“We are accidents waiting to happen”.
– There, There
This is something I’ve thought about writing for some time, and have only just found the willingness to put a comprehensive list together. I’ve listened to Radiohead almost incessantly for the best part of my adolescence and beyond, initially fascinated by the lyrical output, but more recently drawn to the use of phraseology placed within certain tracks.
I covered the English conversational class at my work on Friday, where we promote colloquial discourse as opposed to the more structured ESOL classes. It gives guests (particularly foreign nationals) the opportunity to develop their day-to-day language skills in an informal setting. There are usually some brilliant confabs on dialect and slang, and it also gives us an insight into other cultures.
The following is a non-exhaustive list I’ve compiled to illustrate the use of popular sayings, maxims and idioms found in Radiohead’s music – between Pablo Honey and A Moon Shaped Pool.
NB I: The song title ‘High and Dry’ is a phrase in itself, but is not specifically referenced in the track.
NB II: I have not included B-side tracks, band member’s solo material or tracks from extended editions of previous albums e.g. OK Computer OKNOTOK, In Rainbows Disk 2 etc.
NB III: I am not a Radiohead anorak, nor am I an English Language scholar. Any additions/amends are welcome.
Pablo Honey
How Do You?
He’s bitter and twisted, he knows what he wants
Anyone Can Play Guitar
If the worm does turn and London burns, I’ll be standing on the beach with my guitar
Vegetable
I spit on the hand that feeds me
Blow Out
Everything I touch turns to stone, all wrapped up in cotton wool and sugar coated
The Bends
Planet Telex
You can crush it as dry as a bone
Bones
You’ve got to feel it in your bones
OK Computer
Paranoid Android
Off with his head man, off with his head
Exit Music (For a Film)
Pack and get dressed, before your father hears us – before all hell breaks loose
Climbing Up the Walls
Open up your skull and I’ll be there, climbing up the walls
Lucky
I’m on a roll, this time, I feel my luck could change
The Tourist
It barks at no-one else but me, like it’s seen a ghost
Kid A
Idioteque
Mobiles quirking, mobiles chirping – take the money and run
Women and children first
Amnesiac
Packt Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box
As your life flashed before your eyes
Like Spinning Plates
You feed me to the lions
A delicate balance
I’m living in cloud cuckoo land
You and Whose Army
You think you drive me crazy, well, come on, come on – you and whose army
Life in a Glasshouse
She is putting on a smile, living in a glass house
Well of course I’d like to stay and chew the fat
That’s a strange mistake to make, you should turn the other cheek
Go To Sleep
Something for the rag and bone man – over my dead body
There, There
Heaven sent you to me, we are accidents waiting to happen
A Punchup at a Wedding
You had to piss on our parade, you had to shred our big day
When I turn around you stay frozen to the spot
The pot will call the kettle black – it’s a drunken punch-up at a wedding, yeah
Myxomatosis
No one likes a smart ass, but we all like stars
A Wolf at the Door
Take it with a pinch of salt, take it to the taxman
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
In Rainbows
15 Steps
Won’t take my eyes off the ball again, you reel me out then you cut the string
You used to be alright – what happened? Did the cat get your tongue?
Nude
Don’t get any big ideas
Faust App
Watch me fall like dominoes, in pretty patterns
An elephant that’s in the room is tumbling, tumbling, tumbling
House of Cards
Denial, your ears should be burning
The King of Limbs
Morning Mr. Magpie
You got some nerve coming here. You stole it off, give it back
Little by Little
By hook or by crook, I’m such a tease and you’re such a flirt
Lotus Flower
I can’t kick the habit, just to feed your fast ballooning head
While the cat is away, we do what we want
Give up the Ghost
I think I should give up the ghost, into your arms
As that woman blows her cover, in the eye of the beholder, I’m a fish now out of the water
A Moon Shaped Pool
Burn the Witch
Do not react, shoot the messengers, this is a low-flying panic attack
Daydreaming
Dreamers, they never learn, beyond the point of no return, and it’s too late – the damage is done
Decks Dark
You gotta be kidding me, the grass grows over me
Identikit
You’re messing me around – I don’t want to know
Present Tense
I won’t turn around or the penny’ll drop. I won’t stop now, I won’t slack off
Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor Rich Man Poor Man Beggar Man Thief
Out of sight and out of mind, lonely – and they pray
True Love Waits
I’m just killing time your tiny hands your crazy kitten smile.
RESOURCES
The Maxim Gun 