Lyrics for Karma Police as interpreted by piesupreme

Karma Police Lyrics
Karma Police
Arrest this man
He talks in maths
He buzzes like a fridge
He's like a detuned radio

Karma Police
Arrest this girl
Her Hitler hairdo
Is making me feel ill
And we have crashed her party

This is what you'll get
This is what you'll get
This is what you'll get
When you mess with us

Karma Police
I've given all I can
It's not enough
I've given all I can
But we're still on the payroll

This is what you'll get
This is what you'll get
This is what you'll get
When you mess with us

For a minute there
I lost myself
I lost myself

Phew, for a minute there
I lost myself
I lost myself

For a minute there
I lost myself
I lost myself

Phew, for a minute there
I lost myself
I lost myself

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pdm
04-25-2003

Rated 0 
THE song about Herr Dubya Shrub's fascist, imperialistic, warmongering system. "This is what you get when you mess with us" is a perfect summary of Homeland Security....

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BeautifulSound
04-30-2003

Rated 0 
8Penis Penis Penis)

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BeautifulSound
04-30-2003

Rated 0 
I agree with beautiful sound a few entries above! Penises are NOT for sailing boats with, they are for the sailors themselves!

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huebert
05-03-2003

Rated 0 
I'm too lazy to see if someone else mentioned this, but I have an opinion of what the song means.

Karma is supposed to be a sort of payback for your actions.. maybe this is a song about the "what goes around comes around" saying. Except, there are no solid rules for karma, and you will be punished if the rest of society doesn't agree with you.

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hi its i
05-06-2003

Rated 0 
radio head rocks big socks

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BeautifulSound
05-06-2003

Rated 0 
Yeah, beautiful sound is a genius. I wish he was MY karma police, (as in he would penis me until the night drew blue)

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losrivas
05-07-2003

Rated 0 
OK Computer is like waking up early on a sunday morning. The smell of not-quite-dusk in the air, you wipe the morning from your eyes, start the car, and turn the radio up. You and your machine hit the street, and it's too fucking early to think about anything, you just know that you've got to start south, because even though she doesn't know it, she's waiting for you. The sky, the road, your head, it's all a hazy grey as the sun takes its time. Wouldn't it be nice if you could drive so fast that the sun never came up? And as you glide by, the hills remind you of the night before, the shit you pulled, and it almost makes you sick. This is gonna be a long drive. Thank God.

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Wopr
06-06-2003

Rated 0 
I think that this song and OK Computer in general allude to George Orwell's '1984'.

Winston:
Karma Police
Arrest this man
He talks in maths
He buzzes like a fridge
He's like a detuned radio

Karma Police
Arrest this girl
Her hitler hairdo
Is making me feel ill
And we have crashed her party

The Karma Police would equal Oceania's thought police. Then there is the fitter, happier song on the CD which is influenced by some paragraph in 1984 where the party says Oceania's citizens are fitter, stronger, healthier etc.

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the_anti_pat
06-07-2003

Rated 0 
My understanding is that it is loosely based on 1984 (thought police) aswell as the CIA; the payroll reference makes me think of the Bin Laden CIA thing where he was said to be on the CIA payroll still due to CIA policy. Thus I think it's meant to be first person point of view of a CIA agent realising the nature of his position and wanting to get away from it but he's still on the payroll. He then accepts his fate 'for i minute there i lost myself...' is him returning to his CIA role. I hope that makes sense.

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glidemypretties
06-07-2003

Rated 0 
to me the

He talks in maths
He buzzes like a fridge
He's like a detuned radio

bit always reminds me of all these people using "in" slang..thinking they're something special/different...."he talks in maths" when in fact they're just talking bol*ocks...like a detuned radio.

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glidemypretties
06-07-2003

Rated 0 
to me the

He talks in maths
He buzzes like a fridge
He's like a detuned radio

bit always reminds me of all these people using "in" slang..thinking they're something special/different...."he talks in maths" when in fact they're just talking bol*ocks...like a detuned radio.

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*FelipeVox*
06-08-2003

Rated 0 
This song is oubviously about hating some kind of people. Itīs also about being envious.
Some people make you "feel ill" if theyīre so proud or even better than you.

Yorke prays to the Karma Police (the destiny, fate, or even, death) to arrest some people who are making him feel ill. "May these people go away of my life... Karma Police, arrest them... got them..." thatīs what he thinks.

In the end of the song he realizes that itīs not a good feeling... That he is out of control. So he says he lost himself... for a minute... when he wanted that those people be arrested by the karma... by the destiny... "May destiny do back the things this people did to me in return"....

thatīs the meaning of the song, for me

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mechassassin1
06-10-2003

Rated 0 
OK, you are almost all wrong for the most part. Firstly, this is an amzng song. Secondly, it IS about 1984, in fact, most of OK Computer is...It' s written from one person in Big Brother's party about another. Thats why theres hate...Jimmeny

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Max_Wayne
06-12-2003

Rated 0 
Well, a lot of crazed confusion here. Yes, a lot of Radiohead lyrics and phrases are inspired by Orwell's 1984. But that doesn't tell the whole story here.

The concept of 'karma police' implies that the governing of karmic justice is in some way enforced, rather than a vague concept of retribution.

The theme of the song isn't anger, it's the age old 'what comes around, goes around'.

The lyric 'we're still on the payroll', for me, seems to imply the actual target of the karmic come-uppance is the singer himself. Possibly relating to the idea that he's giving of himself as much as he can in order to balance out the millions upon millions of pounds he's solicited from an unsuspecting public, incapable of defending themselves from his seeming god-given musicak abilities.

Or maybe that's stretching the analogy to far.

Also, the idea of 'I've given all I can' being a suggestion of attempting to 'bribe' the karma police appeals to me.

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thirdgradedropout
06-12-2003

Rated 0 
i thin it means that if you do wrong, it will come back on you. like thom said "don't let the karma police catch you", i love this song though, i always have.

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the_anti_pat
06-21-2003

Rated 0 
The song reminds me of the family that live in the next apartment to Winston in 1984...because the children in the family represent the talking in maths as not many adult take maths. That brings me to the point:-
"Arrest this man
He talks in maths"
emplies an adult, why would an adult take maths as that is something you would do at school, even saying university would be a stretch.

I liked Max_Wayne's comment on it...not becasue it was acurate so much asfantasticlly in-depth! Maybe Radiohead should be linked to this site so Yorke can offer an explination which will be put down as totally wrong.

Also I think Radiohead should be credited for more than just pladurising 1984 as there is a differnce between karma police and thought police! It's similar but not synonomous.

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edpappas
06-25-2003

Rated 0 
I think Max Wayne was on the right track...
"The concept of 'karma police' implies that the governing of karmic justice is in some way enforced, rather than a vague concept of retribution."
BUT, I think this was meant to be ironic, that somehow the Karma Police are a figment of Thom's imagination, or, even further, the personification of Thom's own sense of right and wrong/his consience/his sense of guilt. C'mon, there is no police force out there enforcing moral right and wrong, but there is a little voice in side (most of) us that keeps us from doing bad things and punishes us by making us feel bad for doing things we know are wrong.

Also, someone else mentioned that Thom, in an interview, said modern alternative rock "buzzes like a fridge" and that alternative radio station in the US (and their music) cater to the sponsors rather than the listeners. I heard this too and I think Thom thinks that this is a serious injustice, as it is all about $$$, not expression and making music for the listeners as it should be...
So, put these two together...
I think this song is about Radiohead coming into mainstream popularity and joining the ranks of other 'alternative' pop stars..."we have crashed their party". Thom believes the Karma police should get these other 'alternative' pop stars (people who buzz like a fridge, as well as the style-nazis with 'Hitler hairdo's, which also make up a huge part of the music/recording industry.) So, he's attacking materialism, pretty much. Ironically, tho, like I said above, there is no Karma police to arrest these people. The Karma Police are only in Thom's head, kind of like a consience, keeping him from becoming like the other pop stars....
Answering to his karma Police, Thom says "Ive given all I can" not to turn into these materialistic pop stars...but..."its not enough"...He admits that he's still on the payroll and not really pure of exactly what he is condemning.

And..."For a minute there, I lost myself"...I think is when Thom realizes that the karma Police are all in his head and that although he doesnt like these people, he's just being really judgemental and somewhat psycho...

...Just my interpretation....The great thing about Radiohead's lyrics is that they are vague enough to have million equally valid interpretations and that they make you think....

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egb
07-06-2003

Rated 0 
Does anyone have this beat? I've seen these guys on 5 or 6 seperate occasions.

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wedanceinmisery
07-06-2003

Rated 0 
what a lovely song

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WinterOnyx
04-17-2004

Rated 0 
Good Christ! You people are nuts! LOL, BTW... edpappas does have an interesting POV.

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Acolyte
04-28-2004

Rated 0 
When I heard this song I thought it was ironic: Thom is criticising people who are overly judgemental by parodying them. It's something about the way he sings it, and the 'we have crashed her party' line suggests hypocrisy to me. Mind you I think this is a fairly light-hearted song, as people have said it's based on 'watch out or the Karma Police will get you'.

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oidimed
04-30-2004

Rated 0 
BEST VIDEO EVER!

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MJWhit518
05-02-2004

Rated 0 
The concept behind this tune is really interesting. This is definitely Radiohead's finest moment and is a good example of experimentation going perfect. "Phew for a minute there, I lost myself..." What a great outro this song has. Definitely one of my favorites. Fun as hell to play on guitar too.

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rudexgirl
05-16-2004

Rated 0 
I think it's basically about people that do bad things usually end up paying the consequences.

and i agree with Mjwhit518... it IS fun to play this song on the guitar.

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Funk020987
06-07-2004

Rated 0 
Basically it's about the tendency of society to persecute whatever we don't understand or agree with. "I've given all i can but We're still on the payroll" means he is a part of that ignorant society whether he likes it or not.

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