You are the sun the moon and stars
Are you...and I could never run away from you

You try at working out chaotic things
And why should I believe myself? Not you

It's like the world is gonna end so soon
And why should I believe myself?

Yeah...

You, me, and everything
Caught in the fire
I can see you drowning
Caught in the fire [Repeat: x 2]



Lyrics submitted by piesupreme

Track duration: 03:11

"You" as written by Thomas Edward/o'brien Yorke

Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.

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34 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:The lyrics of this song are deceptively simple. I think Thom is singing from the POV of someone who has been an atheist or agnostic, an unbeliever who's skeptical of God's existence.

    Then he realises that the end of the world might be closer than he thinks - as prophesied in the Bible's book of Revelation, where the world is consumed by fire.

    Thus, the singer perceives his own mortality and all that it entails, and starts to question his own judgement/belief system ie: "I might be wrong" ;)
    Flag Lantaon June 12, 2010   Link
  • +1
    Song Meaning:I think the song is written about the ee cummings poem 'Dive for Dreams'. There's a lot of overlap between the lyrics and the poem, namely the 'sun, moon, stars' metaphors. You can check the poem out at fandelem.com/….
    I think they're both speaking about losing yourself in love, or to the person you love. "Why should I believe myself, not you?" - because you know me better than I know myself, and subsequently, eec: "losing through you what seemed myself,i find selves unimaginably mine". Radiohead's 'drowning in the fire' is a reference to eec's "trust your heart if the seas catch fire". The poem talks about welcoming the future and dancing death away at your wedding...basically, the end's going to come, but right now I'm caught up in this love and I couldn't care about anything else. Nothing is forever, but right now it's great. So love now, while you can and when the end comes - bring it on. The song takes a more negative look at this, comparing getting so caught up in this love to 'drowning' in it. And lastly, Radiohead's 'you are the sun and moon and stars' is taken from eec's '--you are my sun,my moon,and all my stars'. That speaks for itself. This person has become absolutely everything to them.
    That's my take on the two, anyway. I don't find either of them to be creepy, though the song has a much sadder tone than the poem.
    Flag CatMillenon March 22, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:i think that this song is about goverment and the gods behind the names.Noone can deny and runaway from the law the rules and the modus vivere that we use to live.we should believe whatever they want us to believe and rather doubt about our mentally condition than not believing in them!the world is going to end so soon-its a fact that the life is short and we are all going to die so we can just believe in what they want us to believe and live reconciled in the mode in order to avoid the troubles and the hard life by dissordering..

    You are the sun and moon and stars, are you
    And I could never run away from you

    You try at working out chaotic things
    And why should I believe myself, not you?

    It's like the world is going to end so soon
    And why should I believe myself?

    You, me and everything caught in the fire
    I can see me drowning, caught in the fire

    Flag anmazahaon December 27, 2009   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:i think its about anything that you get wrapped up in, something that controlls you. i think that interpreting this song as being about a relationship is to specific. it could be about anything that's good at first and doesent end well. drug addiction, relationship, etc...
    Flag zpnx99on August 11, 2009   Link
  • +1
    My Interpretation:I don't know how you guys can tie this with a girl. A girl would hardly be working on chaotic things in a love song. This song is about Stephen Hawking whom Thom Yorke was obsessed with maybe due to the fact that he has a physical problem too. Stephen Hawking is the sun, moon and the stars. He works on chaotic things. And he preaches that the world is going to end soon. In this song, Thom mocks the authority that Hawking tries to gain by his theories.
    Flag DreamKingyon April 23, 2009   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:the live versions of this song are soo great, it's incredibly underrated because everyone seems to hate Pablo Honey by default (why??).. youtube.com/…

    there's also an acoustic version that is so so beautiful youtube.com/…

    and yeah, I'd say it's about obsession and blind faith, and how it's driven by fear
    Flag l3naon March 16, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:i am going through this right now , actually
    it's basically about how one person is so obsessed with someone that they can't get them off of their mind

    he is saying that he is drowning in his own dark thoughts and he knows it , so he wants to believe what she's saying because she can handle her feelings for him

    i think there is conflict , and maybe thats what the 'fire' is about

    to me , the fire represents my friend but meh
    Flag farnoushon January 22, 2009   Link
  • +1
    My Interpretation:i think this song refers to people following others blindly. people are sheep in general and im many cases believe whatever someone they look up to says unconditionally... "why should i believe myself not you"... "its like the world is gonna end so soon and why should i believe myself"
    Flag zpnx99on December 06, 2008   Link
  • -1
    General Comment:I think singing bout a boy fallen in love with a girl.
    (First stanza)
    Then the girl starts to act weird, i don't know exatctly what that means
    (compare: stanza two, working out chaotic things)

    Well, in one version of this song he definetly sings in stanza 3 "You say the world is going to end so soon" i think that indicates that she is breaking up with him, which leads us to the end
    "You and me in fire" (not the exactly text): the "burning" love and at least
    "I can see me drowning, caught in fire" which means that he is drowning because of his pain, still caught in the fire (of love).

    ...or the thing with stanza 3 could be a failure because of a live version *g*
    Flag x3n0non August 25, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I think "Kavras" [last post of page 1] has something.

    The song, to me, can be looked at like a "Infatuation with a woman" or "Infatuation with God".

    Maybe the woman is unattainable, and everything she does sets the world ablaze to the narrator.

    Maybe god, who the narrator loves so much forsakes him and sets the world on fire.

    "Why should I believe myself" [If god doesn't believe in me?]


    The last stanza -

    "...caught in the fire, I can see you drowning, caught in the fire."

    This is where god ? could be looking down "drowning in flames".

    Or maybe this is where the narrator looks at his life, and how he can't get what he wants from this unreachable girl, and feels his world is hell.

    Thanks for reading.
    -KB
    Flag Turismo417on July 23, 2008   Link

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