Lyrics for All I Need as interpreted by black_cow_of_death

All I Need Lyrics
I am the next act waiting in the wings
I am an animal trapped in your hot car
I am all the days that you choose to ignore

You are all I need
You are all I need
I am in the middle of your picture
Lying in the reeds

I am a moth who just wants to share your light
I’m just an insect trying to get out of the night
I only stick with you because there are no others

You are all I need
You are all I need
I am in the middle of your picture
Lying in the reeds

It's all wrong
It's all right
It's all right
It's all wrong
It's all right
It's all right
It's all right

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radiomouse86
06-21-2006

Rated 0 
I found this song link on pitchfork this morning after radiohead played it live in Chicago the night before, props to black cow for promptly translating the lyrics (a tough job)...radiohead just can't seem to make a mistake, i've been a fan for about two years now and I can safely say they define everything i love about music

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2 Replies
oldhag
06-21-2006

Rated 0 
I saw them perform this song last night. They're amazing musicians.

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oldhag
06-21-2006

Rated 0 
I saw them perform this song last night. They're amazing musicians.

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radiomouse86
06-21-2006

Rated -1 
by the way...i think some of the questionable lyrics may be:

I am all ways that you choose to ignore

I'm an insect who wants to get out of the night

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radiomouse86
06-21-2006

Rated 0 
I envy you oldhag, my dying dream is to see Radiohead live

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scarymegalomania
06-24-2006

Rated 0 
radiomouse, why would you not go? i feel bad for radiohead fans that aren't able to make it. i'm seeing them on 6/26/06, in two days as of the time of this post, it'll be the third time i've seen them live, and let me tell you they are by far the most entertaining band i have ever seen, it really is something special.

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radiomouse86
06-28-2006

Rated 0 
trust me i would go if i could, but i've never been able to get ahold of a ticket and i can't afford to bust out $300 or so to buy the tickets online...do you know of a better way to pick up tickets?

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Loesje
06-29-2006

Rated 0 
These are the lyrics I found on Greenplastic:

I'm the next act
waiting in the wings
I'm a flash flood
running through your ground floor
I am all things
that you choose to ignore

You are all I need
You are all I need
I'm in the middle of a picture
Lying in the leaves

I'm a cloud of moths
who just wants to share your light
I'm an insect
who wants to get out of the night

You only stick with me
because there are no others

You are all I need
You are all I need
I'm in the middle of a picture
Lying in the leaves

It's all wrong
It's all right
It's all wrong

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lighthouse12
06-29-2006

Rated 0 
love this song... a masterpiece at its best... tho would love to know what it means

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landstrum77
07-09-2006

Rated 0 
wow.just heard this for the first time...amazing stuff as usual. i just think its about loving someone and needing them so ever bad



I'm a cloud of moths
who just wants to share your light
I'm an insect
who wants to get out of the night

all that matters to this person is their loved one.

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eatenbytheworms
07-14-2006

Rated 0 
I don't think this is your typical love song. There are some negative elements that make it seem like this love is either one-sided, or at least the narrator does not feel that the other person is all he needs. A better clue is the lyrics change later in the tour. The lines

'I'm the next act waiting in the wings
Running through your ground floor
I am all things that you choose to ignore'

were changed to:

'I'm the next act waiting in the wings
I'm an animal trapped in your hot car
I am all the things that you choose to ignore'

Furthermore, the line 'You only stick with me because there are no others' was changed to 'I only stick with you because there are no others' which means that he would leave her if he had someone else willing to be with him. So in my opinion he is telling her that she is not all he needs to be happy, that she is wrong, and at the end he is questioning whether to stay with her is 'all wrong' or 'all right'.

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eatenbytheworms
08-15-2006

Rated 0 
Mine is the last interpretation up there. I will have to recant on what I wrote after a lot of thought. "All I Need" is indeed a love song. One could call it the ultimate love song as it is unconditional, or so it seems. I had previously interpreted the line 'you are all I need' as sarcastic. What I now truly believe is that when Thom Yorke sings 'I only stick with you because there are no others', he truly means it. There is no one else in the world he could possibly love the way he loves her. And he is telling her, quite decisively, that '[he] is all she needs'. Same thing... there could be no one else for her. There are several lines that point to this being a 'real' love song. Obviously, he is singing this to someone new in his life ('I'm the next act waiting in the wings'). It's also clear that he feels neglected and ignored by this woman ('I am an animal trapped in your hot car' and 'I am all that you choose to ignore'). And yet he is asking her to stop denying the reality: that they must be together... they are all each other needs. Also, I've been wondering what the line 'I'm a flash flood running through your ground floor'. I think it represents the way he feels about her... a flood of emotions, of love. Maybe my interpretation sounds corny but this song is not at all like that. It is just about a human being who finally finds the right person and he realizes this and is asking her to do the same. At the end, Thom always ends the lines 'It's so wrong, it's alright' with 'it's alright'. Beautiful song. Probably my favourite out of all of Radiohead's new songs.

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RadioKoRn
10-30-2006

Rated +3 
Wow, the lyrics to this song are everchanging. The version I listen to seems to be a little different (and the most finished). Not to mention it's the clearest version I could find; almost as good as a recording. Listen for yourselves: http://myspace.com/3141592617. Here's the revision of the lyrics as I hear them, along with my interpretation of the song, line by line:

1.) I'm a next act
Waiting in the wings

2.) I'm animal
Trapped in your hot car

3.) I only stick with you
Because there are no others

4.) You're all I need (x2)
I'm in the middle of your picture
Lying in the leaves

5.) I am a moth
Who just wants to get out the night

6.) I'm an insect
Who wants to share your light

7.) I am all the things
That you choose to ignore

8.) You're all I need (x2)
I'm in the middle of your picture
Lying in the leaves

9.) It's all right (x4)

10.) It's all wrong
It's all right
It's all wrong
It's all right
It's all wrong
It's all right

In short, I think eatenbytheworms had it right that this love is one-sided. The song is about a lonely guy (or girl, but for generalization's sake i'll keep it masculine) in a friendship with a girl that he has come to love more than just a friend.

1.) This first line I'm not too sure about -- lyrically or interpretation-wise. But, I think he is comparing himself to a "next act waiting in the wings" as another way of saying that he has potential. Basically, he's waiting for his chance that he so desperately wants.

2.) Like an "animal trapped in a hot car" he's truly helpless and cannot live without her. He needs her just as badly as animal needs its owner to open the car door.

3.) Here's where the loneliness theme really shows. I believe when Thom sings this line, he sincerely means that there "are no others". A beautiful line that nicely accomodates the previous one about the trapped animal.

4.) He's content with just her in his life. I believe the picture is a metaphor for the girl's life, and the leaves signify other people in her life that she has just bunched together indifferently. But the guy is saying, "Hey, I'm right here ('in the middle of your picture'). I love you most and am ready do anything for you."

5.) This line further pushes the lonliness theme. If you know anything about moths, you know that they only mate at night. Meanwhile, butterflies mate during the day. Basically, he's saying that he's lonely ("in the night", the darkness) and wants to be with her.

6.) Samething here. He wants to share in her love.

7.) This takes me back to line 4 with the picture metaphor. He's been indifferently bunched together with everything and everyone else in her life. OR, his advances don't mean anything to her and she just ignores him. Same difference I guess.

8.) Read my line 4 interpretation please. :-)

9. and 10.) I believe this is the voice of someone who is being tortured by unrequited love. He's lonely but he has her. He's in her life at least and he should be content with that, right? ("It's all right") Wrong. He loves beyond friendship and he can't help what he feels ("It's all wrong"). He's in a dilemma and doesn't know what to do ("It's all right, it's all wrong").

It's possible I may have delved a little too deeply in this song. But this is what I got when I listened to it. =-/

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_ellie
01-16-2007

Rated 0 
If I die before the next album comes out,.. God, I hope I survive to this, produced, perfected.

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steinbeckthepearl
05-27-2007

Rated +1 
The gated-reverb sounding drums and slow-paced, purposeful vocals of Radiohead's live version is reminiscent of the tone heard on Peter Gabriel's excellent 3rd (un-named) album, 1980's "Melt" (specifically "Intruder"). Also, Thom's reiterative "It's all right, it's all wrong, it's all right," is reminiscent of Gabriel's world-weary, god-sounding voice 2/3rds through solo-Gabriel's honestly gorgeous "Humdrum" from his scatterbrained first solo album.

As we all know, Radiohead are quoted as "hating" progressive music, though the similarities, when they occur, are worth mentioning nonetheless - because I love both...

Please note that Thom's last line (in the live version at least) is "It's all right".... Despite his publicly admitted clinical depression (with which so many may relate), the man remains positive.

Let's learn!

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steinbeckthepearl
05-27-2007

Rated 0 
The gated-reverb sounding drums and slow-paced, purposeful vocals of Radiohead's live version is reminiscent of the tone heard on Peter Gabriel's excellent 3rd (un-named) album, 1980's "Melt" (specifically "Intruder"). Also, Thom's reiterative "It's all right, it's all wrong, it's all right," is reminiscent of Gabriel's world-weary, god-sounding voice 2/3rds through solo-Gabriel's honestly gorgeous "Humdrum" from his scatterbrained first solo album.

As we all know, Radiohead are quoted as "hating" progressive music, though the similarities, when they occur, are worth mentioning nonetheless - because I love both...

Please note that Thom's last line (in the live version at least) is "It's all right".... Despite his publicly admitted clinical depression (with which so many may relate), the man remains positive.

Let's learn!

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gandydancer
06-11-2007

Rated -1 
i think it's a love song, but i see it as a love song about being with your family/loved ones for a very long time, and the feeling that you are there in the relationship but you've somehow become sadly invisible to them or taken for granted by them due to time and familiarity. "we only stick with you because there are no others"

the line "i'm in the middle of a picture, lying in the leaves" also bears this interpretation out for me. he's been there forever, in that family picture, but they're all so used to one another that now, instead of being important to her, he's just lying in the leaves, very alone.

i really feel the song is about the desire to feel that initial craving and importance to/for the other person and not being reduced to feeling like being a dog trapped in a hot car, being an insect, wanting to share what they once had, etc. and the fact that even though you're being ignored, that person is still all you need.

at the greek theatre on 6.30.06 these lines were different from what is printed here: "WE only stick with you because there are no others"

"i am all the DAYS that you choose to ignore"

and possibly "i'm in the middle of YOUR picture"

but i've heard tons of other variants.

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forgotten412
07-29-2007

Rated 0 
"Also, I've been wondering what the line 'I'm a flash flood running through your ground floor'. I think it represents the way he feels about her... a flood of emotions, of love."

Yes. Something that the other person isn't perhaps expecting, something they 'choose to ignore.' Something that perhaps may be slightly destructive (to the other person) in its intensity? Definitely a one-sided thing.

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eatenbytheworms
08-06-2007

Rated 0 
I don't think the meaning of this song is very clear. I consider this one of the most challenging and interesting songs Thom Yorke has ever written.

There are a lot of possible meanings, but I think the main idea in the song is 'need' and not necessarily love. By the way, the line is not 'we only stick with you'. He's sung 'I only stick with you', 'you only stick with me' and 'we only stick like glue', which probably means he is addressing one person only. I think the fact that he's using 'only' rather than something else probably means the song is about not having a choice because both people in this relationship feel that no one else would want to be with them. It's not a very romantic line, in my opinion.

Also, the line is 'lying in the reeds', not 'leaves'. That's the name of a drawing that they posted in DAS. There was also an interesting drawing of three women with their faces obscured that was titled "All I Need". That could merely be Mr. Donwood's personal interpretation of the lyrics, but more likely is an indication that the song is about certain people's need to stay in a bad relationship, no matter what the cost, because of insecurity. That's just my opinion, though, and I know songs have a different meaning for everyone, and there is no right or wrong interpretation.

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mellodara
08-17-2007

Rated +1 
Perhaps it's about the eventual decay of romance most couples experience after years of marriage. It does sound like his love is one-sided, but I don't think it was always that way. The image of a picture in the leaves could mean that they used to be inseparable, but as time moved on, their love started to wither away.

It seems like he is still emotionally attached to her, yet she is pulling away. "I only stick with you because there are no others," "You are all I need," supports the idea that he truly loves this one woman in his life. For whatever reasons, she does not seem to love him anymore the way that he loves her. It's as if he is fighting with himself; trying to let her go so she can be happy, and eventually does with the lines, "It's all wrong. It's all right."

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lasthour
10-10-2007

Rated 0 
This song made me cry after not being able to cry for weeks now. I'm not sure what it was but it is incredibly beautiful. As is the rest of In Rainbows. Ugh, they're fucking Gods.

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BluestLight
10-10-2007

Rated 0 
This song is fucking fantastic. I got chills and nearly cried at the conclusion of this song. It's just perfect. Great lyrics as well.

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nicexdream
10-10-2007

Rated 0 
climax is amazing. so dark.

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Velfare4
10-12-2007

Rated 0 
I'm a next step waiting in the wind
I'm an animal trapped in your hot car
I am all the days you choose to ignore

You're all I need
You're all I need
I'm in the middle of your picture
Lying in the leaves

I am a moth who wants to share your light
I'm just an incect trying to get out of the night
You only stick with me
Because there are no others

You're all I need
You're all I need
I'm in the middle of your picture
Lying in the REEVS (not leaves the second time around)

He might be moaning 'It's all right, it's all, it's all right, it's all..." at the end, but I'm not sure.

Amazing song. One of my favorites off of the new album. Paints a very good image in my head. The parts about the picture makes me think that this person loves someone a lot but is unnoticable to them. He/She is always in the middle of the picture lying in the leaves/reevs, remaining in the background with the things most people usually don't pay too much attention to.

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Velfare4
10-12-2007

Rated 0 
I meant REEDS, haha. My fault.

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