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Those who are dead, are not dead
They're just living in my head
And since I fell for that spell
I am living there as well
Oh,
Time is so short and I'm sure
There must be something more
Those who are dead, are not dead
They're just living in my head, oh
And since I fell for that spell
I am living there as well, oh
Time is so short and I'm sure
There must be something more.
You thought you might be a ghost
You thought you might be a ghost
You didn't get to heaven but you made it close
You didn't get to heaven but you made it close
You thought you might be a ghost
You thought you might be a ghost
You didn't get to heaven but you made it close
You didn't get to heaven but you oh, oh,
Oh, oh,
Those who are dead are not dead
They're just living in my head
Oh
They're just living in my head
And since I fell for that spell
I am living there as well
Oh,
Time is so short and I'm sure
There must be something more
Those who are dead, are not dead
They're just living in my head, oh
And since I fell for that spell
I am living there as well, oh
Time is so short and I'm sure
There must be something more.
You thought you might be a ghost
You thought you might be a ghost
You didn't get to heaven but you made it close
You didn't get to heaven but you made it close
You thought you might be a ghost
You thought you might be a ghost
You didn't get to heaven but you made it close
You didn't get to heaven but you oh, oh,
Oh, oh,
Those who are dead are not dead
They're just living in my head
Oh
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42 in japanese means death.
"Those who are dead, are not dead. They're just living in my head." "The dead" is meant to symbolize lost memories, hopes, loved ones, etc. Even though they seem dead they're still alive inside his mind because he can't let them go.
"Since I fell for that spell I am living there as well." To me the spell= depression or whatever led to the depression. It's causing him to live in his head because he doesn't want to face reality.
"Time is so short and I'm sure there must be something more." He knows there's more to life than what he's lost, but he just can't seem to find it.
"You thought you might be a ghost. You didn't get to heaven but you made it close." The music starts to sounds upbeat and the narration POV seems to change from him talking to someone else to either someone talking to him or him talking to himself. I think this new voice is supposed to be positive.
"You thought you might be a ghost." He felt dead inside and started to forget he was even actually alive.
"You didn't get to heaven but you made it close." He didn't quite get where he wanted in life, but he did at least make it close and had the chance to feel happiness because of that which is something to be thankful for.
Ready for this one?!
I believe the song is simply an "ATHEIST'S PERSPECTIVE OF A THEIST":
THOSE WHO ARE DEAD ARE NOT DEAD
THEY'RE JUST LIVING IN MY HEAD
The opening here is in 1st person and represents a believer's experience as they lose loved ones to death. "My wife may be gone, but I KNOW her spirit lives on in my head and heart!"
AND SINCE I FELL FOR THAT SPELL
I AM LIVING THERE AS WELL
And since I take this position and believe this very fantastical thing to be true, I am in a way "committing" to this position and am officially a believer in God and believe that I will one day see and be with my loved ones in heaven. So I go through life with this hope!
TIME IS SO SHORT AND I'M SURE
THERE MUST BE SOMETHING MORE
"I mean, how could it be possible that we live 60, 70, 80 years...maybe much less than that...and all of a sudden it's over. There must be a God. I'm going to believe all my life!"
[MUSIC INTERLUDE]
Represents ACTUAL life flying by and the "reality" being revealed at the end of life.
YOU THOUGHT YOU MIGHT BE A GHOST
YOU THOUGHT YOU MIGHT BE A GHOST
The voice is a now that of a 2nd person observer, speaking out the actual nature of things to the original subject who finally faces the end of his/her own life. "You thought you might have a spirit, but were wrong." He/she stands there in nothing but darkness. There is nothing. No God.
YOU DIDN'T GET TO HEAVEN BUT YOU MADE IT CLOSE
YOU DIDN'T GET TO HEAVEN BUT YOU MADE IT CLOSE
It's as if he is saying, "Ohhhh...sorry. After all that hoping, there is no God. Must feel awful for you. Well hey, think of it this way. If there was a God, you would have walked right on into heaven. You did everything right. It's just, there IS no God to reward you. Sorry."
How 'bout that interpretation? Listen to the song again and think about it.
I believe the song is simply an "ATHEIST'S PERSPECTIVE OF A THEIST":
Those who are dead are not dead
They're just living in my head
The opening here is in 1st person and represents a believer's experience as they lose loved ones to death. "My wife may be gone, but I KNOW her spirit lives on in my head and heart!"
And since I fell for that spell
I am living there as well
And since I take this position and believe this very fantastical thing to be true, I am in a way "committing" to this position and am officially a believer in God and believe that I will one day see and be with my loved ones in heaven. So I go through life with this hope!
[music interlude]
Represents ACTUAL life flying by and the "reality" being revealed at the end of life.
You thought you might be a ghost
You thought you might be a ghost
The voice is a now that of a 2nd person observer, speaking out the actual nature of things to the original subject who finally faces the end of his/her own life. "You thought you might have a spirit, but were wrong." He/she stands there in nothing but darkness. There is nothing. No God.
You didn't get to heaven but you made it close
You didn't get to heaven but you made it close
It's as if he is saying, "Ohhhh...sorry. After all that hoping, there is no God. Must feel awful for you. Well hey, think of it this way. If there was a God, you would have walked right on into heaven. You did everything right. It's just, there IS no God to reward you. Sorry."
How 'bout that interpretation? Listen to the song again and think about it.
Chris Martin (from The Sun newspaper May 13, 2008): "It's our attempt at a Radiohead song. No, it's our 97th attempt at a Radiohead song, but the first one that's worked."
I wasn't sure what to think of this song at first because I couldn't quite figure it out. But given what appears to be the theme of a lot of the songs on this album--war and whatnot--I thought it might have some connection to that. So...
"Those who are dead are not dead
They're just living in my head"
The general idea of this part is obvious. People have died, but they live on in someone else's memories. But when I tried to apply this to a battle/war/what-have-you context, I thought that maybe it might be a soldier that saw his comrades die in battle. The tone sounds kindof sorrowful, but also almost kindof in shock...
"And since I fell for that spell
I am living there as well"
...so he's a little out of it; he's stuck in his thoughts and can't stop thinking about their deaths.
"Time is so short and I'm sure
There must be something more"
Trying to think of what else there is to life. This is something you'll definitely think about after a loved one dies--time is short.
"You thought you might be a ghost
You didn't get to heaven but you made it close"
This part confused me a lot when I first heard it. At first I was thinking it was referring to purgatory or something along those lines, but I wasn't sure if I was right. When I was discussing it with my sister, she suggested that maybe the narrator had a near-death experience. Going by what I interpreted from the song thus far, my idea was this--the soldier sees his friends die in battle and realizes that he just narrowly escaped death. The tone of the song changes here--it's a bit more frantic and whatnot. I was thinking it was something like survivor's guilt--"My friends just died but I'm still alive! I just narrowly escaped death, but why me?! I should have died instead of them! They should have been the ones to survive!"
Then it goes back to a slower pace, repeating the first two lines... he calms down and goes back to reflecting on his friends.
Could be totally off in my interpretation, like I said, but that's how I saw it. :P