I want you to know
He's not coming back
Look into my mouth
I'm not coming back

So knives out
Cut him up
Don't look down
Shove it in your mouth

If you'd been a dog
They would have drowned you at birth
Look into my mouth
It's the only way you'll know I'm telling the truth

So knives out
Cut him up
Squash his head
Put him in the pot

I want you to know
He's not coming back
His blood is frozen
Still there is no point letting it go to waste

So knives out
Catch the mouse
Squash his head
Put him in the pot



Lyrics submitted by shut

Track duration: 04:15

"Knives Out" as written by Thomas Edward/greenwood Yorke

Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


Knives Out song meanings
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116 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:figurative cannibalism
    Flag DylanLambrieson June 04, 2012   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:So this song to me is clearly about a mean-spirited parent talking to their kid, who they feel is a weakling. The parent clearly looks on the kid with disdain and disgust.

    The basic message is:

    "READ MY LIPS, kid. Life sucks, everything dies and you'd better get used to it... you either kill or be killed. You either eat or get eaten".
    Flag stovernyon May 08, 2012   Link
  • -2
    Lyric Correction:might it be
    "scrunch his hair
    put him in the park"
    it would make sense if the song is about the bullying
    Flag rhinosepherouson February 13, 2012   Link
  • +1
    Memory:i used to sing this song to my girlfriend, now ex-girlfriend... such a heartless bastard
    Flagged ricoolon January 30, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:im scared
    Flag Gurrason December 23, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I think Thome was useing canableizm as a metaphor for breaking up with someone.
    Flag Cajicaon November 13, 2011   Link
  • -1
    General Comment:Just seems like a song about anger. Someone's not coming back and the other someone is out for blood. It's an angry track but very clever.
    Flag MaryMaryQuiteContraryon September 09, 2011   Link
  • +2
    General Comment:
    Knives out is about people using each other to get what they want, and cannibalizing on people who are down.

    "Knives out, cook him up, squash his head, put him in the pot"
    "He's bloated and frozen still there's no point in letting him go to waste."

    Like the business owner who discovers that another local business has a problem with criminal activity because the owner doesn't serve cops and claims to the public "our business is crime-free! cops are always welcome here!".

    "Don't look down. Shove it in your mouth"

    On the same theme of social cannibalism, it also mentions people who know they must feed on the suffering of others, but do not like to think about it that way, such as the big business who poaches all of a smaller businesses clients just to stay afloat, destroying the small business in the process.

    "Look into my eyes. I'm not coming back."

    This song also touches on people abandoning others (presumably friends and families).
    Flag Hazencruzon June 24, 2011   Link
  • +2
    Song Meaning:It would seem there are reflections of a cold, dark and bitter past that has seeped into the British psyche and many British artists especially RadioHead and Thom Yorke seem to be in contact with this - “Knives Out” is a perfect illustration of this influence, it is a hollow tale either literal or figurative with chilling cannibalistic overtones - it speaks of a startling desperation allegorized in morbid starvation - be that of the mind, body, or soul. Thom Y. seems to wail of an intense scarring memory of fear and loneliness - a loss of pride and hope and a suppression of apathy and shame. The song suggests a dark image of flesh feasting and the loathness of spiritual starvation prevalent in modern culture - that love and hate are equal in some measure to mankind’s desire to consume at any cost- and is subject to abject degeneration down to the sub-human level. The song is a tale of caution, of the human emotion and pitfalls therein - it suggests that Thom Y. has his hand and his heart on its pulse.
    Flagged satyr42on April 20, 2011   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:I fucking love the bass on this track
    Flag searchingfordoughnutson March 23, 2011   Link

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