I jumped in the river, what did I see?
Black-eyed angels swam with me
A moon full of stars and astral cars
And all the figures I used to see

All my lovers were there with me
All my past and futures
And we all went to heaven in a little row boat
There was nothing to fear and nothing to doubt

I jumped into the river
Black-eyed angels swam with me
A moon full of stars and astral cars
And all the figures I used to see

All my lovers were there with me
All my past and futures
And we all went to heaven in a little row boat
There was nothing to fear, nothing to doubt

There was nothing to fear, nothing to doubt
There was nothing to fear, nothing to doubt


Lyrics submitted by shut

Pyramid Song Lyrics as written by Edward John O'brien Colin Charles Greenwood

Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.

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Pyramid Song song meanings
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  • +25
    General Comment

    This song is about not fearing death. If anyone has ever seen the video, it looks like the Earth is completely flooded and all houses and buildings are under the surface of the ocean. In this song, the central character if there is one has lost everyone, and he no longer wants to go on living without the things he loves, so he ends his life by finding his home underwater with an oxygen like device to breathe underwater. Then when he finds his home he settles in the living room in his "favorite" chair and lets go of the oxygen.

    HonkyFireon April 18, 2002   Link
  • +11
    General Comment

    Song is about egypt, hence its original title "Egyptian Song".

    "Jumped in the river what did I see, black eyed angels swam with me" - the river is the Nile, the black eyed angels are crocodiles which were deified in ancient egypt. Note the black eyes:

    images.wildmadagascar.org/pictures/berenty/nile_crocodile_0082.jpg

    The line: "All my lovers were there with me" - pharoahs were typically buried with their wives. Not only that but their soldiers and possessions from their mortal life.

    Which leads to "we all went to heaven in a little row boat", pharoahs were also buried with boats, sometimes entire fleets of ships to make passage to the underworld.

    Baconstrip78on November 06, 2007   Link
  • +6
    General Comment

    I think alot of stuff on Amnesiac pertains to ancient civilizations/ancient myths. The song is called Pyramid Song (Egyptian) and many of you think the river he refers to is the river Styx (actually, the river that the dead cross in the underworld is called Acheron, but either way, its still Greek mythology). The cover shows what could be a crying Minotaur in front of some constellations (again, Greek myth), and inside the cover book, it refers to the fall of the Roman empire, which is also mentioned in the song "You and Whose Army?". What all this means, I have no idea.

    egoat711on August 01, 2002   Link
  • +6
    General Comment

    Thom Yorke is the most beautiful person in the world for writing this song. I dont care what its about. The fragility of his voice has encompassed so much more than the meaning of the words. Its a genuine example of the beautiful potential of humanity and the delicate nature of our existance. Everything about this song wrenches my heart strings. Including the video, which gives the song a more distinctive direction. I find it humbling that so many people have so many different interpretations of this song. If i could ever compose anything even half as emotionally strong as this, then i'll be a happy man. To me this is a song about life. The great flow of nature that we will all return to the earth from which we came once the waters of time have carried us as far as we need to go.I want this played at my funeral. It so full of hope, love, and beauty. With nothing to fear and nothing to doubt...peace x

    paper championon February 19, 2007   Link
  • +5
    General Comment

    This seems to be the buddhist nirvana, losing one's identity, ego death. In that state you have no sense of personal perspective, and have not a personal worry in the world. Nothing to fear, nothing to doubt.

    This song seems to be a precursor to The King of Limbs, it has that emotionless feel which in a sense is a wonderful feeling when you get into it, but doesn't sound like good music when you're outside of that state. If you're an emotional wreck from a break-up, or breaking down in fear of death, this song will not appeal to you at the time. You can only appreciate this song when you have found peace, or are trying to find it. When you can get into that self-less state, this song is transcendental, it's wonderful.

    WillAndWindon April 25, 2012   Link
  • +3
    General Comment

    I think this song is about life in general:

    "Jumped in the river, what did I see?" The river represents life and when you jumped in it, that's when you're born.

    "Black-eyed angels swam with me" The black-eyed angels represent demons and/or hardships. Life is full of both.

    "A moon full of stars and astral cars" The moon and stars are objects of inspiration and astral cars is how the imagination interprets them. The astral cars could be planets. Anyway, it says inspiration can be found in life and in the stars above our heads.

    "And all the things I used to see" There was more inspiration in the past than there currently is.

    "All my lovers were there with me" Love can also be found in life.

    "All my past and future" Life holds both your past and future and everything in between.

    "And we all went to Heaven in a little row boat" In the end, we'll all go to Heaven when we die.

    "There was nothin' to fear and nothin' to doubt" Heaven will be perfect and reliable.

    This song brings tears to my eyes. Life captured in eight lines of pure poetry. Just amazing.

    Beowulf_Xtremeon May 20, 2002   Link
  • +3
    General Comment

    As weired as it may sound,i think this is one of the few radoihead songs that has a positive message in it even though it's about death.To me,this song is about someone who looks back at his life before dying. He examines the life he had,the friends he made and the family he belonged to.And after examining all of this,he realizes that he did live and this makes him fearless of death and the next life.I listen to this song a lot when i'm depressed and it always makes me look at my life and realize that it's really worthy because of the people around me.

    Joekubrickon May 06, 2004   Link
  • +3
    General Comment

    ONE OF THE MOST EMOTIONAL SONGS FROM RH NEXT TO IDIOTEQUE AND BIG BOOTS/MAN-O-WAR. Since this is a song we all can relate, I'll mention my first listen to it was on a bus, while it was raining and I was reflecting on the past couple of months, and seriously thinking about my life the next year. REALLY RH's SONGS AREN'T MEANT FOR MEANING IN GENERAL BUT PERSONAL MEANING. But yeah, I agree with all of you, this song is about reflection, self-acceptance in life and courage. And at the end of the song when he say's the finishing line, "There was nothing to fear,nothing to doubt", well it just means, through out all of life's bullshit and drama, there was always life, and it's ambition to move on.

    relephoraon May 17, 2004   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    this is like one of those songs they play in slow motion when it's raining, as like someones running after a taxi cab with their leaving girlfriend in it, then they look up at the sky and the rain pours down on them...i don't know, it's the picture i get when the hear the piano shite in this song..good stuff.

    AllStarMeon May 13, 2002   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    from what ive collected its about dantes inferno. it all follows the story pretty much, but only if you look at all the details. Yorke is the man, he can create so many ideas from one song.

    thereverendcaseon May 29, 2002   Link

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