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In August 1998, Saddam Hussein decided to stop cooperating with UNSCOM, a UN special comission that investigated about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. In the following months the diplomatic relations between the US and the Iraq were incredibly strained, and the UN Security Council debated over sanctions. Even a US-lead air strike in order to degrade Saddam Hussein's ability to develop and deliver weapons of mass destruction was openly discussed. On november 12th 1998 the Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister, Tariq Aziz, gave a Press conference, and this small excerpt is relevant for the inception of 'Trans-Atlantic Drawl':

CNN (AMANPOUR): But sir, isn't it true that many of them have expressed dismay or at the very least surprise that at this very moment, when it appeared that there was the light at the end of the tunnel that you had so long asked for, at this moment, you chose to break cooperation with UNSCOM? And that's -- they can't understand, they say.

Mr. AZIZ: We don't see any light at the end of the tunnel, Christiane. With all respect to them, they haven't shown us -- nobody has shown us a light at the end of the tunnel.

There is a tunnel after the tunnel. Each time we cooperate and work with Butler and his group a new tunnel is being built after the first one, and the third one after the second one. And that is the experience, the conclusion I reached and the Iraqi delegation reached on the 3rd of August in our last meeting with Butler.
This quote apparently caught Thom's attention, and a while later this page, titled 'honey bear' appeared in radiohead.com:








"we dont see any light at the end of the tunnel. there is a tunnel after the tunnel."

tariq aziz
iraqs ambassador

 

This page appeared in radiohead.com during the Kid A period under the title 'andrun':





fucking in the toilets of the soho house.
help me please i am trapped on-in tv
i am trapped in the society page s
of a magazine
with a grin like road kill
with the bloodypower of kings
enough to wipe the president
i sneeze and its an exocet
the flames are rising higher
i am tied to the stake
you better start naming names
do you see light at the end of the tunnel?
jesus lord amen
yes i see light at the end of the tunnel

jesus lord
amen

 

The same content appeared in a different design in the 'imaginery prisons' section of radiohead.com at the time Amnesiac was released in spring 2001:




fucking in the toilets of the soho house.
help me please i am trapped on-in t.v
i am trapped in the society pages
of a magazine
with a grin like road kill
with the bloodypower of kings
enoughto wipe the president
i sneeze and its an exocet
the flames are rising higher
iam tied to the stake
you better start naming names
do yousee light at the end of the tunnel?
jesus lord amen
yes i see light at the end of the tunnel
jesus lord amen.



This page was titled 'micturation of the gods':

i was/i was tampered nipped and tucked/ smiling sweetly reclining in expensive desirable furniture/for your pleasure/in what the IN people are wearing now/in what clever people talk about/what you cannot afford/i was gone now im back with a new book i wanna talk about before we get to the ads after all look inside nothing going on at all the life youd like to lead white meat on a stick
if you wasnt just tryin to make ends meet. transantlantic drawl very fucking dull wth a grn lke rd kll wth th bldypwr of kngs i snze nd ts n xoct the flames are rising higher i am tied to the stake you better start naming names do you see light at the end of the tunnel? jesus lord amen yes i see light at the end of the tunnel jesus lord amen
The above page seems to have been pieced together from a more complete draft, that appeared in two further, succeeding pages from the 'imaginery prisons' section of radiohead.com:




i was born in a magazine
i was tampered nipped and tucked for a magazine
smiling sweetly reclining in expensive desirable
furniture
for you pleasure
in a magazine
in what the IN people are wearing now
in what clever people talk about
what you cannot afford
skinny girl ribs removed
from a magazine
i dont know what it mean
i think its something obscene
i was gone now im back
with a new book
i wanna talk about
before we get to the ads








do you see light at the end of the tunnel at the end
of the tunnel?
do you see light at the end of the tunnel at the end
of the tunnel?
i guess i should know better but it keeps my wait down
i am just the gaps between the ads
after all
look inside nothing going on at all
the life youd like to lead
white meat on a stick
if you wasnt just tryin to make ends meet.
1st class seat 2nd class ticket
my whole life is a bloody magazine
withr transantlantic drawl
very fucking dull
my whole life is a bloody magazine



This page, that appeared in radiohead.com during the Kid A period under the title 'END', looks like it was edited from several different early drafts. Most of these lines can be found in the pages above:

(transatlantic drawl) i was born in a magazine i am trapped in the society page of your magazine i dont know what it means i think its something obscene you better start naming namesyou better start naming names
you better start naming namesyou better start naming names
you better start naming names

do you see light at the end of the tunnel?
do you see light at the end of the tunnel?
do you see light at the end of the tunnel?
do you see light at the end of the tunnel?
do you see light at the end of the tunnel?
do you see light at the end of the tunnel?
do you see light at at the end of the tunnel?
do you see light at the end end of the tunnel? (these are things that get on my nerves)do you see light at the end of the tunnel?

you bttr start naming names
you bttr start naming naaaames
you better start nming names
you better stttt names

we dont see any light at the end of the tunnel. there is a tunnel after the tunnel. i was/i was tampered nipped and tucked/ smiling sweetly reclining in expensive desirable furniture/for your pleasure/in what the IN people are wearing now/in what clever people talk about/what you cannot afford/i was gone now im back with a new book i wanna talk about before we get to the ads after all look inside nothing going on at all the life youd like to lead white meat on a stick
if you wasnt just tryin to make ends meet. transantlantic drawl very fucking dull wth a grn lke rd kll wth th bldypwr of kngs i snze nd ts n xoct the flames are rising higher i am tied to the stake you better start naming names do you see light at the end of the tunnel? jesus lord amen yes i see light at the end of the tunnel jesus lord amen
This fourth page from the 'imaginary prisons' section features the finished lyrics:




I was born for your magazine

I am trapped in the society page
of your magazine

I dont know what it means.

do you see light at the end of the tunnel?
do you see light at the end of the tunnel?
do you see light at the end of the tunnel?
do you see light at the end of the tunnel?




("you better start naming names").


This stereo extraction from the released version reveals lyrics that are hardly audible in the full mix ("these are things that get on my nerves"/"you better start naming names"), apparently spoken by Colin. The music of the second half of the track is also here, just because it's beautiful:
'Trans-Atlantic Drawl' was released as a b-side on the Pyramid Song single on may 21st 2001. The song has never been performed live.