12 tourist

it barks at no else but me
like it's seen a ghost
I guess it's seen the sparks a-flowing
no one else would know

hey man, slow down, slow down
idiot, slow down, slow down

sometimes I get overcharged
that's when you see sparks
you ask me where the hell I'm going
at a thousand feet per second

hey man, slow down, slow down
idiot, slow down, slow down

hey man, slow down, slow down
idiot, slow down, slow down

11 lucky

I'm on a roll, I'm on a roll
this time I feel my luck could change
kill me, Sarah, kill me again with love
it's gonna be a glorious day

pull me out of the aircrash
pull me out of the lake
'cause I'm your superhero
we are standing on the edge

the Head of State has called for me by name
but I don't have time for him
it's gonna be a glorious day
I feel my luck could change

pull me out of the aircrash
pull me out of the lake
'cause I'm your superhero
we are standing on the edge

10 no surprises

a heart that's full up like a landfill
a job that slowly kills you
bruises that won't heal

you look so tired-unhappy
bring down the government
they don't, they don't speak for us

I'll take a quiet life
a handshake of carbon monoxide

and no alarms and no surprises
no alarms and no surprises
no alarms and no surprises

silent, silent

this is my final fit
my final bellyache with

no alarms and no surprises
no alarms and no surprises
no alarms and no surprises, please

such a pretty house
and such a pretty garden

no alarms and no surprises
get me out of here
no alarms and no surprises
get me out of here
no alarms and no surprises, please
get me out of here

09 climbing up the walls

I am the key to the lock in your house
that keeps your toys in the basement
and if you get too far inside
you'll only see my reflection

it's always best with the covers up
I am the pick in the ice
do not cry out or hit the alarm
you know we're friends till we die

and either way you turn, I'll be there
open up your skull, I'll be there
climbing up the walls

it's always best when the light is off
it's always better on the outside
fifteen blows to the back of your head
fifteen blows to your mind

so lock the kids up safe tonight
shut the eyes in the cupboard
I got the smell of a local man
who's got the loneliest feeling

and that either way you turn, I'll be there
open up your skull and I'll be there
climbing up the walls

climbing up the walls
climbing up the walls

This is about the unspeakable. Literally skull-crushing. I used to work in a mental hospital around the time that Care In The Community started, and we all just knew what was going to happen. And it's one of the scariest things to happen in this country, because a lot of them weren't just harmless... It was hailing violently when we recorded this. It seemed to add to the mood. Some people can't sleep with the curtains open in case they see the eyes they imagine in their heads every night burning through the glass. Lots of people have panic buttons fitted in their bedrooms so they can reach over and set the alarm off without disturbing the intruder. This song is about the cupboard monster.

--Thom Yorke

Some people don't dare to sleep with the window open, because they're afraid that the monsters that they see in their imagination will come inside. This song is about the monster in the closet... I found the sentence "the crack of the waning smile / 15 blows to the skull" after I had read in the New York Times that 8 out of 10 mass murderers in American history committed their crimes after 1980 and that they were all males between 30 and 40, who had just lost their job or had just been through a divorce.

--Thom Yorke

For the 'white noise' flashes at the end, we used 16 violins that were just not playing the same. It may sound blasé but we were a bit fed up with rock arrangements. They haven't evolved since 'Eleanor Rigby' of The Beatles. We discoverd the Polish composer Penderécki. Since than, all we do is steal from him!" *smiles*

--Jonny Greenwood

08 electioneering

I will stop
I will stop at nothing
say the right things
when electioneering
I trust I can rely on your vote

when I go forwards
you go backwards
and somewhere we will meet

riot shields
voodoo economics
it's just business
cattle prods and the IMF
I trust I can rely on your vote

when I go forwards
you go backwards
somewhere we will meet