You can force it but it will not come
You can taste it but it will not form
You can crush it but it's always here
You can crush it but it's always near
Chasing you home
Saying, everything is broken
Everyone is broken
You can force it but it will stay stung
You can crush it as dry as a bone
You can walk it home straight from school
You can kiss, you can break all the rules
But still, everything is broken
Everyone is broken
Everyone is, everyone is broken
Everyone is, everything is broken
Why can't you forget?
Why can't you forget?
Why can't you forget?
Radiohead - The Bends Album Lyrics
Radiohead - The Bends Lyrics
Writer: Colin Charles Greenwood, Edward John O'Brien, Jonathan Richard Guy Greenwood, Philip James Selway, Thomas Edward Yorke
Copyright: Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Copyright: Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
The Bends
Where do we go from here?
The words are coming out all weird
Where are you now, when I need you
Alone on an aeroplane
Fall asleep on against the window pane
My blood will thicken
I need to wash myself again to hide all the dirt and pain
'Cause I'd be scared that there's nothing underneath
But who are my real friends?
Have they all got the bends?
Am I really sinking this low?
My baby's got the bends, oh no
We don't have any real friends, no, no, no
Just lying in the bar with my drip feed on
Talking to my girlfriend, waiting for something to happen
I wish it was the sixties, I wish I could be happy
I wish, I wish, I wish that something would happen
Where do we go from here?
The planet is a gunboat in a sea of fear
And where are you?
They brought in the CIA, the tanks and the whole marines
To blow me away, to blow me sky high
My baby's got the bends
We don't have any real friends
Just lying in the bar with my drip feed on
Talking to my girlfriend, waiting for something to happen
I wish it was the sixties, I wish I could be happy
I wish, I wish, I wish that something would happen
I wanna live, breathe
I wanna be part of the human race
I wanna live, breathe
I wanna be part of the human race, race, race, race
Where do we go from here?
The words are coming out all weird
Where are you now when I need you?
The words are coming out all weird
Where are you now, when I need you
Alone on an aeroplane
Fall asleep on against the window pane
My blood will thicken
I need to wash myself again to hide all the dirt and pain
'Cause I'd be scared that there's nothing underneath
But who are my real friends?
Have they all got the bends?
Am I really sinking this low?
My baby's got the bends, oh no
We don't have any real friends, no, no, no
Just lying in the bar with my drip feed on
Talking to my girlfriend, waiting for something to happen
I wish it was the sixties, I wish I could be happy
I wish, I wish, I wish that something would happen
Where do we go from here?
The planet is a gunboat in a sea of fear
And where are you?
They brought in the CIA, the tanks and the whole marines
To blow me away, to blow me sky high
My baby's got the bends
We don't have any real friends
Just lying in the bar with my drip feed on
Talking to my girlfriend, waiting for something to happen
I wish it was the sixties, I wish I could be happy
I wish, I wish, I wish that something would happen
I wanna live, breathe
I wanna be part of the human race
I wanna live, breathe
I wanna be part of the human race, race, race, race
Where do we go from here?
The words are coming out all weird
Where are you now when I need you?
Writer: COLIN CHARLES GREENWOOD, EDWARD JOHN O'BRIEN, JONATHAN RICHARD GUY GREENWOOD, PHILIP JAMES SELWAY, THOMAS EDWARD YORKE
Copyright: Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Copyright: Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
High And Dry
Two jumps in a week
I bet you think that's pretty clever, don't you, boy?
Flying on your motorcycle
Watching all the ground beneath you drop
You'd kill yourself for recognition
Kill yourself to never, ever stop
You broke another mirror
You're turning into something you are not
Don't leave me high
Don't leave me dry
Don't leave me high
Don't leave me dry
Drying up in conversation
You will be the one who cannot talk
All your insides fall to pieces
You just sit there wishing you could still make love
They're the ones who'll hate you
When you think you've got the world all sussed out
They're the ones who'll spit at you
You will be the one screaming out
Don't leave me high
Don't leave me dry
Don't leave me high
Don't leave me dry
Oh, it's the best thing that you've ever had
The best thing that you've ever, ever had
It's the best thing that you've ever had
The best thing you have had is gone away
So don't leave me high
Don't leave me dry
Don't leave me high
Don't leave me dry
Don't leave me high
Don't leave me high
Don't leave me dry
I bet you think that's pretty clever, don't you, boy?
Flying on your motorcycle
Watching all the ground beneath you drop
You'd kill yourself for recognition
Kill yourself to never, ever stop
You broke another mirror
You're turning into something you are not
Don't leave me high
Don't leave me dry
Don't leave me high
Don't leave me dry
Drying up in conversation
You will be the one who cannot talk
All your insides fall to pieces
You just sit there wishing you could still make love
They're the ones who'll hate you
When you think you've got the world all sussed out
They're the ones who'll spit at you
You will be the one screaming out
Don't leave me high
Don't leave me dry
Don't leave me high
Don't leave me dry
Oh, it's the best thing that you've ever had
The best thing that you've ever, ever had
It's the best thing that you've ever had
The best thing you have had is gone away
So don't leave me high
Don't leave me dry
Don't leave me high
Don't leave me dry
Don't leave me high
Don't leave me high
Don't leave me dry
Writer: Colin Charles Greenwood, Edward John O'Brien, Jonathan Richard Guy Greenwood, Philip James Selway, Thomas Edward Yorke
Copyright: Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Copyright: Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Fake Plastic Trees
A green plastic watering can
For a fake Chinese rubber plant
In the fake plastic earth
That she bought from a rubber man
In a town full of rubber plans
To get rid of itself
It wears her out
It wears her out
It wears her out
It wears her out
She lives with a broken man
A cracked polystyrene man
Who just crumbles and burns
He used to do surgery
For girls in the eighties
But gravity always wins
And it wears him out
It wears him out
It wears him out
It wears
She looks like the real thing
She tastes like the real thing
My fake plastic love
But I can't help the feeling
I could blow through the ceiling
If I just turn and run
And it wears me out
It wears me out
It wears me out
It wears me out
And if I could be who you wanted
If I could be who you wanted
All the time
All the time
Oh
For a fake Chinese rubber plant
In the fake plastic earth
That she bought from a rubber man
In a town full of rubber plans
To get rid of itself
It wears her out
It wears her out
It wears her out
It wears her out
She lives with a broken man
A cracked polystyrene man
Who just crumbles and burns
He used to do surgery
For girls in the eighties
But gravity always wins
And it wears him out
It wears him out
It wears him out
It wears
She looks like the real thing
She tastes like the real thing
My fake plastic love
But I can't help the feeling
I could blow through the ceiling
If I just turn and run
And it wears me out
It wears me out
It wears me out
It wears me out
And if I could be who you wanted
If I could be who you wanted
All the time
All the time
Oh
Writer: Jonathan Richard Guy Greenwood, Colin Charles Greenwood, Edward John O'Brien, Philip James Selway, Thomas Edward Yorke
Copyright: Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Copyright: Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Bones
I don't want to be crippled cracked
Shoulders, wrists, knees and back
Ground to dust and ash
Crawling on all fours
When you've got to feel it in your bones
When you've got to feel it in your bones
Now I can't climb the stairs
Pieces missing everywhere
Prozak painkillers
When you've got to feel it in your bones
When you've got to feel it in your bones
And I used to fly like peter pan
All the children flew when I touched their hands
When you've got to feel it in your bones
When you've got to feel it in your bones
Shoulders, wrists, knees and back
Ground to dust and ash
Crawling on all fours
When you've got to feel it in your bones
When you've got to feel it in your bones
Now I can't climb the stairs
Pieces missing everywhere
Prozak painkillers
When you've got to feel it in your bones
When you've got to feel it in your bones
And I used to fly like peter pan
All the children flew when I touched their hands
When you've got to feel it in your bones
When you've got to feel it in your bones
Writer: COLIN CHARLES GREENWOOD, EDWARD JOHN O'BRIEN, JONATHAN RICHARD GUY GREENWOOD, PHILIP JAMES SELWAY, THOMAS EDWARD YORKE
Copyright: Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Copyright: Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
(Nice Dream)
They love me like I was a brother
They protect me
Listen to me
They dug me my very own garden
Gave me sunshine
Made me happy
Nice dream
Nice dream
Nice dream
I call up my friend the good angel
But she's out with
Her answer-phone
She says she'd love to come help but
The sea would
Electrocute us all
Nice dream
Nice dream
Nice dream
Nice dream
Nice dream
Nice dream
Nice dream, if you think that you're strong enough
Nice dream, if you think you belong enough
Nice dream, if you think that you're strong enough
Nice dream, if you think you belong enough
Now come home
Now come home
Now come home
Now come home
Nice dream
Nice dream
Nice dream
Nice dream
They protect me
Listen to me
They dug me my very own garden
Gave me sunshine
Made me happy
Nice dream
Nice dream
Nice dream
I call up my friend the good angel
But she's out with
Her answer-phone
She says she'd love to come help but
The sea would
Electrocute us all
Nice dream
Nice dream
Nice dream
Nice dream
Nice dream
Nice dream
Nice dream, if you think that you're strong enough
Nice dream, if you think you belong enough
Nice dream, if you think that you're strong enough
Nice dream, if you think you belong enough
Now come home
Now come home
Now come home
Now come home
Nice dream
Nice dream
Nice dream
Nice dream
Writer: Colin Charles Greenwood, Edward John O'Brien, Jonathan Richard Guy Greenwood, Philip James Selway, Thomas Edward Yorke
Copyright: Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Copyright: Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Just
Can't get the stink off
He's been hanging 'round for days
Comes like a comet
Suckered you but not your friends
One day he'll get to you
And teach you how to be a holy cow
You do it to yourself, you do
And that's what really hurts
Is that you do it to yourself, just you
You and no one else
You do it to yourself
You do it to yourself
Don't get my sympathy
Hanging out the fifteenth floor
You've changed the locks three times
I still come reeling through the door
One day I'll get to you
And teach you how to get to purest hell
You do it to yourself you do
And that's what really hurts
Is that you do it to yourself, just you
You and no one else
You do it to yourself
You do it to yourself
You do it to yourself you do
And that's why it really hurts
Is that you do it to yourself just you
You and no one else
You do it to yourself
You do it to yourself, self
You do it to yourself, you do it to yourself
Yeah, yeah, you do it to yourself, yes, yes, you
You do it to yourself
He's been hanging 'round for days
Comes like a comet
Suckered you but not your friends
One day he'll get to you
And teach you how to be a holy cow
You do it to yourself, you do
And that's what really hurts
Is that you do it to yourself, just you
You and no one else
You do it to yourself
You do it to yourself
Don't get my sympathy
Hanging out the fifteenth floor
You've changed the locks three times
I still come reeling through the door
One day I'll get to you
And teach you how to get to purest hell
You do it to yourself you do
And that's what really hurts
Is that you do it to yourself, just you
You and no one else
You do it to yourself
You do it to yourself
You do it to yourself you do
And that's why it really hurts
Is that you do it to yourself just you
You and no one else
You do it to yourself
You do it to yourself, self
You do it to yourself, you do it to yourself
Yeah, yeah, you do it to yourself, yes, yes, you
You do it to yourself
Writer: Colin Charles Greenwood, Edward John O'Brien, Jonathan Richard Guy Greenwood, Philip James Selway, Thomas Edward Yorke
Copyright: Lyrics © Sentric Music, Downtown Music Publishing, Songtrust Ave, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Copyright: Lyrics © Sentric Music, Downtown Music Publishing, Songtrust Ave, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
My Iron Lung
Faith, you're driving me away
You do it everyday
You don't mean it but it hurts like hell
My brain says I'm receiving pain
A lack of oxygen from my life support
My iron lung
We're too young to fall asleep
Too cynical to speak
We are loosing it, can't you tell?
We scratch our eternal itch
Our twentieth century bitch and we are grateful for our
Iron lung
Suck, suck your teenage thumb
Toilet trained and dumb
When the power runs out we'll just hum
This this is our new song
Just like the last one
A total waste of time
My iron lung
If you're frightened
You can be frightened
You can be, it's okay
If you're frightened
You can be frightened
You can be, it's okay
You do it everyday
You don't mean it but it hurts like hell
My brain says I'm receiving pain
A lack of oxygen from my life support
My iron lung
We're too young to fall asleep
Too cynical to speak
We are loosing it, can't you tell?
We scratch our eternal itch
Our twentieth century bitch and we are grateful for our
Iron lung
Suck, suck your teenage thumb
Toilet trained and dumb
When the power runs out we'll just hum
This this is our new song
Just like the last one
A total waste of time
My iron lung
If you're frightened
You can be frightened
You can be, it's okay
If you're frightened
You can be frightened
You can be, it's okay
Writer: Colin Charles Greenwood, Edward John O'Brien, Jonathan Richard Guy Greenwood, Philip James Selway, Thomas Edward Yorke
Copyright: Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Downtown Music Publishing, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Copyright: Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Downtown Music Publishing, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Bullet Proof ... I Wish I Was
Limb by limb and tooth by tooth
Stirring up inside of me
Every day every hour
I wish that I was bullet proof
Wax me
Mould me
Heat the pins and stab them in
You have turned me into this
Just wish that it was bullet proof
So pay the money and take a shot
Lead, fill the hole in me
I could burst a million bubbles
All surrogate and bullet proof
And bullet proof
And bullet proof
And bullet proof
Stirring up inside of me
Every day every hour
I wish that I was bullet proof
Wax me
Mould me
Heat the pins and stab them in
You have turned me into this
Just wish that it was bullet proof
So pay the money and take a shot
Lead, fill the hole in me
I could burst a million bubbles
All surrogate and bullet proof
And bullet proof
And bullet proof
And bullet proof
Writer: Colin Charles Greenwood, Edward John O'Brien, Jonathan Richard Guy Greenwood, Philip James Selway, Thomas Edward Yorke
Copyright: Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Copyright: Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Black Star
I get home from work and you're still standing in your dressing gown
Well what am I to do?
I know all the things around your head and what they do to you
What are we coming to?
What are we gonna do?
Blame it on the black star
Blame it on the falling sky
Blame it on the satellite that beams me home
The troubled words of a troubled mind I try to understand what is eating you
I try to stay awake but its 58 hours since that I last slept with you
What are we coming to?
I just don't know anymore
Blame it on the black star
Blame it on the falling sky
Blame it on the satellite that beams me home
I get on the train and I just stand about now that I don't think of you
I keep falling over I keep passing out when I see a face like you
What am I coming to?
I'm gonna melt down
Blame it on the black star
Blame it on the falling sky
Blame it on the satellite that beams me home
This is killing me
This is killing me
Well what am I to do?
I know all the things around your head and what they do to you
What are we coming to?
What are we gonna do?
Blame it on the black star
Blame it on the falling sky
Blame it on the satellite that beams me home
The troubled words of a troubled mind I try to understand what is eating you
I try to stay awake but its 58 hours since that I last slept with you
What are we coming to?
I just don't know anymore
Blame it on the black star
Blame it on the falling sky
Blame it on the satellite that beams me home
I get on the train and I just stand about now that I don't think of you
I keep falling over I keep passing out when I see a face like you
What am I coming to?
I'm gonna melt down
Blame it on the black star
Blame it on the falling sky
Blame it on the satellite that beams me home
This is killing me
This is killing me
Writer: COLIN CHARLES GREENWOOD, EDWARD JOHN O'BRIEN, JONATHAN RICHARD GUY GREENWOOD, PHILIP SELWAY, PHILIP JAMES SELWAY, THOMAS YORKE, THOMAS EDWARD YORKE
Copyright: Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Copyright: Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Sulk
You bite through the big wall, the big wall bites back
You just sit there and sulk, sit there and bawl
You are so pretty when you're on your knees
Disinfected, eager to please
Sometimes you sulk, sometimes you burn
God rest your soul
When the loving comes and we've already gone
Just like your dad, you'll never change
Each time it comes it eats me alive
I try to behave but it eats me alive
So I declare a holiday
Fall asleep, drift away
Sometimes you sulk, sometimes you burn
God rest your soul
When the loving comes and we've already gone
Just like your dad, you'll never change
Sometimes you sulk, sometimes you burn
God rest your soul
When the loving comes and we've already gone
Just like your dad, you'll never change
You just sit there and sulk, sit there and bawl
You are so pretty when you're on your knees
Disinfected, eager to please
Sometimes you sulk, sometimes you burn
God rest your soul
When the loving comes and we've already gone
Just like your dad, you'll never change
Each time it comes it eats me alive
I try to behave but it eats me alive
So I declare a holiday
Fall asleep, drift away
Sometimes you sulk, sometimes you burn
God rest your soul
When the loving comes and we've already gone
Just like your dad, you'll never change
Sometimes you sulk, sometimes you burn
God rest your soul
When the loving comes and we've already gone
Just like your dad, you'll never change
Writer: COLIN CHARLES GREENWOOD, EDWARD JOHN O'BRIEN, JONATHAN RICHARD GUY GREENWOOD, PHILIP JAMES SELWAY, THOMAS EDWARD YORKE
Copyright: Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Copyright: Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Street Spirit (Fade Out)
Rows of houses all bearing down on me
I can feel their blue hands touching me
All these things into position
All these things we'll one day swallow whole
And fade out again and fade out
This machine will, will not communicate
These thoughts and the strain I am under
Be a world child, form a circle
Before we all go under
And fade out again
And fade out again
Cracked eggs, dead birds
Scream as they fight for life
I can feel death, can see its beady eyes
All these things into position
All these things we'll one day swallow whole
And fade out again
And fade out again
Immerse your soul in love
Immerse your soul in love
I can feel their blue hands touching me
All these things into position
All these things we'll one day swallow whole
And fade out again and fade out
This machine will, will not communicate
These thoughts and the strain I am under
Be a world child, form a circle
Before we all go under
And fade out again
And fade out again
Cracked eggs, dead birds
Scream as they fight for life
I can feel death, can see its beady eyes
All these things into position
All these things we'll one day swallow whole
And fade out again
And fade out again
Immerse your soul in love
Immerse your soul in love
Writer: Colin Charles Greenwood, Edward John O'Brien, Jonathan Richard Guy Greenwood, Philip James Selway, Thomas Edward Yorke
Copyright: Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Songtrust Ave, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Copyright: Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Songtrust Ave, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
The Bends is the second studio album by the English rock band Radiohead, released on 13 March 1995 by Parlophone. It was produced by John Leckie, with extra production by Radiohead, Nigel Godrich and Jim Warren. The Bends combines guitar songs and ballads, with more restrained arrangements and cryptic lyrics than Radiohead's debut album, Pablo Honey (1993).
Work began at RAK Studios, London, in February 1994. Tensions were high, with pressure from Parlophone to match sales of Radiohead's debut single, "Creep", and progress was slow. After an international tour in May and June, Radiohead resumed work at Abbey Road in London and the Manor in Oxfordshire. The Bends was the first Radiohead album recorded with Godrich and the artist Stanley Donwood, who have worked on every Radiohead album since.
Several singles were released, backed by music videos: "My Iron Lung", the double A-side "High and Dry / Planet Telex", "Fake Plastic Trees", "Just", and Radiohead's first top-five entry on the UK Singles Chart, "Street Spirit (Fade Out)". "The Bends" was also released as a single in Ireland. A live video, Live at the Astoria, was released on VHS. Radiohead toured extensively in support of The Bends, including US tours supporting R.E.M. and Alanis Morissette.
The Bends reached number four on the UK Albums Chart, but failed to build on the success of "Creep" outside the UK, reaching number 88 on the US Billboard 200. It received greater acclaim than Pablo Honey, including a nomination for Best British Album at the Brit Awards 1996, and elevated Radiohead from one-hit-wonders to one of the most recognised British bands.
It is frequently named one of the greatest albums of all time, cited in lists including Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums and all three editions of Rolling Stone's lists of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. The Bends is credited for influencing a generation of post-Britpop acts, such as Coldplay, Muse and Travis. It is certified platinum in the US and quadruple platinum in the UK.
Performed By:
RadioheadWork began at RAK Studios, London, in February 1994. Tensions were high, with pressure from Parlophone to match sales of Radiohead's debut single, "Creep", and progress was slow. After an international tour in May and June, Radiohead resumed work at Abbey Road in London and the Manor in Oxfordshire. The Bends was the first Radiohead album recorded with Godrich and the artist Stanley Donwood, who have worked on every Radiohead album since.
Several singles were released, backed by music videos: "My Iron Lung", the double A-side "High and Dry / Planet Telex", "Fake Plastic Trees", "Just", and Radiohead's first top-five entry on the UK Singles Chart, "Street Spirit (Fade Out)". "The Bends" was also released as a single in Ireland. A live video, Live at the Astoria, was released on VHS. Radiohead toured extensively in support of The Bends, including US tours supporting R.E.M. and Alanis Morissette.
The Bends reached number four on the UK Albums Chart, but failed to build on the success of "Creep" outside the UK, reaching number 88 on the US Billboard 200. It received greater acclaim than Pablo Honey, including a nomination for Best British Album at the Brit Awards 1996, and elevated Radiohead from one-hit-wonders to one of the most recognised British bands.
It is frequently named one of the greatest albums of all time, cited in lists including Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums and all three editions of Rolling Stone's lists of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. The Bends is credited for influencing a generation of post-Britpop acts, such as Coldplay, Muse and Travis. It is certified platinum in the US and quadruple platinum in the UK.
Genre(s): Alternative rock, indie rock
Producer(s): John Leckie, Radiohead, Nigel Godrich, Jim Warren
Length: 48:33
Released: March 13th, 1995
Year: 1995