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Get yourself together
Let the light pour in
Pour yourself a hot bath
Pour yourself a drink
Nothing's gonna happen without warning
Down is the new up
What is up, buttercup?
Down is the new up
Is the new up
Won't you be my girl?
Won't you be my girl?
Your services
Are not required
Your future's bleak
You're so last week
Ladies and gentlemen
Without a safety net
I shall now perform a 180 flip-flop
I shall now amputate
I shall now contort
Because down is the new up
What if I just flip-flop?
Down is the new up
Down is the new up
Down is the new up
Is the new up
You crawled off and left us
You crawled off and left us
You crawled off and left us
All on candid camera
The chink in your armour
Topsy turvy town
Topsy turvy town
Shake your pockets out
Pass it on
Pass it down
Topsy turvy town
Topsy turvy town
Lyrics submitted by black_cow_of_death
"Down Is the New Up" as written by Thomas Edward Yorke, Jonathan Richard Guy Greenwood, Colin Charles Greenwood, Edward John O'brien, Philip James Selway
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
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Thom Yorke must know how good he is. Because he is one mega talented bastard.
Lets look at the phrase "black is the new pink." One day everyone could be wearing black, every single person, because it's what they are told is fashionable. Suddenly someone enters saying that pink is fashionable, that "black is the new pink." Next thing you know, everyone completely disposes of their pink wardrobe in favor of black out of fear of being deemed outdated or unfashionable. In an instant pink, a color once adored by all, becomes a disgusting object of hatred, replaced by black. Pink is not stylish. Black is.
If you've ever read 1984, you will be familiar with the concept of "doublethink": the process by which one essentially rewrites reality in their own mind. In this context, they hold two contradictory ideas to be true: the established idea that pink is stylish and the new idea that black is stylish. And through the process of doublethink they forget that pink is stylish, even adopting the belief that it's ugly, in favor of the new idea, and then using doublethink to forget that they ever used doublethink in the first place (a little tough to wrap your head around, I know).
Here's another example is from 1984. The country Oceania was at war with the country Eurasia. Therefore, as far as everyone in the party believed, Oceania had always been at war with Eurasia. Suddenly, Oceania is at war with East Asia, not Eurasia. Therefore everyone believes that Oceania has always been at war with East Asia, and always at peace with Eurasia. They become enraged by all of their own posters against Eurasia, convincing themselves that East Asian spies had placed them there. Reality is rewritten in their minds, and truth ceases to be about objective facts and becomes the subjective whim of the party.
That is the danger of doublethink: it is reality control. Reality is defined by the party, who has complete control over its members minds. They control the present, and therefore control the past, therefore having control over the future.
I think that with "Down is the New Up" Radiohead is pointing out the use of doublethink in our society. Pink becomes the new black. Reality is changed. Down is the new up. We don't need you anymore, because you're outdated, you're so last week.
To convince yourself of such lies requires amputation, contortion, you must twist and turn your way to fit into this new fabricated reality. You perform a 180 flip-flop, you convince yourself that down is up, that 2 and 2 always make 5. Because that's what society says. Let society tell you what's stylish, let the government tell you what's real.
Shake out your pockets. Pass your money on down, which of course is up. My interpretation is that this section is referring to the flow of money going to the rich under the guise of going to the poor. After all, we live in topsy-turvy town.
And anyone who disagrees, anyone who clings to their objective reality is a bastard, crawling away. An outcast who sits down and stands up, not the other way around.
Maybe becouse only then you can see the truth.
Only then you can see how is "it" going on.
Only then you can see how people act funny.Sometimes they are violently happy (becouse they love you:)
Only then you are filled with power, the only problem is that you have to control it.
Maybe i'm a dreamer or something, but i cant come down;)
I laughed through the song at how funny it was that the song popped into my head on a day that a conversation with my mother shortly revealed to me "down is the new up" in which a change in my behavior would be necessary for a less stressing life.
I will now listen to this song until I get the message across to my subconscious self
Note that Radiohead dedicated The Bends to the late Bill Hicks in their liner notes - if it's any indication of what their role models have taught them (watch some Bill Hicks on YouTube).
Another role model they have is the band Talking Heads. Radiohead are named after the song of the same name off of the True Stories album, which is also a VERY important movie (True Stories directed and co-written by David Byrne), packed with important info.
Do your research, get informed and get educated! If the truth becomes transparent to you, try not to let it overwhelm you. Just remember:
"Get yourself together, let the light pour in
Pour yourself a hot bath, pour yourself a drink
Nothing's going to happen without warning..."
"why do you build me UP, BUTTERCUP, baby, just to let me DOWN?"
No? Not even as a joke?
Other than that, 1984 as a reference, flip-flopping as a political term and a swapping of priorities by a controlling state (Don't worry, you're safe, nothing's going to happen without warning) mentality seem coherent and make sense.
Get yourself together, let the light pour in,
Pour yourself a hot bath, pour yourself a drink,
Nothing's gonna happen without warning;
Down is the new up
And what is up, buttercup?*
Down is the new up, is the new up;
(Won'tcha be my girl?)
(Won'tcha be my girl?)
Your services are not required,
Your future's bleak,
You're so last-week;
Ladies and gentlemen, without a safety net,
I shall now perform a 180 flip-flop,
I shall now amputate, I shall now contort,
Because down is the new up,
And what if I just flip-flopped?
Down is the new up,
Down is the new up,
Down is the new up, is the new up;
You crawled off and left us, crawled off and left us;
(You bastard, you bastard)
Caught on candid-camera,
The chink in your armour,
Topsy-turvy town,
Topsy-turvy town;
Shake your pockets out,
Pass it on, pass it down,
Topsy-turvy town,
Topsy turvy town,
(Up up up up...)
*this is the only bit I'm not 99.9% sure about