Algebra

A self-fulfilling prophecy of endless possibilty
You roll in reams 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
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
There's no time
To analyse
To think things through
To make sense

Like cows in the city, they never looked so pretty
By power carts 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
And there's no time
There's no time
To analyse
Analyse
Analyse

Thom York Analyse


by buddha boy on 06-05-2006 @ 01:02:59 PM
Well, it's my favorite song on the album. Too bad I still can't understand it.

by cabeza on 07-09-2006 @ 03:28:13 PM
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...

by cabbagesoup on 07-14-2006 @ 10:28:49 PM
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...

by peace_love_empathy on 08-12-2006 @ 01:41:21 PM
this is my fave song on the album probably. i think this is about things that you cant change like death.

by steelyeti on 09-16-2006 @ 06:47:46 AM
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.

by saywhat?? on 09-16-2006 @ 05:58:46 PM
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!

by eatenbytheworms on 09-25-2006 @ 11:07:40 AM
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.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=JjHH6lP1Hxc