Know something about this song or lyrics?
Add it to our wiki.
Please could you stop the noise,
I'm trying to get some rest
From all the unborn chicken voices in my head
What's that?
What's that?
When I am king, you will be first against the wall
With your opinion which is of no consequence at all
What's that?
What's that?
Ambition makes you look pretty ugly
Kicking and squealing Gucci little piggy
You don't remember
You don't remember
Why don't you remember my name?
Off with his head, man
Off with his head, man
Why don't you remember my name?
I guess he does
Rain down, rain down
Come on rain down on me
From a great height
From a great height, height
Rain down, rain down
Come on rain down on me
From a great height
From a great height, height,
Rain down, rain down
Come on rain down on me
That's it, sir
You're leaving
The crackle of pigskin
The dust and the screaming
The yuppies networking
The panic, the vomit
The panic, the vomit
God loves his children,
God loves his children, yeah!
I'm trying to get some rest
From all the unborn chicken voices in my head
What's that?
What's that?
When I am king, you will be first against the wall
With your opinion which is of no consequence at all
What's that?
What's that?
Ambition makes you look pretty ugly
Kicking and squealing Gucci little piggy
You don't remember
You don't remember
Why don't you remember my name?
Off with his head, man
Off with his head, man
Why don't you remember my name?
I guess he does
Rain down, rain down
Come on rain down on me
From a great height
From a great height, height
Rain down, rain down
Come on rain down on me
From a great height
From a great height, height,
Rain down, rain down
Come on rain down on me
That's it, sir
You're leaving
The crackle of pigskin
The dust and the screaming
The yuppies networking
The panic, the vomit
The panic, the vomit
God loves his children,
God loves his children, yeah!
Lyrics submitted by piesupreme, edited by Yazardshir
Track duration: 06:24
"Paranoid Android" as written by Thomas Yorke, Edward John O'brien, Colin Charles Greenwood, Jonathan Richard Guy Greenwood, Philip Selway
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More specifically, though, it is about an evening Thom Yorke spent in a bar, were a woman when crazy when someone spilled a drink over her.
The "God Loves His Children" of the end is obviously bitter sarcasm on Thom Yorke's part.
it is a desperate prayer by a desperate man. how this section is structured and sung also provides meaning. the choral background vocals are to give the feeling or represent munk/religious choir vocals, and thom yorke wails the lyrics, almost as though he's crying or on the verge of breaking down.
it is the emotional climax of the song; the narrator is desperate and making a plea to a god that doesn't appear to be real. the final lyric "god loves his children, yeah" is sung with a very sarcastic/biting tone, alluding to the disenchanted and skeptical nature of the narrator.
i believe the "rain down" section is one of the best pieces of music ever recorded.
The next act is him mocking the bullies with their gucci clothes, their lack of ambition, and their lack of remembering his name, possibly creating another side to the story, that maybe their crime was ignoring him, not bullying him.
The next act is the most abstract in my view. The paranoid android keeps saying "rain down from a great height" possibly the revenge of the "bully" raining down on him, or the fact that rain often shorts out android processors, causing him to think less clearly. The final verse of the song is the most abstract. He says:
"That's it, sir
You're leaving
The crackle of pigskin
The dust and the screaming"
This is all the bully being killed, in my opinion. Pigskin football. Dust and screaming.
"The yuppies networking
The panic, the vomit
The panic, the vomit"
The yuppies networking could be a reference to robotic networking, or the networked nature of the world. Perhaps he was cyber bullied? Or he mocks the jocks for not having real world interactions, and instead, networking socially online.
"God loves his children,
God loves his children, yeah!"
This could be interpreted several ways. Either he is asking god to forgive him, taunting the bullies with the notion of god since they've done horrible things to him (ironic, seeing as he also did horrible things to them), or just stating that god will love him even though he exacted revenge.
Great song, and the meaning is up for interpretation.
"When I am king you will be first against the wall, and your opinion which is of no consequence at all." this is self explanatory. thom has actually explained that this was in reference to the "gucci little piggy" / demon lady he witnessed explode on another person at a bar. thom said it was HIS opinion which was of no consequence at all. obviously, this is meant to be ironic, but can be taken in a literal sense as directed toward an authority figure or someone that the narrator feels has wronged him in the past.
"I may be paranoid, but not an android" the narrator may be paranoid, but he's still human. society has the tendency to turn people into automatons (or robots, or "androids"). the narrator is holding onto his humanity despite society's tendency to dehumanize individuals.
the middle section is based around an experience thom had at a bar. not going to bother explaining this.
the last section, with its beautiful harmonies and choral arrangements, is the narrators desperate plea to god to rain down his glory upon him and release him from the insanity he finds himself in. it is a desperate man's plea to god. i find this to be one of the most moving pieces of music ever made. it's brought me to tears many times. "rain down, come on rain down me from a great height" was originally "rain down, come on rain down on me, hallelujah"
the final verse is somewhat ambiguous, but the ending lyric of "god loves his children" is sung in a way that implies irony and sarcasm. during the "rain down" section, the narrator breaks down and is pleading with god. the final verse "that's it sir..." which ends with "god loves his children" is meant to sum up the entirety of the song, with an ultimately nihilistic message that there is no god.
with your opinion which is of no consequence at all "
this phrase is coming from hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy, like song's name.
you probably know that song's name is coming from Marvin The Paranoid Android, who is a character in this book. in story, Marvin (paranoid android) is the first robot that is created by a Sirius Cybernetics Corporation. And marvin hates this Corporation, because they created him.
And; in Guide, this Corporation is defined as "a bunch of mindless jerks who'll be the first against the wall when the revolution comes".
so, in my opininon, thom yorke speaks to God when he says "when i am king you will be first against the wall, with your opinion which is of no consequence at all".
thanks.
"Please could you stop the noise,
I'm trying to get some rest
From all the unborn chicken voices in my head"
He is sad and also aginst the opposition ideas ( Socialism/Communism ) because that isnt what he want and what he thinks that world need :
"When I am king, you will be first against the wall
With your opinion which is of no consequence at all"
With many basic questions :
"What's that?
What's that?"
This is where he become mad and starts to destroy everything and fights against everyone also his own thought and believes cause he thinks he is nothing :
"Ambition makes you look pretty ugly
Kicking and squealing Gucci little piggy
You don't remember
You don't remember
Why don't you remember my name?
Off with his head, man
Off with his head, man
Why don't you remember my name?
I guess he does"
And he harbors to something that he hasnt any control on it , maybe it works :
"Rain down, rain down
Come on rain down on me
From a great height
From a great height, height
Rain down, rain down
Come on rain down on me
From a great height
From a great height, height,
Rain down, rain down
Come on rain down on me"
The last part is very depressing to me , maybe he is talking with the guy in the first part that you failed also ( Soviet Union and East Germany change in 90s ) or he is talking with himself or ... :
"That's it, sir
You're leaving
The crackle of pigskin
The dust and the screaming
The yuppies networking
The panic, the vomit
The panic, the vomit
God loves his children,
God loves his children, yeah!"
Using of piggy and pigskin ( character of orwell's animal farm ) guide me to this feeling , maybe I'm wrong and thinking too much but just want to say my Interpretation , sorry
The rest of the song, "Rain down on me" and the ending verse, picturesque (for a dystopian landscape) narrative, I'm not too sure on. I take them as catharsis. In the context of our sleeping/dreaming protagonist, perhaps the "rain down" is what it feels like to face all his fears, internal and external, to face the world, etc. The last verse might be what he sees when he looks around society, the final line "God loves his children!", the ironic ad-like final comment which contradicts all the protagonist sees. Radiohead used extensive adbuster-like artwork in the packaging of this album and this last line really fits in with the vibe, if not defining it.
It may not be a girl, but it's clear that the dream consists of someone (whom he presently loathes in reality) getting executed under his ruling command.
Sorry for the confusing wording (I can't edit my OG post!).
Sometimes paranoia's just having all the facts -'William S. Burroughs'
total paranoia is total awareness -'Charles Manson'
Paranoia....Awareness....'Actual' Humans, love, peace and ya know....humanity in general. :D