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Pyramid Song Maxi Single

Go here for Knives Out

The Pyramid Song 'CD-Maxi' went on sale in Japan on 16th May 2001, and includes the following tracks

01.　PYRAMID SONG
02.　FAST TRACK
03.　THE AMAZING SOUNDS OF ORGY
04.　TRANS-ATLANTIC DRAWL
05.　KINETIC

Scan of front and back

pyramid song

Oh….

I jumped into the river and what did I see?

black-eyed angels swam with me

a moon full of stars and astral cars

and all the figures that I used to see

all my lovers were there with me

all my pasts and futures

and we all went to heaven in a little row boat

there was nothing to fear

and nothing to doubt

there was nothing to fear

and nothing to doubt

Oh……

I jumped into the river

black-eyed angels swam with me

a moon  full of stars and astral cars

and all the figures I used to see

all my lovers were there with me

all my pasts and futures

and we all went to heaven in a little row boat

there was nothing to fear

and nothing to doubt

there was nothing to fear

and nothing to doubt

there was nothing to fear

and nothing to doubt

Once introduced with the words “3 chords on the piano”.. In London at Meltdown this song was dedicated to Scott Walker (the force behind the Meltdown event, and whose music is heard on the 'Meeting People is Easy' video). It seems to be saying that we shouldn't fear death, though the overall meaning is ambiguous. In London, on 24th September, Thom described it as a "good vibes song". It includes another appearance of angels, one in a long series:

“Way up above, angels hover” – Original version of Subterranean Homesick Alien (Thom and Jonny on QCRW). This was subsequently changed to 'aliens hover'.

 “ I call up my friend the good angel. But she’s out there with her ansaphone. She says that she’d like to come help but, the sea would electrocute us all.” – Nice Dream

 “If you’re frightened of dying, and then you’re holding on, you see devils tearing your life away. But if you’ve made your peace, then the devils are really angels, freeing you from the earth.” Soundbite from the movie “Jacob’s Ladder” used in ‘Rabbit in your Headlights’ (Thom Yorke and U.N.K.L.E.)

“Beautiful angel, pulled apart at birth” – Motion Picture Soundtrack (original final verse, removed in the final version on Kid A).

…and of course the angel scene in the paranoid android video

The opening lines echo the old spiritual 'Swing Low Sweet Chariot', which begins:

I looked over Jordan, and what did I see?

Coming for to carry me home? 

A band of angels coming after me

This line has appeared in various forms in a number of songs, often changed to 'I looked in the mirror, and what did I see?'

The line 'we all went to heaven in a little rowboat' has a long history in contemporary music, including Tom Waits 'Clap Hands' (from the album Rain Dogs); Momus, 'Good Morning, World' (from the album 20 Vodka Jellies); and originally began as a children's clapping or skipping song:

Three, six, nine, the goose drank wine

The monkey chewed tobacco on the streetcar line

The line broke, the monkey got choked

And they all went to heaven in a little rowboat

This song used to be called 'Nothing To Fear', then was later changed to 'Egyptian Song', before receiving its current name. Thom has commented that he was reading books about pyramids around the time the song was being written.

Pyramid Song was played throughout the 2000 tour, and a finished (though poor quality) version was leaked at the Sundance Film Festival, revealing Jonny's mastery with string arrangements. This is Jonny's favourite song on the album : "Pyramid Song is probably our best ever - not that I'm so cocky as to think we're that great or anything - just relieved it's out (kind of) and we recorded it well enough."

Pyramid Song is filled with images from Dante's Divine Comedy, making it a kind of sister song to In Limbo on the previous album. Here are some possible allusions.

I jumped into the river

The pilgrim in The Divine Comedy has to cross several rivers in his journey through hell and purgatory. In some cases he travels by boat, but he is obliged to ford the Phlegethon (a river blood in the Inferno). In Purgatorio he crosses the Lethe with his beloved Beatrice. Incidentally, the waters of the Lethe make us forget our past lives, a possible link with the title of the album.

black-eyed angels

The Inferno is peopled by, among others, the angels who sided with Lucifer, and were cast out of Heaven by God. These are sometimes referred to as 'black angels'.

a moon full of stars and astral cars

The last line of the Inferno is 'and we came out once more to see the stars'. Another (rhymed, and therefore less accurate) translation ends, "The beauteous shining of the heavenly cars. And I walked out more beneath the stars."  The third book of The Divine Comedy, Paradiso, is filled with references to heavenly bodies.

all the figures I used to see

On his journeys thorough Hell, Purgatory and Heaven, the pilgrim Dante meets countless famous historical figures, as well as people he knew himself before they died.

all my lovers were there with me

A whole section (Canto V) of the Inferno is devoted to famous lovers, including Dido, Cleopatra, Helen, Paris and Tristan.

all my pasts and futures

The Shades in Hell remember the past, and can predict the future, but know nothing of the present. They beg our hero for news of what is happening in the world, and in some cases refer to his own past, and tell him what will happen to him in the future. 

we all went to heaven in a little rowboat

The Divine Comedy ends with the pilgrim visiting heaven, and meeting the saints, and God himself.

there was nothing to fear and nothing to doubt

In the Inferno, the hero is often afraid, but is constantly reassured by his guide, Virgil, that there is nothing to fear on this journey, as they have the protection of God.

It is also worth noting that the logo character for Amnesiac is a minotaur. The minotaur appears in Dante's Inferno.

fast track

A mostly instrumental track, and not particularly fast, it features a disembodied voice saying something difficult to discern, played at various speeds.  A voice in the background sings what sounds like "Never gonna change my mind". There was a T-shirt bearing the words 'I have a paper here that entitles me to fast track status',  sold on the last tour.

the amazing sounds of orgy

This is the only song that wasn't leaked in advance of release. It deals with human ignorance and impotence in the face of merciless global institutions. The pessimism of the lyrics contrast with the upbeat melody, much in the same way as Optimistic, on the Kid A album.

The line 'sit in the back while no-one drives' is a flashback to the video for Karma police.

I want to see you smile again
No diamonds in the dust
The amazing sound of the killing hordes
The day the banks collapsed

Ah ha

Cease this endless chattering
Like everything is fine
Sorry is not good enough
Sit in the back 
While no-one drives

Ah ha

So glad, so glad you're mine

So glad, so glad you're mine

So glad, so glad you're mine

So glad, so glad you're mine

The gladiamnothing page at radiohead.com had the following:

trans-atlantic drawl

The superficiality of the media gets another hammering here. This theme also appears in 'Life in a Glass House' on the Amnesiac album.

oh yeah

I was born 

for your magazine

for your magazine

I'm trapped in the society page

of your magazine

of your magazine

I don't know what it means...

ah.....

do you see the light

at the end of the tunnel?

at the end of the tunnel?

do you see the light

at the end of the tunnel?

at the end of the tunnel?

at the end of the tunnel?

(trans-atlantic drawl, trans-atlantic drawl....)

tunnel....

The title to this song appeared on the tampered page at the official site, which went something like this:

kinetic

The band spent a lot of time working on this song during the Kid A sessions, and it is mentioned several times in Ed's online studio diary, and is one of Colin's favourite B-sides. It features Phil on synthesised percussion. There is another reappearance of Thom's fear of car crashes. In the June/July Blender interview, he had this to say: "The idea of dying unprepared like that is very frightening. Not having time to say goodbye. It seems just insane. Cars have lost the romance we grew up swallowing. Now they are just personal protection spaces, somewhere to sit in traffic and wait or play with death against complete strangesr. I used to be really, really bad about saying goodbye to people when they got in their cars. I still insist that my friends ring me when they get home to tell me they're safe. But I used to be much worse. I would be frantic if someone was unusually late. The absolute worst thing about touring is insane taxi drivers with no seat belts in busy cities. I also find it very difficult to accept lifts from somebody. Just like Mummy told me."

The poster given away with copies of the Japanese edition of Amnesiac is a series of pictures of the band sitting at the wheels of their cars.

you're being took for a ride

putting on the lazy

please keep moving

better keep moving

don't fall asleep at the wheel

I waited for you but you never came

please keep moving

better keep moving

kinetic...

please keep moving

better keep moving

kinetic...

The official site also had the following:

CountZ.com