"It's ver… Read Full Bio ↴Thom recently talked about "Morning Bell" in an interview:
"It's very, very violent. Extremely violent. The really weird thing about that was I wrote the song with all the words pretty much straight away, which is basically the only one I did that with. I recorded it onto MiniDisc and then there was a lightning storm, and it wiped the MiniDisc and I lost the song. I completely forgot it. Then five months later, I was on a plane, knackered for 24 hours, I was just falling asleep, and I remembered it. It was really weird, I never had that before. It's gone in and took a long time to come out again. The lyrics are really... they're not as dramatic as they sound, you know? Except "Cut the kids in half", which is dramatic no matter which way you read it."
Morning Bell
Radiohead Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Morning bell
Light another candle
Release me
Release me
You can keep the furniture
A bump on the head
Release me
Release me
Please
Release me
Release me
Where'd you park the car?
Where'd you park the car?
Clothes are on the lawn with the furniture
Now I might as well
I might as well
Sleepy jack the fire drill
Run around, around,around, around, around, and round
Around
Cut the kids in half
Cut the kids in half
Cut the kids in half
A glass, a gun, a bullet for us will make
Everybody wants to be a friend and nobody wants to be a slave
Walking, walking, walking, walking
Walking, walking, walking, walking
Walking, walking, walking, walking
Walking, walking, walking, walking
Walking, walking, walking, walking
Walking, walking, walking, walking
Walking, walking, walking, walking
Walking, walking, walking, walking
Radiohead's Morning Bell is a hauntingly beautiful song that captures the feelings of entrapment, suffocation, and desperation. The lyrics of the song are cryptic and obscure, but one can infer that the song is about an individual who is trapped in a situation they cannot escape from. The repetition of "Morning bell" at the outset of the song serves as a kind of wake-up call or a reminder of the start of a new day, which the singer either wishes to embrace or wishes to escape from. The lines "light another candle" and "release me" suggest a desire to break free from the stifling reality they are in.
The chorus of "Where'd you park the car?" and the lines "clothes are on the lawn with the furniture" give the impression that the singer has emotionally and mentally checked out of their surroundings. The disturbing line, "cut the kids in half" is jarring as it implies cutting ties with responsibilities or perhaps family members to escape. The repetition of "walking" at the end of the song suggests that despite exhaustive efforts, no progress has been made in finding a way out.
Morning Bell is a song that continues to prove Radiohead's ability to create music that is introspective, challenging and thought-provoking.
Line by Line Meaning
Morning bell
The beginning of a new day
Morning bell
The repetition of the beginning of a new day
Light another candle
Another day has begun
Release me
The singer wants to be set free
Release me
Repeated to emphasize the desire to be free
You can keep the furniture
The singer no longer wants material possessions
A bump on the head
A metaphor for being confused/disoriented
I'm howling down the chimney
A release of emotions, like a howl
Release me
Still pleading to be set free
Release me
Still pleading to be set free
Please
An added emphasis to the plea
Release me
The final plea to be set free
Where'd you park the car?
An unrelated question, possibly reflecting confusion
Where'd you park the car?
Repeated to emphasize the confusion the singer is feeling
Clothes are on the lawn with the furniture
The singer has discarded possessions
Now I might as well
The singer has accepted their new situation
I might as well
Repeated for emphasis
Sleepy jack the fire drill
A nonsensical phrase meant to convey confusion
Run around, around,around, around, around, and round
A repetition of movement, perhaps aimless
Cut the kids in half
An expression of anger or frustration
Cut the kids in half
Repeated for emphasis
Cut the kids in half
The third repetition of the phrase, further emphasizing the feeling of anger or frustration
A glass, a gun, a bullet for us will make
A suicidal thought or metaphor
Everybody wants to be a friend and nobody wants to be a slave
A commentary on the nature of relationships
Walking, walking, walking, walking
The repetition of a simple action
Walking, walking, walking, walking
Repeated for emphasis
Walking, walking, walking, walking
Still repeated for emphasis
Walking, walking, walking, walking
The final repetition of the phrase
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Jonathan Richard Guy Greenwood, Colin Charles Greenwood, Edward John O'Brien, Philip James Selway, Thomas Edward Yorke
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind