Radiohead is an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985.… Read Full Bio ↴Radiohead is an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass); Ed O'Brien (guitar, backing vocals); and Philip Selway (drums, percussion). They have worked with the producer Nigel Godrich and the cover artist Stanley Donwood since 1994. Radiohead's experimental approach is credited with advancing the sound of alternative rock.

Radiohead signed to EMI in 1991 and released their debut album, Pablo Honey, in 1993; their debut single, "Creep", became a worldwide hit. Radiohead's popularity and critical standing rose with the release of The Bends in 1995. Radiohead's third album, OK Computer (1997), brought them international fame; noted for its complex production and themes of modern alienation, it is acclaimed as a landmark record and one of the best albums in popular music.

Radiohead's fourth album, Kid A (2000), marked a dramatic change in style, incorporating influences from electronic music, jazz, classical music and krautrock. Though Kid A divided listeners, it later attracted wide acclaim. It was followed by Amnesiac (2001), recorded in the same sessions. Hail to the Thief (2003), with lyrics addressing the War on Terror, was Radiohead's final album for EMI.

Radiohead self-released their seventh album, In Rainbows (2007), as a download for which customers could set their own price, to critical and chart success. Their eighth album, The King of Limbs (2011), an exploration of rhythm, was developed using extensive looping and sampling. A Moon Shaped Pool (2016) prominently featured Jonny Greenwood's orchestral arrangements. Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, Selway, and O'Brien have released solo albums; in 2021, Yorke and Jonny Greenwood debuted a new band, the Smile.

By 2011, Radiohead had sold more than 30 million albums worldwide. Their awards include six Grammy Awards and four Ivor Novello Awards, and they hold five Mercury Prize nominations, the most of any act. Seven Radiohead singles have reached the top 10 on the UK Singles Chart: "Creep" (1992), "Street Spirit (Fade Out)" (1996), "Paranoid Android" (1997), "Karma Police" (1997), "No Surprises" (1998), "Pyramid Song" (2001), and "There There" (2003). "Creep" and "Nude" (2008) reached the top 40 on the US Billboard Hot 100. Rolling Stone named Radiohead one of the 100 greatest artists of all time, and Rolling Stone readers voted them the second-best artist of the 2000s. Five Radiohead albums have been included in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time lists. Radiohead were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019.

Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiohead

Studio albums
Pablo Honey (1993)
The Bends (1995)
OK Computer (1997)
Kid A (2000)
Amnesiac (2001)
Hail to the Thief (2003)
In Rainbows (2007)
The King of Limbs (2011)
A Moon Shaped Pool (2016)

Egyptian Song
Radiohead Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Jumped in the river, what did I see?
Black-eyed angels swam with me
A moon full of stars and astral cars
And all the figures I used to see

All my lovers were there with me
All my past and future
And we all went to heaven in a little rowboat

There was nothing to fear, nothing to doubt

Jumped into the river
Black-eyed angels swam with me
A moon full of stars and astral cars
And all the figures I used to see

All my lovers were there with me
All my past and future
And we all went to heaven in a little rowboat
There was nothing to fear, nothing to doubt

There was nothing to fear, nothing to doubt
There was nothing to fear, nothing to doubt

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Radiohead's song "Egyptian Song" is a surreal and dreamlike depiction of the singer jumping in a river and being accompanied by black-eyed angels. As he swims through the water, he sees a moon full of stars and astral cars. The singer also encounters all the "figures" from his past and future, including all his lovers. Despite the strange encounter, the singer and his companions in the boat feel no fear or doubt and end up going to heaven.

The song is open to interpretation, but one possible interpretation is that the experience represents a kind of purging or cleansing of the singer's emotions and memories. The black-eyed angels and heavenly journey suggest a kind of spiritual transformation, with the moon and stars as symbols of transcendence. The inclusion of former lovers could also suggest a kind of closure or acceptance of past relationships before moving on to the afterlife.

Overall, "Egyptian Song" offers a meditative and surreal glimpse into the afterlife, with vivid imagery that is both haunting and peaceful.

Line by Line Meaning

Jumped in the river, what did I see?
I went into the river and saw something that surprised me.

Black-eyed angels swam with me
I saw black-eyed angels swimming with me.

A moon full of stars and astral cars
I saw a moon with a lot of stars and astral cars.

And all the figures I used to see
I saw all the figures that I used to see.

All my lovers were there with me
All my lovers were with me.

All my past and future
Everything from my past and future was with me.

And we all went to heaven in a little rowboat
All of us, including myself and my lovers, went to heaven in a little rowboat.

There was nothing to fear, nothing to doubt
There was no reason to have fear or doubt.

Jumped into the river
I jumped into the river.

There was nothing to fear, nothing to doubt
There was no reason to have fear or doubt.