I remember when I first really figured out this song, something clicked for me about my whole understanding of music in general. There's a lot of symbolism in the music alone...almost like classical program music.
I bought the book, "Back to Save the Universe" which basically disects every Radiohead album up to Hail to the Theif. I legit recommend it. But hey...I aint advertising here.
So yeah...this interpretaion is kind of based off that book. Supposedly Thom Yorke once said in an interview: "Sentimentality is being emotional for the sake of it. We're bombarded with sentimentality, people emoting. That's the let down. You end up feeling every emotion is fake, or rather every emotion is on the same plane, whether it's a car advert or a pop song."
This feeling of monotony is clearly reflected in the Ed's riff...the constant repeating of the same notes. In fact, that whole entire phrase doesn't really change throughout the entire song. The chorus and verses are practically the same. Thom's vocals are also quite monotonous too.
Thom has said, too that the whole listing of different modes of transportation is a process of "purging" excess emotion. It's almost as if througout the entire song, he's revving up for the finale.
And then there's the fantastical climax at the end, with the round of Thom's voices taking flight, "One day I am going to grow wings, a chemical reaction." This, to me, symbolizes how Thom has broken free of that "emotional plane" (both lyrically and musically) OoOo…it really hits you in the gut, right? It’s all quite uplifting.
Finally, at the end of the song, you hear a sort of electronic midi sound that trys to mimic the interplay of Johnny and Ed (which is nearly impossible, because like someone mentioned before, they play in different time signatures). This is interesting…perhaps it’s a sort of musical/poetic metaphor of man’s power over machine? I dunno…I’d love to hear other people’s opinions about this one.
I remember when I first really figured out this song, something clicked for me about my whole understanding of music in general. There's a lot of symbolism in the music alone...almost like classical program music.
I bought the book, "Back to Save the Universe" which basically disects every Radiohead album up to Hail to the Theif. I legit recommend it. But hey...I aint advertising here.
So yeah...this interpretaion is kind of based off that book. Supposedly Thom Yorke once said in an interview: "Sentimentality is being emotional for the sake of it. We're bombarded with sentimentality, people emoting. That's the let down. You end up feeling every emotion is fake, or rather every emotion is on the same plane, whether it's a car advert or a pop song."
This feeling of monotony is clearly reflected in the Ed's riff...the constant repeating of the same notes. In fact, that whole entire phrase doesn't really change throughout the entire song. The chorus and verses are practically the same. Thom's vocals are also quite monotonous too.
Thom has said, too that the whole listing of different modes of transportation is a process of "purging" excess emotion. It's almost as if througout the entire song, he's revving up for the finale.
And then there's the fantastical climax at the end, with the round of Thom's voices taking flight, "One day I am going to grow wings, a chemical reaction." This, to me, symbolizes how Thom has broken free of that "emotional plane" (both lyrically and musically) OoOo…it really hits you in the gut, right? It’s all quite uplifting.
Finally, at the end of the song, you hear a sort of electronic midi sound that trys to mimic the interplay of Johnny and Ed (which is nearly impossible, because like someone mentioned before, they play in different time signatures). This is interesting…perhaps it’s a sort of musical/poetic metaphor of man’s power over machine? I dunno…I’d love to hear other people’s opinions about this one.