Radiohead – High And Dry lyrics

Radiohead – High And Dry lyrics

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 reacognision kill yourself to never ever stop
You broke another mirror your turing 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 on 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 that you've ever had has gone away

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

Lyrics taken from /lyrics/r/radiohead/high_and_dry.html

Songwriters: Colin Charles Greenwood, Edward John O'Brien, Jonathan Richard Guy Greenwood, Philip James Selway, Thomas Edward Yorke

High And Dry lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.

Corrected by Dad

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+ 12
Unregistered 2014-11-17 03:04:05

I know there can be a lot of meanings for this song, but to me it is mostly about drugs, and the relationship everybody talks about is more a relationship between the guy the song is about and people around him.

The first stanza is about him discovering drugs. It describes his pride, the fact that he feels somewhat superior because of the new sensations drugs give him, and also the fact that he sees drugs as a way to open to new people, although for that he has to turn into somebody else (or simply drugs make him turn into somebody else).

The second stanza describes the bad side of drugs, what happens to him and was not wanted. It is mostly about physical and social consequences: he cannot hold a conversation anymore, some people starts to hate him and/or despise him (first line and two last lines), and the second line is about drugs destroying him from the inside (probably both physically and psychologically) and impotence and/or his inability to have a love relationship.

The chorus expresses his distress, he is begging for help because he realized what drugs really are and what they did to him.

The part with "It's the best thing" sort of sums his journey: the first line shows his ascent and the second line his fall (his ascent is described in stanza one and his fall in stanza two). It can also be seen as the first line representing the moment when he is being high, and the second the coming down phase.

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+ 11
Unregistered 2013-10-09 22:02:16

It's a song about depression. The man is addicted to drugs, and that means he has no fear. He's always being dangerous. His girlfriend is leaving him because she's worried about him. 'All your insides fall to pieces' is about drug abuse and organ failure, and possibly about heartbreak. He thinks he's got the world sussed out because he's found getting high. This is an emotional song with lots of references, to love, danger, drugs, alcohol, heartbreak, and lots of other things.

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+ 5
Unregistered 2020-09-25 17:29:52

Did anyone on this comment board actually read or research the lyrics? It’s literally about Eddie “The Eagle” Edwards and his motorbike stunt career (he’s the UK version of Evil Knievel for the uninitiated). Thom actually states this in an interview and numerous online pieces. It ain’t that deep y’all. No ladies reproductive organs drying up in this song lololololololololol

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+ 3
Unregistered 2021-06-26 22:57:26

I saw this song as someone losing themselves for a quick fix. Self aware of their feigned arrogance and deliberately abusing the world, the person is hurting those around them. Their sense of self is fading to a sagging ego. The more they try to prop it back up with the same quick fix the further they fall from grace. They’ll do their best for recognition but people still see through the facade. In the end they’re left high and dry with a battered conscience. This song describes a lot of girls I dated in my 20’s and myself before I got real with who I was. In the end you’re left high and dry. Nobody but yourself to blame and a ditch in your life you inadvertently dug yourself. It’s a timeless tale that can be applied to all sorts of things eg. drugs, serial monogamy, alcohol, retail addiction etc. The person in the story is filling a hole of their own making and in the end they hit rock bottom. I think this song is supposed to invoke a healthy sense of shame, a sort of wake up call to say “hey stop abusing the world around you because by doing so you abuse yourself”.

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+ 3
Joshua David Wall 2015-06-24 05:09:17

Does no one interpret this song as Thom speaking about a women's reproductive organs drying up with her age? "All your insides fall to pieces, you just sit there wishing you could still make love" c'mon you don't have to analyze this song for false meanings. Almost all the lyrics point to Thom speaking about a women's insides, "Drying up in conversation."

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+ 1
Unregistered 2012-05-13 05:02:02

He's talking to his friend who's a big risk taker for fame, possibly literally riding a motorcycle.
It implies he was injured in two jumps in a row. He's worried his friend were to become paralyzed, he'd only be upset about not having use of his p**** rather than his legs.
He's asking his friend not to leave him high an' dry, like a ship beached on a sandbar.
He doesn't want his friend to kill himself for recognition, even though he knows his friend would rather die doing it than quit.
Because in the end he says that his fans would turn on him. And even though the fame was the best thing he ever had, it's time to quit.

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+ 1
radoncphys2 2008-09-01 15:27:48

I like this rh song. Its from their second album. It was my favorite on there for awhile. Then I read some folks who thought it was the worst. Without knowing the lyrics, I thought it was about a couple. You know, don't leave me high and dry you lout and all that. But with the lyrics in front of me, the song definitly is about loss. The motorcycle reference reminds me of a stunt man and his wife girlfriend asking him not to get killed The video is definitely displaying a relationship meaning which the chorus/title implies.

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