I see you in the dark /
corner of the street /
coming after me, yeah /
headlights on full-beam /
coming down the fast lane /
coming after me, yeah //
you follow me around //
blowing holes in everything /
Thatcher's children /
see you on the way back down /
drooling looney tunes /
moving in a swarm /
moving in a swarm //
you follow me around //
nowadays I get panicked /
I cease to exist /
I have ceased to exist /
I feel absolutely nothing /
the words are out of ink /
the words you know are out of ink //
you follow me around
During the sessions for OK Computer, the song was apparently attempted, but is unknown to what extend the band worked on it during that period.
Within a book included in a deluxe box set of the OKNOTOK reissue, there is a page containing draft lyrics for "Follow Me Around" (click image for full size):
On January 21st 1998, "Follow Me Around" was soundchecked in Fukuoka. Footage of it can be seen in Meeting People Is Easy:
A Kid A era page of radiohead.com, titled 'chickens bred bald', interestingly links the lyrics of 'Follow Me Around' and 'Kid A':
i am the bloody pied piper
rats and children follow me out of town
a scarecrow that dont scare the crows
nowadays i get panicked
i have ceased to exist
my words you know are out of ink.
drooling looney tunes
moving room to room
did you lie to us tony?
we thought you were different
but now were not so sure
now you know were not so sure.
we can blow a hole in anything
thatchers children
see you on the way back down.
kill the enemy within
unhinged cowboys and indians
moving statues
yur safe until you look away.
i would like to change back now please
to the shadow of my former self.
iam the bloody pied piper.
& the rats and the childrenll fllow me around so you hade better make it worth my while.
please allow me the suspension of your disbelief
the benefit of the doubt.
never say anything
be instrumental
remember: your present is you.
choose a good costume
During the Kid A period, these lyrics appeared in a page of radiohead.com under the title 'and yu begin':
drooling looney tunes
talking to no-one
speaking in tongues
folllowing down back streets
moving in a swarm
a milllion mouths to feed
giving me a rash
During the sessions for Kid A and Amnesiac, the band worked on the song and four entries from Ed's Diary refer to it:
wednesday, july 28th 1999
it may well be that because we are working on completely new material it seems that we have not moved much today, like yesterday. but we discussed ' follow me around' and how we would like to approach it, rather than just start playing and thereby fall into old habits. plank says he likes the 'remain in light' style jam we had which is good because we were pretty nonchalant about it. 'de la soul'esque jam at end.
thursday, august 5th 1999
much better today... the sun shines in and out of our rehearsal room and we get a lot done... start with 'optimistic' (still sounding great - jonny tries some cool ondes martenot on it - the high stuff is good, not however when he follows the main riff). move on to 'up the ladder' - sounds better with more space. segway into 'follow me around' and a reworking of the 'cminor song' (in a stax stylee). jonny meanwhile is attempting to put the vocal mic through his analogue filters - which looks like a remake of an old telephone exchange. "hello vicar, yes ill put you through to mr kipling"... so the last two songs are punctuated by sudden bursts of unearthly noises, both extremely good and extremely bad.
wednesday, september 1st 1999
i read a rumour from the internet [never believe a single nuance - sd] that we are supposed to be collaborating with 'godspeed you black emperor' on 'how to disappear' - this person cited a number of chance occurences, including such impossible coincidences as 'they came to see us at a gig'. if that were sufficient corroborating evidence then, judging on the bands i've seen recently, you can hear us with 'the divine comedy' and the mighty 'asian dub foundation'.
twice around 'follow me around' - mmm. not great, but salvaged by 'you and whose army' - jonny thinks that voice and guitar are all that's needed until the end part; and it sounds right; or at least it's definitely a place to start. run through 'optimistic', cuttooth', and 'up on the ladder' for nige, who's down for the day to do some wiring and 'studio arranging'.
wednesday, december 8th 1999
started by playing 'cuttooth' again - the song needs stamina - sounding better than yesterday....just have to keep playing it. one of those days when it doesn't feel as though we've done much. maybe it's because everyone's tired. there was some protool arranging on 'follow me around' and an attempt to do vocal, piano and drums on 'egyptian song'. was sounding ok. tried playing 'keep the wolf from the door but it's too late and needs thom's rant on it. a bitty day. time to go home. saw only four hours of daylight - how do they cope in scandinavia during these months?
A few lines related to this song can be found in the hidden Kid A booklet [click to enlarge]:
In the Paper Chamber portion of the Kid A Mnesia Exhibition, there is this one image with draft lyrics of "Follow Me Around". An attempted transcription is below:
shadow of your former self. i see you in the dark
corner of the street calling out to me.
headlights on full beam
coming down the fastlane
coming after me.
coming after me you follow me around
you follow me around
you follow me around
hate mail ?????????????????????????? is for cowards
drooling looney tunes moving in a ????? swarm
???????????????????????????? moving in a ????? swarm
drooling i am lost in the woods
moving in a swarm all i get is grief
moving in a swarm all i get hear is you laughing
now adays you get panicked
you cease to exist
?????????????????????????????????????????? shadow of your former self
??? drooling looney tunes
your ??? words are out of ink
your ??? words you know are out of ink
think your so clever now
get a ?????????????
now you think
that your god's gift
think your so clever now
but thatcher's children
will see you on the way back down
On October 17th 2000, the song had its proper live premiere as an acoustic performance by Thom in Toronto. He played it after hundreds of fans had campaigned for this song to be played on the website www.followmearound.com, it was known by then only from Meeting People Is Easy. The line "did you lie to us, Tony?" was probably added during the sessions for Kid A, which puts this song next to another anti-Blair song from those sessions, 'You And Whose Army?':
I see you in the dark
corner of the street
coming after me, yeah
headlights on full-beam
coming down the fast lane
coming after me, yeah
I would like to change back now
to the shadow of
the shadow of my former self
it follows me around
it follows me around
did you lie to us Tony?
we thought you were different
now you know we're not so sure
drooling looney tunes
moving in a swarm
moving in a swarm
it follows me around
it follows me around
it follows me around
it follows me around
nowadays I get panicked
I cease to exist
I have ceased to exist
I feel absolutely nothing
the words are out of ink
the words, you know, are out of ink
you follow me around
you follow me around
follow me around
follow me around
Around the time Amnesiac was released in spring 2001, these lyrics, that might be related to the song either directly or indirectly, appeared in the 'imaginery prisons' section of radiohead.com:
i could blow a hole in anything
im trying not to stare
but then the snakes come out your hair
i think that your for real
but every bloody morning
snakes come out your hair
and follow me around.
On november 9th 2006, while the band recorded at Halswell House, Phil posted a few pictures from the band's day trip to the coast on Dead Air Space, and the following picture was titled "Shadow Of My Former Self", which led to speculations that the band might have been working on this song in the autumn of 2006 with Nigel Godrich:
In early 2008, the band, according to Ed, rehearsed the song again in sessions.
Another sign of the band's renewed interest in 'Follow Me Around' came as Thom played the song on acoustic guitar for the first time after almost six years at the Latitude Festival on july 19th 2009:
On april 14th 2010, Thom spontaneously decided to play the song during the encore of an Atoms for Peace gig. At the beginning, he teaches Flea the chords, so it's probably the first time the band went through the song:
