Пятница 7 Июл 2006, 9:57

Yorke is known for not releasing official lyrics for his work, so presenting for your entertainment, lyrics (as accurately as I can make them) and an interpretation:

————————————————————–
No more going to the dark side with your flying saucer eyes
No more falling down a wormhole that I have to pull you out

The wriggling, twiggling worm inside devours from the inside out
No more talk about the old days
It's time for something great

I want you to get out
And make it work

So many allies
So many allies
So many allies
So many allies
So feel the love come off of them
And take me in your arms

Peel all of your layers off
I want to eat your artichoke heart
No more leaky holes in your brain
And no false starts

I wanna get out
And make it work

So many allies
So many allies
So many allies
So many allies
So feel the love come off of them
And take me in your arms

I wanna get out
And make it work

I want you to get out
And make it work

It'll be ok
————————————————————–

First off, the title of the song.

Atoms for Peace was a presidential address given to the United Nations by Dwight Eisenhower in 1953.

In short, the speech focused on the peaceful uses of atomic energy (remember this speech was given during the early phase of the Cold War). Its purpose was to "convey a spirit of comfort to a terrified world" after this energy was used for such massively destructive purposes in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

{Transcript of Eisenhower's Speech to the United Nations' General Assembly: http://www.eisenhower.archives.gov/atoms.htm}

Now that we have the title out of the way.. I believe this song is a personal one for Thom.

I believe he is confronting someone he loves.

Thom has realized that this person has come to feel alone, depressed, and has chosen to escape their current reality, probably with the help of drugs.

This friend has become dissociative, and only thinks back on their past, no longer concered with their future.

No more going to the dark side with your flying saucer eyes

If you've ever been a tripsitter, you know how it is to comfort someone in the grips of a hallucinogenic trip.

Their pupils become very dialated (large and black), much like the appearance of a flying saucer.

No more falling down a wormhole that I have to pull you out

Someone tripping can lose all concept of space and time, theoretically similar to a space wormhole (Stephen Hawking describes a wormhole as a thin tube of space-time connecting distant regions of the universe that could provide the possibility of time travel).

Thom is trying to bring this friend 'back to Earth' by waking them up and pulling them out of the hole they've dug for themselves.

The wriggling, twiggling worm inside devours from the inside out

The line about the "wriggling, twiggling worm" was added to the song more for effect than anything. Thom added this line right after the 'wormhole' lyric, making the wormhole almost as literal as it is figurative.

No more talk about the old days
It's time for something great

I want you to get out
And make it work

So many allies
So many allies
So many allies
So many allies
So feel the love come off of them
And take me in your arms

The only comment I wanted to make is his use of the word "allies" as I suspect this is also a reference to Eisenhower's presidential address, as the president mentioned that Canada, Great Britain and France were all allies in the quest for peaceful uses of atomic energy.

As I've already mentioned, the purpose of this speech was to "convey a spirit of comfort to a terrified world" after atomic energy had been used for such atrocious acts merely years earlier in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Peel all of your layers off
I want to eat your artichoke heart

Thom cares about this friend a lot!

If you've never seen an artichoke heart, they sort of look like a pussy. :)

{Artichoke heart image - http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/images/artichokeheart.jpg}

{Note: I've gotta give credit to my girlfriend on this one, she spotted the pussy thing pretty quickly.}

No more leaky holes in your brain
And no false starts

I wanna get out
And make it work

A common fear about some hallucinogenic drugs is the idea that they will cause toxic substances to attack your brain, causing holes and other nonsense.

Depending on chemicals for peace of mind and happiness is addiction. Thom wants this person to stop their abuse.

He doesn't want to hear about anymore half-assed attempts to change their lifestyle; he only wants them to get out and make it work, damnit.

To summarize, Thom has created a parallelism between Eisenhower's calming speech to a frightened world, and Thom's own calming speech to his friend, as they are both dealing with chemicals as a means for peaceful solutions.

The rest of the lyrics are self-explanatory.

Thank you.

Thom Yorke