I'll drown my beliefs
To have you be in peace
I'll dress like your niece
And wash your swollen feet
Just don't leave
Don't leave
I'm not living,
I'm just killing time
Your tiny hands
Your crazy-kitten smile
Just don't leave
Don't leave
And true love waits
In haunted attics
And true love lives
On lollipops and crisps
Just don't leave
Don't leave
Just don't leave
Don't leave
First off, I'd like to say that, for as much freedom of interpretation is allowed for the listener, I still believe that any good artist/singer-songwriter can effectively manage to convey a lucid argument, as well as affecting emotions, through well-written composition. While I acknowledge that no analysis of lyrics, or art in general, can be purely objective it still bugs me when I see interpretations of songs that stretch beyond any indications found within the lyrics themselves. In my opinion, most good songs have concrete meanings, and while the listener often must be flexible in formulating her or his understanding of the song, this is simply the listener's attempt at relating with the artist. What the artist wrote, on the other hand, is not so flexible.
My spiel aside, Thom Yorke has presented us with some rather keenly distressing metaphors, but nonetheless they can be analyzed with greater objectivity than what I've seen so far on this page. Starting with the aching refrain, "Just don't leave," we can assume that the poetic voice of the song is already with someone as opposed to waiting for someone. Moving back to the first verse we gather from the personal sacrifice ("sacrifice my beliefs), commitment ("have your babies") and humiliation ("dress like your niece") she or he is willing to endure that the poetic voice has strong feelings of attachment to this particular person.
Attachment, and more specifically the loss of one's identity, dignity and autonomy out of fear of ending a relationship, in my opinion are the key themes of this song. Thom reminds us when he writes "I'm not living, I'm just killing time" that when we stay with someone solely because we're too afraid of not having her or him in our lives, we sacrifice our hopes and dreams, which couldn't be any more true once you have someone's children and act as their foot-washing servant. And what would anyone do all of this for? For the true love that we dream of as kids sucking on lollipops? You can't make true love happen with everyone as Thom suggests pessimistically in his ironical and sobering statement, "True love waits in haunted attics." Sometimes we just need to end the relationship and move on, lest we should spend the rest of our lives in haunted attics waking up next to someone with a "crazy kitten" smile.
To have you be in peace
I'll dress like your niece
And wash your swollen feet
Just don't leave
Don't leave
I'm not living,
I'm just killing time
Your tiny hands
Your crazy-kitten smile
Just don't leave
Don't leave
And true love waits
In haunted attics
And true love lives
On lollipops and crisps
Just don't leave
Don't leave
Just don't leave
Don't leave
First off, I'd like to say that, for as much freedom of interpretation is allowed for the listener, I still believe that any good artist/singer-songwriter can effectively manage to convey a lucid argument, as well as affecting emotions, through well-written composition. While I acknowledge that no analysis of lyrics, or art in general, can be purely objective it still bugs me when I see interpretations of songs that stretch beyond any indications found within the lyrics themselves. In my opinion, most good songs have concrete meanings, and while the listener often must be flexible in formulating her or his understanding of the song, this is simply the listener's attempt at relating with the artist. What the artist wrote, on the other hand, is not so flexible.
My spiel aside, Thom Yorke has presented us with some rather keenly distressing metaphors, but nonetheless they can be analyzed with greater objectivity than what I've seen so far on this page. Starting with the aching refrain, "Just don't leave," we can assume that the poetic voice of the song is already with someone as opposed to waiting for someone. Moving back to the first verse we gather from the personal sacrifice ("sacrifice my beliefs), commitment ("have your babies") and humiliation ("dress like your niece") she or he is willing to endure that the poetic voice has strong feelings of attachment to this particular person.
Attachment, and more specifically the loss of one's identity, dignity and autonomy out of fear of ending a relationship, in my opinion are the key themes of this song. Thom reminds us when he writes "I'm not living, I'm just killing time" that when we stay with someone solely because we're too afraid of not having her or him in our lives, we sacrifice our hopes and dreams, which couldn't be any more true once you have someone's children and act as their foot-washing servant. And what would anyone do all of this for? For the true love that we dream of as kids sucking on lollipops? You can't make true love happen with everyone as Thom suggests pessimistically in his ironical and sobering statement, "True love waits in haunted attics." Sometimes we just need to end the relationship and move on, lest we should spend the rest of our lives in haunted attics waking up next to someone with a "crazy kitten" smile.