Lyrics for I Might Be Wrong as interpreted by shut

I Might Be Wrong Lyrics
I might be wrong
I might be wrong
I could have sworn I saw a light
Coming on

I used to think
I used to think
There is no future left at all
I used to think

Open up, begin again
Let's go down the waterfall
Think about the good times and never look back
Never look back

What would I do?
What would I do?
If I did not have you?

Open up and let me in
Let's go down the waterfall
Have ourselves a good time
It's nothing at all
It's nothing at all
Nothing at all

Cry then begin again
Cry then begin again

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  • 72 Comments
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straydog89
04-13-2002

Rated 0 
I think its a song about a relationship that is dwindling, the fun and excitement is gone, Yorke wants it back, so he wants to start over, forget the past and start fresh and new and exciting, but its still nothing at all.

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3 Replies
rockkid
05-17-2002

Rated 0 
i´ve read that this song is about canibalism! I read an article on the internet were thom explained the song...

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1 Reply
Beowulf_Xtreme
05-19-2002

Rated 0 
He was hopeful but before he thought the relastionship was over. But instead he wants to go to the beginning and give it a second chance. He'll do anything to have her back because he can't stand to be without her.

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egoat711
07-30-2002

Rated +1 
I read an article online taken from a magazine where the readers sent in their takes on radiohead songs and thom read the letters and responded to the best one. He said he likes his songs to have multiple meanings and the relationship angle is one of them. He also said that the "light coming on" and "no future left at all" parts were talking about dying. He used to think there was no afterlife and nothing he did in his lifetime mattered but now thats all different. His life has meaning now, so he can be happy and enjoy the good times because he can look back on those times after his mortal life has ended.

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deathbear
07-30-2002

Rated 0 
this song live is AMAZING..........

radiohead just rules.

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stain
08-02-2002

Rated 0 
i think this is about pressure that makes illusion,thinking and dreaming too much,unwilling to face the reality,and being looked on as a strange person.

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catfaces
08-16-2002

Rated 0 
I think this song is about someone clinging on to someone, when he/she knows the inevidible is coming, (the relationship is over). To me, its kind of like being in denial, "I could have sworn, I saw a light coming on", He doesnt want it to be over, so hes creating illusions, he wants her to "go down the waterfall" or start over, get a new thrill, but after said and done, its still nothing at all, or no hope at all. Just my two cents:) Great song!

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quarashi
08-20-2002

Rated 0 
this songs good, but a bit too slow. the riffs are good....but after a while of em repeating them it gets boring

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carms
03-07-2003

Rated 0 
Let's go down the waterfall
Have ourselves a good time
It's nothin' at all

That part's good. Thom's a genius. It's been said a lot, so saying that probably doesn't mean anything anymore, but it's the honest to god fucking truth.

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MeWithoutYou13
06-30-2003

Rated 0 
it could be about drug addiction....

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periwinklebyday
04-08-2004

Rated 0 
I think this is one of Radiohead's best love songs.
It talks about the sheer confusion of not having a love in his life, and how just doing nothing is fine because being in love is so great.

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deathbear
05-08-2004

Rated 0 
Thom's not the type to usually write about love songs, and especially with the way this song is written and the way he sings the song, I don't think it is a love song. It's one of the more sardonic/sarcastic sounding songs of Radiohead's, and I think it's not about a relationship with a girl...but maybe with God, aka about religion/theism.

I think throughout the song it shows an agnostic or a skeptical Christian slowly gaining belief and becoming almost a 'blind sheep' type Christian.

"I might be wrong
I might be wrong
I could have sworn I saw a light
Comin' on "

At this point, the believer is not sure his religion is correct, he's questioning it..

"I used to think
I used to think
There is no future left at all
I used to think "

He used to believe heaven did not exist, that there was no life after death. He used to be atheist.

"Open up, begin again
Let's go down the waterfall
Think about the good times
Never look back
Never look back "

This part's a bit trickier. "open up begin again" probably is referencing some religious action one takes, but I can't think of any. Perhaps "open up your mind/heart, start over in your religion" as if you're repenting. I'm unsure what he's talking about with the waterfall if it means anything, but the "never look back" sounds satirical almost, as if he's being told and starting to be ignorant to other beliefs, to be closeminded.

"What would I do?
What would I do?
If I did not have you? "

A common question Christians ask of God when praying, artfully placed in.

"Open up and let me in
Let's go down the waterfall
Have ourselves a good time
It's nothin' at all
It's nothin' at all
Nothin' at all "

"open up and let me in" is another part of this believer's prayer to god, to let him into heaven. again he references a waterfall, which may be symbolic or not (Thom likes to add in random shit that sometimes is meaningless, as he has told several magazines).

--

I think that this religious take on it is far more accurate than a love song take. In fact, it may not be about religion but I'm about 99% sure it's not about a relationship. The connotations aren't right, the constant guitar lick gives an impression of blind following and doesn't really make sense for a love song. In summary, I think "I might be Wrong" is a sarcastic, sardonic take on blind Christians that follow their religion for no reason. But, I might be wrong.

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1 Reply
Andrewonfire
05-13-2004

Rated 0 
how much free time does Death Bear have? A whole lot more than most people.

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deathbear
05-15-2004

Rated 0 
^ True, I just wanted to try to set things straight. Post-bends radiohead rarely sings about girls and such, in my humble opinion.

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Phrogex
06-08-2004

Rated 0 
Good thing deathbear is here though, because he could not be any more right! This song makes so much more sense now. It's all about blind faith, thus the "I might be wrong" ties into it. Think about good times with God into heaven, and don't look back at your past. Really, I think Thoms saying, we think we're drifting up into heaven, but, we don't realize that we are about to fall off the edge of a waterfall. We don't know what's at the end of the river (the river is a symbol of life.) We go on through life as we're floating down the river, and getting closer to death. We don't know what happens after we die. We can't swim back upstream and tell others about it, because it's a one-way path. We think at the end of the river is a large lake of eternal life, or something, but its a waterfall to death.

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DonVista
06-23-2004

Rated 0 
This has aways been my fav Radiohead song. The meaning Thom like to see lots of meanings for the songs he writes but I see a relationship that is dying. Lets go down the waterfall think about the good times and never look back. Its like lets go and forget the bad stuff thats happened between us and dwell on the good

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JoeBaldwin
12-16-2004

Rated 0 
This is about some poor little kid trying to keep alive a relationship which isn't working. He wants to put the bad things behind him ("Think about the good times"), and in the end can't get an audience ("Open up, and let me in"). He can't imagine life without his girl ("What would I do/If I did not have you"). The going down the waterfall symbolises making a massive commitment.

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FaaipDeOaid
12-16-2004

Rated 0 
Deathbear has the best answer I think.
This is one of my favourtie new Radiohead songs. Might be my fav, but I might be wrong.

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fluoxetine
01-08-2005

Rated 0 
I always thought this song had an erotic, sexy beat, and so I interpreted the lyrics in similar fashion. "Open up and let me in..." etc. I cannot think of this song in any other way. No matter what Thom says, this track will continue to make me hot.

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nomishood
01-17-2005

Rated 0 
WOW.....i've never been able to crack this song.....but the religion thing is so obvious now, especially from the title. It IS about an atheist, or agnostic.....basically someone who doesn't believe in a god figure but also says "i might be wrong on that". the lyrics fit so well.

it could also swing the other way, be about a religious person who has doubts.....but I don't think that's an angle Thom Yorke would approach a song from. Doesn't mean you can't look at it both ways-makes the song even better that way as it conveys how interchangeable beliefs can be.

btw, i can't believe that people can still find messages about relationships in radiohead songs-nothing wrong with it, i'm even slightly envious.

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nomishood
01-17-2005

Rated 0 
btw, as usual, it's better live.

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catisinmybrain
01-23-2005

Rated 0 
the lyrics sound like it can be a love song, but it doesn't sound like one. i can't make it out.

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ride my lightning
01-24-2005

Rated 0 
live versions much faster....i like it too!

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Xzascha
02-23-2005

Rated 0 
I can't say this is an interpritation but more along the lines of this is how *I* see the song. After my mother died at 51 years old of cancer it hit me how horrible of life she had always had... no one ever treated her like she deserved. So this song lets me imagine that her and I are re-united and saying screw everyone, let's just go and have a good time and never look back. And that even though I feel there is no future without her, I know there has to be. Take it for what you will....

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PLAS
04-05-2005

Rated 0 
I thought it was about finding something in life that one thought to have been lost forever, then finding it again and rejoicing on it, it could be faith or love or self esteem, something that has now become a very important thing in this person's life

"it's nothing at all" is more like those typical sarcastic lines that Yorke throws every now and then to give emphasis to what he's saying ("Im' a reasonable man, get off my case")

but then, I might be wrong

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