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Home T Thom Yorke Analyse Chords Guitar Tab

______________
/ Thom Yorke / I think this song is about how many people live their
/ Analyse / lives in such a hurry and pace that they miss all the to
/ The Erasor / stop and think why they’re actually running and stressing
/_____________/ themselves all the time. They know that it "gets them down"
but they don't have the time to stop and "think things
through". They're like pretty cows as Thom calls them – unfortunately many
live that way and it's a waste of life.
Chords:
C G#/C* G# G Fm Bb5 E5
E|---0----4-----4----3---1----------0----
B|---1----1-----4----3---1----------0----
G|---0----1-----5----4---1----3-----4----
D|---2----1-----6----5---3----3-----2----
A|---3----3-----6----5---3----1-----2----
E|--------------4----3---1----------0----
*you can call it Fm/C if you want to
In the very bottom of the tab you'll find "The Geek's Corner",
where we'll extend the chords to something a little more exotic
and add fills to spice things up - only for the hardcores/geeks.
1st Verse:
C
A self-fulfilling prophecy
G#/C
Of endless possibility
G# G
You roll in reams across the street
Fm
In algebra, in algebra
2nd Verse:
C
The fences that you cannot climb
G#/C
The sentences that do not rhyme
G# G
In all that you can ever change
Fm
The one you're looking for
Pre-Chorus:
C
It gets you down
C
It gets you down
Bb5 G#
There's no spark
G Fm
No light in the dark
C
It gets you down
C
It gets you down
Bb5 G#
You traveled far
G Fm
What have you found
Chorus:
C
That there's no time
C
There's no time
Bb5 G#
To analyse
G Fm
To think things through
E5 Fm
To make sense
3rd Verse:
C
Like cows in the city
C G#/C
They never looked so pretty
G# G
By power carts and blackouts
Fm
Sleeping like babies
Pre-Chorus:
C
It gets you down
C
It gets you down
Bb5 G#
You're just playing a part
G Fm
You're just playing a part
Chorus:
C
You're playing a part
C
Playing a part
Bb5 G#
And there's no time
G Fm
There's no time
C
To analyse
C
Analyse
Bb5 G#
Ana-lyse
G Fm
Analyse
Outro:
(note that the key changes from Cmajor to Cminor)
Cm Cm Bb6
||------------------|-----------------|---3-3-3---3-3-3-|
||o-----4-4-----4-4-|-----4-4-----4-4-|-----3-------3---|
||----0-------0-----|---0-------0-----|-----3-------3---|
||------------------|-----------------|-----------------|
||o-3-------3-------|-3-------3-------|-1-------1-------|
||------------------|-----------------|-----------------|
Bb6 Fm6 Fm6
|---3-3-3---3-3---|---4-4-4---4-4-4-|---4-4-4---4-4-4--||
|-----3-------3-3-|-----3-------3---|-----3-------3---o||
|-----3-------3-3-|-----------------|------------------||
|-----------------|-----------------|------------------||
|-1-------1-------|-----------------|-----------------o||
|-----------------|-1-------1-------|-1-------1--------||
- 22nd /July /06
Just mail me at Maitinin@gmail.com with questions, comments and corrections!
****************************************************************************
* "The Geek's Corner" *
***********************
Throughout the entire song Thom plays mainly a bass note and and high
melody notes that really fucks up the harmonies and gives that weird and
frustrating sound, which is very characteristic for Radiohead as well.
"Hail To The Thief" (recommended!) is a great example of this. If these
weird notes were to be added the chords, it'd really spice things up:
G#/C G#6/C G# G#6 G G7* Bb5 Bsus2 E5 E6
--4--->--1---- --4-->--4--- --3-->--3--- ------>--1---- --0-->--9---
--1--->--4---- --4-->--6--- --3-->--6--- ------>--1---- --0-->--9---
--1--->--1---- --5-->--5--- --4-->--4--- --3--->--3---- --4-->--9---
--1--->--1---- --6-->--x--- --5-->--3--- --3--->--3---- --2-->--6---
--3--->--3---- --6-->--6--- --5-->--5--- --1--->--1---- --2-->--7---
------>------- --4-->--4--- --3-->--3--- ------>------- --0-->--0---
*The G7 can even be extended to a G7b9 as the flat 9th also is played as a
melody note. It's rather hard to pull this one off, but I've added fingers:
---4--- - 2nd finger (middle)
---6--- - 4th finger (pinky)
---4--- - 1st finger (index)
-------
---5--- - 3rd finger (ring)
---3--- - thumb
...All these chords can be played instead of the regular chords from above.
You can also add these (and your own!) melody notes to the chords:
C Fm
---0---0-1-3--- ---1-----------
---1----------- ---1---1-2-1---
---0----------- ---1-----------
---2----------- ---3-----------
---3----------- ---3-----------
--------------- ---1-----------
These notes are played in the verses and prechorus at some point, but just
add as many small melodies (these are very small) as possible as it gives
this extra momentum to the guitar that usually only play chords, go for it!
****************************************************************************


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Tab Discussion, Comments, and Critiques
 
 

Maarten
Average
#1 by Maarten Wuyts at Oct 1, 2007 at 12:57 AM EST
Ok guys, I know I shouldn't do it, but I can't help it. For those of you who didn't realize it yet: Thom Yorke is an anxiuos grown-up, 38 years of age. But, in his heart, he still is a little child who wants to believe that mankind exists as a unity, which would be his only solution to the problem that his poor brain just can't stop thinking and listen in to the silence. what he didn't realize yet is what love is all about, namely the ability to see oneself as you truely are. therefore he went on for years just wallowing in self-pitty. His hope for having the time to analyse things is just a simple wish of getting away from what is. And what is is: he's totally confused and anxiuos because of the fact that he didn't understand his past. See the beauty in this? Guys. stop interpreting songs. it just distorts them. write your owns. and spread them out!
 

Dakota
Lead Player
#2 by Dakota Sparks at Oct 1, 2007 at 7:36 AM EST
This song is just amazing, instantly likeable. I agree with cars in the city and not cows. Maybe its about the OK computer frame of mind, people are almost like mechanical beings in modern day, no time to analyse or to make sense. We are all just playing a part in the world...like everyone else...life goes on
 

Phillip
Wanna Be
#3 by Phillip Doucette at Oct 1, 2007 at 10:34 AM EST
this is my fave song on the album probably. i think this is about things that you cant change like death.
 

The Real Slim S
Average
#4 by The Real Slim Shady at Oct 5, 2007 at 3:43 PM EST
Shouldn´t it say by "powercuts and blackouts" instead of "power carts"?
 

Jake
Average
#5 by Jake Staley at Oct 6, 2007 at 3:06 AM EST
LIKE CANDLES IN THE CITY YOU'VE NEVER LOOKED SO PRETTY LIKE POWERCORDS IN BLACKOUTS SLEEPING LIKE BABIES
 
No Picture

Jeremy
Rhythm Player
#6 by Jeremy Dosser at Oct 7, 2007 at 11:13 AM EST
I heard "candles in the city" Makes sense with the following lines about "powercuts and blackouts". cows in the city...interesting imagery, though.
 

paste your name
Average
#7 by paste your name here at Oct 8, 2007 at 8:34 AM EST
Ok let's try this again: The song seems to follow a pattern of Thom's. He's singing about the idea that there's no higher meaning to life. "A self fulfilling prophecy..." Seems to suggest that we're using mathematics and scientific examination to tell ourselves exactly what we want to hear: "We can attain a higher knowledge of our world by careful examination, yet there's no limit to how much we can discover." "In fences that you cannot climb" The fence is a limit placed on our roaming or exploration, and our inability to climb that fence or surpass that limit gives us grounding and context. It makes us feel safe to know our bounds. "In sentences that do not rhyme" Traditionally, sentences that don't rhyme are taken more seriously than those that do. They supposedly have more gravity and weight to them. "In all that you can never change/the one you're looking for" All the things mentioned in the verse are components of the God or higher reason and purpose that we seek. We define insurmountable boundaries to give ourselves stability, value what appears to be more "grown-up" and "right-headed" simply based on its formal qualities, and look to what we actually can't effect change on as greater or more important than us and assume there must be more behind it than we have been able to fathom. Now for the chorus: "It gets you down" seems to reference the idea that knowing no boundary and having no expectation of greater context or understanding of life is a truly depressing life to lead. I don't know much about existentialism, but I think this is something related. "There's no spark..." and "You've traveled far..." seem to be blunt admonishments to give up on trying to understand everything. "There's no time..." suggests that trying to find all this great context and understanding is just a waste of perfectly good hours and years of life. "By candles in the city" This section seems to provide an alternative to life as we lead it now. When the power goes out in the city, instead of causing ourselves great stress and worry wondering what has happened, and when the power may come back, we should enjoy the chance to see the world in a new light (forgive the pun). "When all the lights are out in the city, we shouldn't be afraid, we should sleep like babies in the natural night. Then, and I find this pretty interesting (if I'm even right), Thom sings "you're just playing a part, but there's no time to analyse". It seems to me that maybe he's supposed to be softening the blow of this revelation by pretending we're just playing a part in something greater...there's just not time to analyse our role or the great machine. what do you guys think of this? am I way off?
 

Max
Wanna Be
#8 by Max Contreras at Oct 10, 2007 at 2:40 AM EST
I think a song can have multiple interpretations, so no interpretation can be 'correct.' Anyway, here's mine... First off, this song is right before 'The Clock', a song about running out of time because of the destruction of the environment (or atleast what I think). So this song is about a person that would like to stop that destruction but can't. It 'gets him down' that he is aware of impending doom, but can't do anything about it. The traveling he's done "You traveled far, what have you found" is about getting information. The information is useless and there's no time to analyse. Everyone else is "sleeping like babies" or oblivious to what he knows. "You're just playing a part" refers to being a part of a society that destroys the environment, kills for profit, and is basically unsustainable. To sum it up, I think it's a song about knowing where we're headed, but being powerless to do anything about it.
 

SLIPKNOT FUCING
Rhythm Player
#9 by SLIPKNOT FUCING RULES!!!! v at Oct 10, 2007 at 3:10 PM EST
"Cows in the city" kind of makes sence. Since they usually belong in the fields, in the rural areas. Which, is the polar opposite of the city, and urban areas. Then again, you don't have the time to analyse why it would make sence so. To me, this song kind of puts you in your place. It kind of takes the magic out of the world when he says "you're just playing a part" And it feels like when he says " It gets you down It gets you down There's no spark No light in the dark It gets you down It gets you down You traveled far What have you found That there's no time" Feels to me like, you have your hopes up, during life, thinking you're going on for some greater meaning, some greater good, but then you realize that there's no "Light in the dark". Maybe just essentially, you have your hopes up, then you realize you're just "playing a part" in this life. Referring to jilgiljongiljing's responce.
 

Alex
Average
#10 by Alex Zaphiropoulos at Oct 10, 2007 at 7:35 PM EST
forthelove, i don't think you're wrong. you just interpreted the song on a different dimension. there's always more than one and you found one of them. however, i don't think we should assume he's denying there's a higher meaning. i feel he's questioning whether he's where he wants to be at a particular point in time. he hasn't given himself time to think things through, and all of a sudden he's caught up in a moment when he is reflecting on his life and questioning whether some of the things he's done are not just because he is expected to ('playing a part'). he is not even sure he's found the right person to spend his life with ('the one you're looking for'). i think he's reached a crucial point in his life (a crossroads) and he is examining where to go to.
 

PunkJunky
Wanna Be
#11 by PunkJunky at Oct 11, 2007 at 3:11 AM EST
I would have to agree with lizzyville on this one. I believe the lyircs go "Like CANDLES in the city" and "Like POWERCORDS in blackouts". Interesting similes actually ... whatever the lyrics, this song has a beautiful melody.
 

Turd Fergeson
Lead Player
#12 by Turd Fergeson Fergeson at Oct 12, 2007 at 4:08 AM EST
i think the song's about life itself and how we get lost in life, how we fight with all our strength to take control but there is no control, things just happen and you just react, ultimately, you have no choice, no time to analyse and think things through, you just live the moment, take instantaneous decisions. In the end, the time you were given ends and you part with nothing but memories, no true answer, no true meaning...
 

cody
Wanna Be
#13 by cody westermier at Oct 12, 2007 at 9:30 PM EST
It's a choice whether or not to interpret the lyrics, but I personally get a lot more when I do so and from reading other people's interpretations. I do think this song is about facing the reality that we are mortal, and that we have sometimes made the wrong choices because we failed to stop and think before we did certain thinks. This song captures the moment when a person stops for a moment to think and realizes there are things he regrets and perhaps decides to change his course in life. It is a beautiful song and the lyrics and music make the point he is trying to make in a very effective way.
 

steve
Wanna Be
#14 by steve hoffmann at Oct 14, 2007 at 4:45 AM EST
Sorry, the second line is more like: 'your warning reams across the screen'
 

Sarah McKagan
Musical Genius
#15 by Sarah McKagan (AKA - Lady Rock 'n' Roll) at Oct 14, 2007 at 11:18 AM EST
This is my favorite song on the cd. I love it. I think the song is speaking of how grand the universe is and how insignificant our existence is, yet in the same since our existence is personally so important because it’s all we have. We can’t spend too much time trying to solve questions without answers; we have to spend more time appreciating the simple pleasures and beauty.
 

Emdizzy foshizz
Lead Player
#16 by Emdizzy foshizzy at Oct 15, 2007 at 6:56 AM EST
Official lyrics: a self fulfilling prophecy of endless possibilty in rolling reams across a screen in algebra in algebra in fences that you cannot climb in sentences that do not rhyme in all that you can never change the one your looking for it gets you down it gets you down theres no spark no light in the dark it gets you down it gets you down youve travelled far what have you have found? that theres no time theres no time to analyse to think things thru to make sense by candles in the city you never looked so pretty by powercuts and blackouts sleeping like babies it gets you down it gets you down you're just playing a part you're just playing a part you're playing a part playing a part but theres no time theres no time to analyse analyse analyse analyse
 

Alex
Average
#17 by Alex Zaphiropoulos at Oct 15, 2007 at 11:59 PM EST
personally, i think this song is about the problems you have with defining or even finding a sense in life or your imagionation of death itself - cause death is unthinkable for the human mind ( the part with the attempt to climb the fence etc..) - noone can imagine how it is to be dead - to be forgotten, to be not the center of his own perception, cause evertyhing you perceive is a part of yourself - and your life will always be too short to "analyse" wether you made the right decisions, wether you leaded a useful life. Also the allusions on human "inventions" to grasp future/reality from destiny (self fullfilling prophecy - why by the way also has afete yorke endless possiblities) to mathematical analysation techniques like algebra are not sufficient to grasp everything and leave you insane. so to conclude my thoughts - he just tells us that we will never know what part we played or if we were of any importance for anyone in the world which can be rather depressing if you spend your life thinking about it, cause it´s a non-stop process which finally ends in death... so dont analyse too much, otherwise you wont live your life, but think of how to live your life too long you phlematic suckers hahaha :) oh well my opinion sucks balls...
 

Michael
Rhythm Player
#18 by Michael Roache at Oct 16, 2007 at 9:48 AM EST
i'm pretty sure it's 'all that you can never change', and i'm absolutely positive it's 'candles in the city'.
 

brad
Average
#19 by brad everett at Oct 17, 2007 at 10:31 AM EST
Isn't it supposed to be "like cars in the city, they've never looked so pretty"? Just a thought...
 

JUSTIN
Lead Player
#20 by JUSTIN LOCKHART at Oct 17, 2007 at 11:27 PM EST
According to the lyrics booklet in the japanese cd, the line is 'by candles in the city'.
 

Justin
Wanna Be
#21 by Justin Neafsey at Oct 18, 2007 at 2:32 PM EST
Correct lyrics: analyse a self-fulfilling prophecy of endless possibilty your warning rings across the street in algebra, in algebra the fences that you cannot climb the sentences that do not rhyme in all that you can ever change the one you're looking for it gets you down x2 there's no spark no light in the dark it gets you down x2 you travel far what have you found? that there's no time there's no time to analyse to think things through to make sense like candles in the city you'll never look so pretty while powercuts and blackouts sleeping like babies it gets you down x2 you're just playing a part x2 you're playing a part x2 oh there's no time there's no time to analyse analyze x3
 

chOxY
Rhythm Player
#22 by chOxY at Oct 18, 2007 at 3:17 PM EST
hahah saywhat...why would interpreting songs distort them? If songs could only be viewed one way, they wouldn't be songs, they'd be pointless. Music can reach anybody in any number of ways. You also don't hafta write songs to like it. So this doesn't look like an all out bash...I kind of wish it was "cows in the city"...it's a really stupid line that's kind of cute. The "it gets you down" line is probably my favorite line off of this album. That one bit gets stuck in my head a lot...it's just cool.
 

little
Average
#23 by little emo at Oct 18, 2007 at 10:51 PM EST
Well, it's my favorite song on the album. Too bad I still can't understand it.
 

Alex
Average
#24 by Alex P at Oct 21, 2007 at 5:24 PM EST
Official lyrics: a self fulfilling prophecy of endless possibilty in rolling reams across a screen in algebra in algebra in fences that you cannot climb in sentences that do not rhyme in all that you can never change the one your looking for it gets you down it gets you down theres no spark no light in the dark it gets you down it gets you down youve travelled far what have you have found? that theres no time theres no time to analyse to think things thru to make sense by candles in the city you never looked so pretty by powercuts and blackouts sleeping like babies it gets you down it gets you down you're just playing a part you're just playing a part you're playing a part playing a part but theres no time theres no time to analyse analyse analyse analyse
 

Vicky
Average
#25 by Vicky Barnard at Oct 21, 2007 at 8:05 PM EST
Something's restricting Thom (or whoever the focus of the song is on) from spending too much time just thinking about a particular problem. He doesn't have loads of time to analyse, so he has to make split-second decisions, which is hard for him. I can identify with this song--I always want to think things through and overanalyse, but you can't do that with everything.
 
 
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