic but vultures are still circling... it just sort of seems sarcastic and as if to say that no matter how hard you try it's all the same in the end. You can try the best you can if you try the best you can the best you can is good enough...

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deadeye093
07-10-2002

Rated 0 
Think the lines

"Fodder for the animals
Living on an animal farm"

has anything to do with the novel Animal Farm by George Orwell?

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debaser2002
08-14-2002

Rated +1 
Sounds to me like someone excepting the corporate capitalist life, ' big fish eat the little ones, not my problem give me some..' and trampling on anyone who gets hurt in the process.....

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drinkbleach
08-19-2002

Rated 0 
going along with what debaser2002 said, the "dinosaurs roaming the earth" could mean that thats the way its always been since the beginning, OR dinosaurs roaming the earth could symobilize the corporate monopoly taking over like dinosaurs roaming the earth...just a ramble.

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drinkbleach
08-19-2002

Rated 0 
going along with what debaser2002 said, the "dinosaurs roaming the earth" could mean that thats the way its always been since the beginning, OR dinosaurs roaming the earth could symobilize the corporate monopoly taking over like dinosaurs roaming the earth...just a ramble.

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Carlos_The_Elf
09-27-2002

Rated 0 
Even though I can't find out what this song means, I find it better not knowing what it means. When he says "You can try the best you can" and the guitar blends in with his voice so well, it's like floating on air. This song is really great. So far, my favorite Radiohead song.

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jhienkleson
03-16-2003

Rated +1 
To me, this song is about how foolish it is to be enitrely optimistic; to the point where you pretend that NOTHING has any bad to it.

Optimism is the pig shit (this one dropped a payload/fodder for the animals) and the bad things that exist (despite optimists denying them) are the dinosaurs.

At first, he lists some bad things, and then says 'not my problem' this is being TOO optimistic and not realizing the bad things in the world. And that's what the song is saying is wrong to do.

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Soundboy
04-20-2003

Rated 0 
I've read that book deadeye, and i can see connections to "Animal Farm." That book was modeled after the communist regime in Russia from Lennin's era. Each animal represented a class or a person from that regime. It could be connected to Communism and how hard the people try but can never rise above the rest. Regardless thier talents and ambition they will always be considered a helpless peasent to the government.

Although, This quote looks like what Debaser said:
"Picking up every last crumb
The big fish eat the little ones
The big fish eat the little ones
Not my problem give me some."

So this is got me thinking.

Honestly I have stuff to do, and im gonna look into this later.

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Paega
04-25-2003

Rated +1 
Beautiful song, I think it's anything but optimistic though! This is what it means to me...

Verse 1: it's a dog-eat-dog, selfish world. Right and wrong aren't important as long as you get your share.

Chorus: if you've got a conscience, follow it or ignore it. No one will judge you.

Verse 2: alludes to "This Little Piggy" and "Animal Farm". The pigs in Animal Farm seek to improve their lot at the expense of the other animals: all are equal but some are more equal than others. I think it refers to humanity in general, but particularly the political class (bombing often improves a leader's popularity rating).

Verse 3: no idea :-o

Verse 4: "Dinosaurs...", what should be extinct is still going strong. Not too sure what he's alluding to.

...I kind of lose the plot towards the end :-) I suppose the song can be interpreted in many ways.

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ledzeprul
05-05-2003

Rated 0 
This guy I know, total pot-head, once got extremely high and fell asleep listening to Kid A. He dreamt out a movie plot that went along with the album somehow. Kid A was the first human clone (i actually think i heard that theory somewhere else) and, although public opinion was against this cloning, the clone somehow came back and saved the earth from aliens. Optimistic sort of seems to fit in here. The song would be from the alien point of view, with humans being the subject they are singing about. "Big fish eat the little ones", not their problem, the entire verse about this one and that one being optimistic, or fodder, is just the alien commenting on each new piece of livestock as it shuffles onto the ship. "dinosaurs roaming the earth" = humankind is doomed, "messed up marionette, flying along on a prison ship", torturing humans on board the alien ship.

I know this seems totally out there and i really don't believe it, but it's such a fun way to listen to the album. You can get most of the songs to fit in pretty well to some kind of plot. I'll try to elaborate more later, on each song in turn.

Also, as my friend described it, the awesome shuffle groove leading into "In Limbo" is where the clone baby makes his first appearance, pimp-walking into the scene.

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ledzeprul
05-06-2003

Rated 0 
Pimp walking into the scene with a top hat and cane, mind you.

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carms
06-24-2003

Rated +1 
Fuck I love Radiohead. And Radiohead fans are awesome too... They know what the fuck they're talking about. Amen for the people in the world who still have a fucking brain in their skulls.

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carms
06-24-2003

Rated 0 
Sorry, I'm feeling a little bitter today.

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ZipperHead
07-02-2003

Rated 0 
Like so much of Radiohead's music, clearly this song is a reaction to corporate culture. Since these guys went to Oxford, they probebly had a lot of exposure to their peers' aspirations, ambitions, and conformities. Clearly, a nod to Orwell as well as Pink Floyd. P.S. please don't post how much you like a band - obviously you like them or you wouldn't be posting to their song!

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Evilgirl
07-03-2003

Rated 0 
Dinosaurs roaming the earth....we are already extinct its just a matter of when. How's that for optimism?! ;)

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subterranean_summer
06-30-2004

Rated 0 
I love how the song is called Optimistic. Ah, the irony.
Well all these forms of ideal societies, like communism, are all good on paper, and they're all optimistic and they all try the best they can, and to them that is what is good enough.

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my nothing
11-23-2004

Rated 0 
This and electioneering are two of the best Radiohead songs to cheer me up, I find. Though obviously the strong theme of 'capitalist politicians are destroying the earth' runs rife throughout both of them, kind of making you guilty for considering them all sunshine and rainbow. But their lyrics are so abstract, sometimes it's nice to create your own significance for each song, like ledzeprul's friend did.

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theresnorest
11-23-2004

Rated 0 
I wanna dedicate this one to Izzi. The pessimistic things in it are me and the optimitic things are from her. Thanks Izzi. :) :) :)

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LittleFish
11-24-2004

Rated 0 
(Spoilers if you haven't read Animal Farm)
In the book "Animal Farm," the animals all wanted to be "on the same level," rather than have a human(s) dominate them. But to establish order the pigs arose as the basic leaders of the farm. But eventually the pigs became more and more like the human owners before them, and towards the end of the book, the pigs put on the human's clothing and walk around. They go and play cards with the humans of a nearby farm, and both the humans and pigs tried to cheat by hiding cards. The pigs and the humans then laughed at the situation, at which point the faces of the pigs and humans switched back and forth, no longer distinguishable between one another. Awesome book, if you ever get the chance to read it.

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Treefinger
02-06-2005

Rated 0 
Kid A trying to be optimistic about his situation. I'm assuming by this point in the album America has turned against Kid A and have razed/exiled him (hence "flies are buzzing around my head"). He knows his chances aren't good, but if he trys the best he can, the best he can will be good enough.

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collector
02-10-2005

Rated 0 
happiness can't be placed anywhere. it victimizes self-awareness and it's unclear by nature. give up whenever you want. we have lost already.

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xinnieful
02-20-2005

Rated 0 
Nervous messed up marionette
Floating around on a prison ship ~~

Someone that feels trapped by situations trying to make the best of what's left. I personally think that the Animal Farm reference is an allusion to the fact that the days of excess and empire eventually come crashing down.. I could be wrong though.. .

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whapcapn
02-25-2005

Rated 0 
This is the point in the album where Radiohead's trademark paranoia really kicks in. Thom wails:
"The big fish eat the little ones x2
Not my problem give me some"
Fear enters, and knowledge of evil, and is ddealt with by being shut out and ignored.

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whapcapn
02-25-2005

Rated 0 
This is the point in the album where Radiohead's trademark paranoia really kicks in. Thom wails:
"The big fish eat the little ones x2
Not my problem give me some"
Fear enters, and knowledge of evil, and is dealt with by being shut out and ignored.

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