The song was inspired by an extremely negative review of Radiohead's july 7th 2001 gig in their hometown Oxford. That review upset Thom especially, because that show had been one of the truly great moments for the band, the memory of which was now ruined permanently, hence lines like "you had to piss on our parade/you had to shred our big day".
This early draft of lyrics was added by Thom at the bottom of a lyric sheet that also featured the finished lyrics of the song. He used this sheet during the summer 2002 shows in Spain and Portugal, apparently he couldn't remember all the lyrics yet. At some point, this piece of paper was fortunately thrown into the audience:
This early draft of lyrics was added by Thom at the bottom of a lyric sheet that also featured the finished lyrics of the song. He used this sheet during the summer 2002 shows in Spain and Portugal, apparently he couldn't remember all the lyrics yet. At some point, this piece of paper was fortunately thrown into the audience:
go ahead the stage is yours.
if you think you can do better you used to be alright, what-happened? keep moving or you r dead. keep moving or you r dead. how i wish you'd stay out of my face. there's always someone spoils the party just you wait till your chained down worried and unhinged you have really gone and done it now just a trick to make you stupid all these sad heroics let me tell you how it really is we are here to spoil your party empty vessels make the most noise survival of the fittest wading through the marshes hypocrits, opportunists, userers flatterers and thiefs. im sick of all your bullshit. im sick of all these fucking mindgames. who invited you anyway? |
When played on the Iberian Tour in 2002, the song featured a few lyrical and structural differences. The second 'You had to piss on our parade' chorus, that is featured here, was still part of the song when the band recorded it in L.A. two months later, but it got edited out from the final version to shorten the track.
The recording presented here comes from the concert on july 31st 2002 in San Sebastián, Spain:
The recording presented here comes from the concert on july 31st 2002 in San Sebastián, Spain:
nothing's ever good enough for you
I was there, it wasn't like that
you've come here just to dig the dirt
you had to piss on our parade
you had to shred our big day
you had to ruin it for all concerned
in a drunken punch-up at a wedding, yeah
hypocrite opportunist
don't infect me with your poison
a bully in a china shop
when I turn 'round you stay frozen to the spot
you had to piss on our parade
you had to shred our big day
you had to ruin it for all concerned
in a drunken punch-up at a wedding
the pointless snide remarks
of hammer-headed sharks
the pot will call the kettle black
it's a drunken punch-up at a wedding, yeah
On December 18th 2002, Thom played the song during Radiohead's 4th webcast. This performance features some lyrical differences, that either mirror early lyrics, that might have been heard in the demo he recorded in late 2001/early 2002, or are new lyrics that ultimately weren't used. Note that Thom doesn't sing the 'pointless snide remarks' verse at the end:
nothing's ever good enough for you
I was there, it wasn't like that
black thunder clouds hanging over your head
don't piss on our parade
don't shred our big day
don't ruin it for all concerned
in a drunken punch-up at a wedding, yeah
hypocrite opportunist
don't infect me with your poison
a bully in a china shop
when I turn 'round you stay frozen to the spot
don't piss on our parade
don't shred our big day
don't ruin it for all concerned
in a drunken punch-up at a wedding, yeah
On March 30th 2003, the rough mix of the song leaked and it represents the state of work from February. This version has a clean intro (no crossfade from 'I Will') and features some very rough edits, made in order to reduce the length of the track. Most noticably, the final chorus was shortened considerably. Considering the careless execution of these edits ("You had to/pointless snide remarks"), this is probably just a quick test to see whether such an edit would work at all: