Hail To The Thief

Radiohead released their sixth album 'Hail To The Thief' on Parlophone on June 9, preceded by the single 'There There' on May 26. 

'Hail To The Thief' features 14 tracks and was recorded in Oxfordshire and Los Angeles. It was produced by Nigel Godrich and Radiohead, and mixed by Nigel Godrich. Most of the songs have been performed live (mostly in Spain and Portugal during the July - August 2002 mini-tour), and are similar to the final studio versions.

The track listing is:
2 + 2 = 5
Sit Down. Stand Up.
Sail To The Moon.
Backdrifts.
Go To Sleep.
Where I End And You Begin.
We Suck Young Blood.
The Gloaming.
There There.
I Will.
A Punch-Up at a Wedding.
Myxamatosis.
Scatterbrain.
A Wolf At The Door.

The title is an assault on George Bush. The phrase "Hail to the thief" was used by his opponents after the controversial elections, and is a pun on the presidential tune "Hail to the Chief". Thom held up the sign below during the Christmas webcast. Some of the band have played down the significance of the title, pointing out that the album is far more than an anti-Bush manifesto. Thom, however, confirmed the reference, commentingThe line also turns up in  2 + 2 = 5.

Phil talked about the dark forces at work during the time of recording, and said that a strong record like this needing a strong "spiky" title. Colin saw it as a title that "jumps out of the cake". 

The alternative title is The Gloaming.

2 + 2 = 5

Premiered in Lisbon, Portugal on July 22.

oh you're such a dreamer
to put the world to rights
I'll stay home forever
and two and two always makes five

I lay down on the tracks
sandbag and hide
january has april showers
and two and two always makes five

it's the devil's way now
there is now way out
you can scream and you can shout
it is too late now

you have not been paying attention
but hear the tension...

and I swallow my pride

but my pride just keeps coming back up

 

but I'm not

all hail to the thief 

all hail to the thief

cos he's not

don't question my authority
or put me in a box
cos I'm not, cos I'm not

I'm going to the king

and the sky's falling in

but it's not, but it's not

 

maybe not, maybe not

 

Sit Down, Stand Up

This song was premiered in Lisbon on July 24. 

It uses the language of the bully, a reference to the way the major powers, particularly the United States impose their will on weaker countries.

sit down, stand up...

walk into the jaws of hell
walk into the jaws of hell

any time any time

sit down, stand up...

we can wipe you out any time 
we can wipe you out

sit down, stand up...


oh the raindrops, the raindrops...

 

Sail to the Moon

A melodic little number, also premiered in Lisbon. Thom later performed it solo at the Bridge School Benefit concert.

It is essentially a lullaby by Thom to his son, Noah, as is made obvious by the reference to the ark.

I sailed to the moon
I spoke too soon
and how much did it cost?
I'll strut from
a moonbeam
and sail shooting stars

and you'll 
be president
but know right
from wrong
or in the flood
you'll build an ark
and sail us to the moon
sail us to the moon
sail to the moon

 

Backdrifts

The following haiku-like poem can be found at the new labour page on the official site:

Backdrifts in Japan.
Covers everything in a blanket.
Teeters on a branch.

Here I go
Trying to be someone I'm not.
Someone I'm not.

Use it well.
Watch it slip.

I fell into your arms.
There was nothing i could do.

we're rotten fruit

we're damaged goods

what the hell

we've got nothing more to lose

one gust and we will probably crumble

we're backdrifting

 

this far

but no further

I'm hanging off a branch

I'm teetering on the brink of

honey sweet

so fall asleep

I'm backsliding

 

you fell into our arms

we tried and there was nothing we could do

nothing we could do

 

all evidence has been buried
all tapes have been erased
but your footsteps  gave you away

so you're backtracking

 

ah ah ah

you fell into our arms

you fell into our arms

we tried and there was nothing we could do

nothing we could do

 

you fell into my you fell into my...

 

we're rotten fruit

we're damaged goods

what the hell

we've got nothing more to lose

one gust and we'll probably crumble

we're backdrifters

 

Go To Sleep

Premiered in Lisbon on July 23. At that time it had no title.  The lyrics are difficult to catch.

Jonny referred to the dilemma that everyone has about whether

something for the rag and bone man
over my dead body
something big is gonna happen
over my dead body

someone's son or someone's daughter
over my dead body
this is how I end up sucked in
over my dead body

 

I'm gonna go to sleep

and let this wash all over me

you know we don't want a monster taking over

tiptoe in tie him down

we don't want the loonies taking over

tiptoe in tie him down

 

the pretty horses will come to you as you sleep

I'm gonna go to sleep

and let this wash all over me

 

 

Where I End and You Begin

This  was first performed in Lisbon on July 24 but the lyrics to this song have been at radiohead.com for a long time

there's a gap in between
there's a gap where we meet
where I end and you begin

and I'm sorry for us
the dinosaurs roam the earth
the sky turns green
where I end and you begin

I am up in the clouds
I am up in the clouds
and I can't, I can't come down

I can watch and not take part
where I end and where you start
where you you've left me alone
you've left me alone

X' will mark the place
with the parting of the waves
like a house falling in the sea, in the sea

I will eat you alive...

there'll be no more lies...

I will eat you alive...

there'll be no more lies...

 

We Suck Young Blood

This was introduced in Salamanca thus: "This song is about Hollywood"

are you hungry?
are you sick?
are you begging for a break?

are you sweet?
are you fresh?
are you strung up by the wrists?

we want the young blood 

are you fracturing?

are you torn at the seams?

would you do anything?
fleabitten? motheaten?

we suck young blood 
we suck young blood 

oh...

oh let the creeping ivy
won't let the nervous bury me
our veins are thin
our rivers poisoned

we want the sweet meats 
we suck young blood 

The Gloaming

genie let out of the bottle

it is now the witching hour

genie let out of the bottle

it is now the witching hour

murderers you're murderers

we are not the same as you

genie let of the bottle

funny how funny how

when the walls bend when the walls bend

with your breathing

when the walls bend when the walls bend

with your breathing

with your breathing

they will suck you down to the other side

they will suck you down to the other side

they will suck you down to the other side

to the shadows blue

to the shadows blue

your alarm bells

your alarm bells

they should be ringing....

this is the gloaming

 

to the shadows blue

to the shadows blue

your alarm bells

your alarm bells

to the shadows blue

to the shadows blue

your alarm bells

your alarm bells

when the walls bend when the walls bend

with your breathing

when the walls bend when the walls bend

what is he doing?

what is he doing?

this is the gloaming

this is the gloaming

this is the gloaming

this is the 

 

 There There

This song was performed at the second webcast on 11th February, 2000. It reappeared as the opener in Lisbon on July 22, 2002. It was the first single from Hail to the Thief.

in the pitch dark I go walking in your landscape
broken branches trip me as I speak
just 'cos you feel it doesn't mean it's there
just 'cos you feel it doesn't mean it's there

there's always a siren singing you to shipwreck
(don't reach out, don't reach out)
steer away from these rocks you'll be a walking disaster
(don't reach out, don't reach out)
just 'cos you feel it doesn't mean it's there
(someone on your shoulder, someone on your shoulder)
just 'cos you feel it doesn't mean it's there
(someone on your shoulder, someone on your shoulder)

there there

why so green and lonely, lonely, lonely?
heaven sent you to me, to me, to me

we are accidents waiting, waiting to happen
we are accidents waiting, waiting to happen

I Will 

An old song, dating from the OK Computer tour, it has already appeared on Amnesiac. It was reversed, and formed the backing track to "Like Spinning Plates". It was first heard in its full, forwards form on July 22, 2002

 

A slightly different version of the lyrics is at the official site:

I will
rise up
shake the dust off
buckleup
meet the real world coming out of my shell
I wont let this happen to our children.
I will
lay me down in a bunker
underground.

 

I will
lay me down
in a bunker
underground

I won't let this happen to my children 
meet the real world coming out of your shell
with white elephants 

sitting ducks
I will 
rise up

Little babies' eyes, eyes, eyes, eyes...

 

Punchup at a Wedding

A vicious number first performed on July 22, 2002

no no no....

I don't know why you bother
nothing's ever good enough for you
by the way I was there, and it wasn't like that
you've come here just to start a fight

you had to piss on our parade
you had to shred our big day
you had to ruin it for all concerned
in a drunken punchup at a wedding.

hypocrite opportunist
don't infect me with your poison
bully in a china shop
when I turn round you stay frozen to the spot

you had to piss on our parade
you had to shred our big day
you had to ruin it for all concerned
like a drunken punchup at a wedding

the pointless snide remarks
of hammerheaded sharks
the pot will call the kettle black
it's a drunken punchup at a wedding

no no no...

Myxomatosis

Another slightly nasty song, first heard in Lisbon on July 22nd. The spelling may or may not end up as Myxamatosis. The following verse, performed live, is cut in the studio version

we boiled up the head 
we dug into the meat 
he shook hands with the cripples
and he gave them all milk
he did a few card tricks
for some mafia geeks

the mongrel cat came home
holding half a head
proceeded to show it off
to all his new-found friends
he said "I been where I liked"
"I slept with who I liked"
she ate me up for breakfast
she screwed me in a vice

but now I don't know why
I feel so tongue-tied

I sat in the cupboard
and wrote it down neat 
they were cheering and waving
cheering and waving
twitching and salivating like with myxomatosis
but it got edited, fucked up
strangled, beaten up
used in a photo in Time magazine
buried in a burning black hole in Devon

I don't know why
I feel so tongue-tied
don't know why
I feel so skinned alive.

my thoughts are misguided and a little naive
I twitch and I salivate like with myxomatosis
you should put me in a home
or you should put me down
I got myxomatosis
I got myxomatosis

yeah no one likes a smart ass 
but we all like stars
but that wasn't my intention
I did it for a reason
it must have got mixed up
strangled beaten up
I got myxomatosis 
I got myxomatosis

I don't know why
I feel so tongue-tied

Scatterbrain

This is a song about feeling vulnerable. It takes up the theme introduced in "How to Disappear Completely"It was first performed in Lisbon on July 22, 2002

I'm walking out in a force ten gale
birds thrown around, bullets for hail
the roof is pulling off by its fingernails
your voice is rattling on my window sill

yesterday's headlines blown by the wind
yesterday's people scatterbrain
any fool can easy pull a hole
I wish I could fall in
a moving target in a firing range

somewhere I'm not
scatterbrain
somewhere I'm not
scatterbrain
lightning fuse
powercut
scatterbrain


Wolf at the Door

The lyrics to this song have long been at radiohead.com. It was premiered in Lisbon on July 23, 2002. In Salamanca Thom also referred to it as "Stepford Wives".

The official site includes some alternative lyrics, including, interestingly:

i keep the wolf from the door but he calls me up calls
me on the
telephone tells me how when your dead
being famous aint gonna help but im sre you dnt wanna
hear any of this stuff
so why dont get up and turn the tape off?

drag him out the window 
dragging out your dead 
singing I miss you 
snakes and ladders 
flip the lid
out pops the cracker 
smacks you in the head 
knifes you in the neck
kicks you in the teeth 
steel toe caps 
takes all your credit cards
get up get the gunge
get the eggs 
get the flan in the face
the flan in the face 
the flan in the face
dance you fucker dance you fucker
don't you dare
don't you dare
don't you flan in the face
take it with the love is given
take it with a pinch of salt
take it to the taxman
let me back let me back
I promise to be good
don't look in the mirror 
at the face you don't recognize
help me call the doctor
put me inside...


I keep the wolf from the door
but he calls me up
calls me on the phone 
tells me all the ways that he's gonna mess me up
steal all my children 
if I don't pay the ransom
but I'll never see him again
if I squeal to the cops

oh...

walking like a giant crane and
with my x ray eyes I strip you naked 
in a tight little world are you on the list?
stepford wives who are we to complain?
investments and dealers investments and dealers
cold wives and mistresses. 
cold wives and sunday papers.
city boys in first class
don't know they're born
they know someone else is gonna come and clean it up
born and raised for the job

someone always does
oh I wish you'd get up go over
get up get over and turn the tape off.


I keep the wolf from the door 
but he calls me up
calls me on the phone 
tells me all the ways that he's gonna mess me up
steal all my children
if I don't pay the ransom 
but I'll never see him again
if I squeal to the cops
so I just go "ooh ooh..."

The following  songs have all  been performed in the last few years , but are as yet unreleased.

Up on the Ladder

Also premiered in Lisbon. In the Salamanca concert, Thom introduced it as "about people who are prepared to do anything to get to the top, then when they get there they think "oh fuck"

I'm stuck in the tardis
trapped in hyperspace
one minute snake charming
the next in another place

all the right moves and 
earn the right percent
watch me dance like a puppet
you can almost see the strings

give me an answer
give me a sign
I've been climbing up this ladder
I've been wasting my time

so long, so long...

up on the ladder 
no time to escape
up on the ladder
away for fucking sake

up on the ladder
try to call out your name
up on the ladder
you're all the fucking same


oh, you let the people down
you let the people down
you let the people down


Wicked Child

This song was performed at the third webcast on 24th March, 2000, and reappeared on July 22, 2002. Jonny hinted on the official message board that it may be slated as an up-coming B-side

holy mother come to me
for I am a wicked child
I've sinned and I am so confused
and I am a wicked child
I am a wicked child

I am the devil's son
but I wish I could be good
I walk a crooked mile
oh but I wish I could be good
I wish I could be good

if I could've have kept on the straight and narrow
if I could've have kept on the straight and narrow
I'd not have broke your heart
no, I'd not have broke your heart

Oh... 

Now I wake up in the night
it's tugging at my arms and legs
like I was a marionette

sending baby jesus
sending baby jesus
to radiate his light
to radiate his light

nude

This is a firm favourite among fans. It was begun, then quickly aborted, at the 2000 concert in Berlin, performed again in Vancouver in 2001, and most recently in Salamanca. It tells of sexual guilt.  The part out about a white house and sexual peccadilloes brings to mind the Clinton administration. Words in brackets are from the later version of the song. 

don’t get any big ideas

they’re not going to happen

you paint your house white

and fill it with noise

there’ll be something missing

 

just when you found it, it’s gone

just when you feel it, you don’t

you’ve gone off the rails

 

she stands stark naked (she kisses you with tongues)

and she beckons you to bed (and pulls you to the bed)

don’t go, you’ll only want

to crawl back again

 

so don’t get any big ideas

they’re not going to happen

you’ll go to hell

for what your dirty mind is thinking

 

and now that you’ve found it, it’s gone

now that you feel it, you don’t

you’ve gone off the rails

 

follow me around

This song was performed at the sound check in Fukuoka in 1998, and later at the concert in Toronto on the Kid A tour. The initial theme seems similar to that of 'How to Disappear' on the Kid A album. The later version, with its mini-diatribe against Tony B, echoes the feelings of 'You and Whose Army?'. A large part of this song could be found the chickens bred bald page at the official site.

[fukuoka version] 

I see you in the dark

falling down the fast lane

coming after me

 

your lights fall onto me

crawling after me

crawling out to me

 

you follow me around

you follow me around

you follow me around

you follow me around

 

[toronto version]

 I see you in a dark

corner of the street

coming after me

coming after me

headlights on full beam

coming down the fast lane

coming after me

coming after me

I would like to change back now

to the shadow of

the shadow of my former self

it follows me around.....


did you lie to us, tony?

we thought you were different

now you know we're not so sure

drooling loony tunes

moving in a swarm

moving in a swarm

it follows me around...

nowadays I get panicked

I cease to exist

I have ceased to exist

I feel absolutely nothing

the words are out of ink

the words you know are out of ink

follow me around...

The following verse is online at the official site:

i could blow a hole in anything
im trying not to stare
but then the snakes come out your hair
i think that your for real
but every bloody morning
snakes come out your hair
and follow me around.

 

reckoner (feeling pulled apart by horses)

This song has been around for a long time, for example it was referred to several times in Ed's diary, but it remained a mystery until late June. It was always referred to by the longer title, but lately Jonny has called it simply 'Reckoner'. Ed has said that it is now unlikely to be on the new album

The song was debuted at The Gorge on 23 June 2001

feeling pulled apart by horses.
fobbed off with lame shitey excuses
feeling pulled apart by horses
reckoner, bababa
reckoner bababa
reckoner, reckoner

feeling pulled apart by horses
insect bites, machine gun cameras
reckoner, bababa
reckoner bababa
reckoner, reckoner

reckoner, bababa
reckoner bababa
reckoner, reckoner

 

Lift

It was long thought that the band had given up on this song. It dates from the mid-nineties, and was performed several times on 1996. It reappeared in Lisbon with a new slowed-down arrangement. Ed, in 2003, said that it may still be recorded at some point

this is the place
remember me?
I'm the face you always see 

you've been stuck in a lift
we've been trying to reach you

this is the place
it won't hurt, it will not hurt

a smell of recognition 
a face you barely own
empty all your pockets
cos it's time to come home

only one, only one...

you've been stuck in a lift
in a belly of a whale
at the bottom of the ocean

a smell of recognition 
a face you barely own
empty all your pockets
cos it's time to come home

today is the first day
of the rest of your days
so lighten up squirt