no surprises

BY Shareef Elfiki

This song is sort of a cross between the themes of "Fake Plastic Trees" and 
"Let Down".  There are two schools of thought on the interpretation of this one: some think it refers to suicide, whereas others think it is merely resignation.  But one thing is agreed: it is an acknowledgement of conforming to a mold that society has laid out for people.  According to this mold, we are machines, our personal worth judged on our productivity, mental stability and social status at age 25.

The entire song is a collection of images of this mold.  The first verse is fairly straightforward.  "A heart that's full up like a landfill."  A heart full of emotions unexpressed, perhaps?  "A job that slowly kills you."  A lifelong occupation that you hate.  "Bruises that won't heal."  Fairly straightforward.

"You look so tired and happy."  Translation: "I am so tired and unhappy."  He 
acknowledges his exhaustion, but tries to fool himself into thinking he is happy.  "Bring down the government."  This could be translated in two ways.  The manner in which Thom sings the lyric is very half-hearted for such a radical statement.  He might be repeating a sentiment of his more energetic youth, now cliched and played out as a more mature adult.  Or, he might be calling to do away with the society that has locked him into this position.

"I'll take a quiet life, a handshake, some carbon monoxide, and no alarms and 
no surprises."  He recalls the day when he accepted his comfortably stable yet drably unexciting adulthood of degrading politics and slow deterioration.  "Silent."  "[I will remain] silent [about my grievances]."

"This is my final fit."  The speaker admits that he is not happy, but resolves to abstain from complaint so as not to bother anyone else.

"Such a pretty house.  Such a pretty garden."  The speaker is in denial.  He is still attempting to convince himself that he is happy.

By WarIsill@aol.com

Very few popular artists can write a lullaby.  I mean, it's extremely difficult to imagine being able to sing just any pop song for a sleepy infant.  Try it.  Thom tossed this one out on tour, and it is obviously one of the bands best arrangements.  The album version is transposed down vocally, mercifully for Thom who wrote the song higher.  Must save our throat...  

Well the lyrics are basically about what Simone DeBeauvoir would call "the 
absurdity of modern life."  Job that kills, tired, unhappy.  Not too hard to figure out.  If you listen very hard, you can hear the voices in the background at the end singing "get me outta here."  The video is phenomenal.  Yes, this is one of their favorites.

This was the first song that I loved on this album.  Hearing Thom sing it solo acoustic was completely mindblowing.  Even though he didn't have a complete set of lyrics (bleeding in the bathroom?) the line "he started his broken sentence, 'No alarms'.." is one of the best ever written for a pop song.  The melody, especially when Thom is stretching his voice the way Lennon did on Plastic Ono Band, teasing the high G with a half falsetto, is truly beautiful.  This song is very depressing. This is about living together while alone.  very depressing, even more so than the album version.

I think about this song every time I'm walking and a car pulls up, spewing carbon monoxide all over me.  

This one has brought tears to my eyes on several occassions.

By Evan Roskos

No Surprises is about life being bad. it is not specific to anything in particular (though the original acoustic version does focus on a bad relationship). A landfill heart has no room. and bruises that won't heal refers to that flesh eating virus that made it's way into the news a few years back (before and during the recording of ok computer). and a flesh eating virus is a hopeless thing, just like a job that kills you and a heart you cannot empty. this is a song about traps. so the speaker suggests bringing down the gov't to try and change it all. but it's drastic and unrealistic call. then there's talk about a handshake with carbon monoxide (a way to commit suicide is to run a car in a closed garage and let the CO2 suffocate you as you sleep). so even death is something the speaker wants to be quiet, simple. It's almost like he's so trapped he doesn't want anything to pry him (or her) out. ANd then there's the final fit etc. and the conclusion that everything is beautiful when it is consistent, even if everything consistent is killing you.

By Zapan

I would have thought the meaning of this song was fairly straightforward.. It's about youth slipping away to be replaced with worn-down, worn-out and slightly cynical middle age.. seeking the more mundane things in life, the more tangible things rather than chasing the icons which whe hold with such great love and chase after when you're young (freedom, fairness, etc.) It's about the point where you go to drinks parties and want to leave early to go home because of the babysitter, when your body and your spirit and your values start to break down and you relent, giving in, simply for the sake of an easy life. When you start thinking about mortgage schemes and indemnity payments.

By Dubanevich

I believe that "No Surprises" is a song is about lost innocence, when Thom sings the line "A heart that's full up like a landfill" -he means that modern life takes up most of your time and attention with rubbish. When he sings "A job that slowly kills you, bruises that wont heal"-he means that the rubbish is slowly drowning out your innocence. The chorus,"No alarms and no surprises ( please )"-is Thom's plea to the rest of the world to leave him alone.The line "Such a pretty house and such a pretty garden"- is referring to the beauty of childhood, the carefree spirit that we all have.

The line "I'll take a quiet life"- indicates that Thom would prefer the carefree world of childish innocence to the real world of computers and careers.

By Josh Spiceland

theres a guy, living out his average life in the job that slowly kills him. his heart is filled up with let downs, and he is pissed off at the government for not representing the people. so hes going to commit suicide, some carbon monoxide, maybe. but he doesnt want any uproar over his death. he knows that there wont be, he knows that few people will even notice his absense. no alarms and no suprises. then he sees the afterlife, the pretty house, the pretty garden.

By Ray Connolly

I saw Thom on MTV explain it was about a guy who has become so numbed by the constantnoise of the media advertising the decay of morals in modern society, extreme and senseless violence, and self centered materialism that he finally snaps to the point where the only way to survive is to tune it all out. Hence, as Thom explained, he could walk down a street with bombs going off and sirens blaring, numb and oblivious to it all. No Surprises anymore.
By The Fromaster Flex

I think the song is describing the idea of what it is like to be dead, in a coffin. The song shows a narrator who has been completely disillusioned with his life "a job that slowly kills you", "bring down the government...they don't speak for us". the one comfort the narrator has is the fact that he is dead and there are no alarms or suprises. He does have some happy memories, the simplistic view of "such a pretty house and such a pretty garden".
By Wesley Van de Vyver

Its about giving up. Hes had enough. Hes a valnerable wreck asking for help, no one cares. It conveys the theme of Ok computer, an unfeeling 'robotic' society. He is incompatable with society, he is incompatable with the ones he cares about but they couldnt give a shit about him. He has been defeated by society, he has been beaten by life, he has been beaten by himself. I dont think he wants to die but he doesnt know what to do. The way he says 'please ' after 'no surprises' shows that hes in a recessive state, dominated by a big bad world
By Randy Grodsky

This song is clearly about suicide and rising to heaven. Thom is describing a depressed person that feels empty and is slowly dying through his trivial job. In the video, Thom is submerged in water during the "final fit, final bellyache" line and emerges from the water when he says "such a pretty house". At this point, he has committed suicide (obviously by drowning) and is in the "pretty house" of heaven.
By trevor.parsons@europfit.globalnet.co.uk

First section: This is the story of a guy who works for the goverment in some sort of futuristic city. He's fed up with the whole thing. His job involvesd the use of chemicals (steroids, guilt repressors) probably meaning he is a soldier or assassin or something. Anyway, these chemicals make you weaker every time they are used, slowly killing you, and causing bruises that won't heal.

Second section: Talking to a colleague (possibly female). She looks unhappy and tired. He laments the goverment, that becuse they are a secret organisation the goverment refuse to give them a voice (officially they don't exist).

Third section: He had enough, but no-one leaves. The quiet life is death. A handshake of carbon monoxide (Co not Co2) is some sort of implant to kill you if you try to leave by choking you on an unbreathable gas.

Chorus: He is breaking into his place of work to stal some evidence. He is silencing guards (to stop them setting of alarms)

Section 4: The implant has activated, and he stumbles out of the building, clutching the file he needs. As the gas chokes him, he screams out the truth.

Section 5: The pretty house is the life he could of had. This is his dream as he dies.

Of course it couldbe interpreted as a reference to the thriller Fatherland, in which the main character, Inspector March, policeman of an alternate future where Nazi Germany now dominates europe, plans to escape with his lover but is arrested, interogated, escapes and finally goes down fighting in the woods near the ruins of Auschwitz (which has been covered up by the goverment). As his lover escapes she is carrying the files proving it all happened. Or not.
By PhilS16834@aol.com

I was listening to a tape of 'OK Computer' on the bus on the way to college, when I heard the line in 'No Suprises', "This is my final fit, my final bellyache...". At this moment it became more obvious to me than anything else before, that this song was about the life of the depressed, but famous rock star. The line in question refers to the suicides of Ian Curtis (who suffered severe epilepsy) and Kurt Cobain (who used to inject heroine into his stomach to combat the chronic pain of an ulcer).

Once I realised this the rest of the song fitted perfectly in this context. The title of the song 'No Suprises' refers to the monotony of the routine of being in a band despite the glamour associated with the lifestyle, as often described by Thom himself as well as other rock stars such as Richey Edwards.

"A job that slowly kills you..." is speaking of the rock star lifestyle (excess!) embraced by Cobain et al, which leads to depression and nervous exhaustion and can result in suicide.
By Fritz

I found this piece a peculiar way to echo the theme of modern society's ability to lose people in the machine. Rather than damn society directly, "No Surprises" demonstrates the consequences of society's soul numbing actions.

The lyrics and message of the song relay the tale of a man, so worn down by the daily grinding of everything around him, that the rebellious will of his youth has been transformed into a desire to simply conform with society and get lost in the mix. The goals of his childhood were, like everyone, to be something special; a person with thoughts and feelings, not a number. But now, it is much easier and less painful to simply be carried along by the current of society, lost among many, than to put up a resistance to be someone unique, an individual. This song is a cry to take away the suffering of the "job that slowly kills you" and to ease the "bruises that won't heal". He cannot stand the daily battle to not be another faceless number and so raises the white flag of conformity that was so detested in his youth.

The music that accompanies this sad tale provides the listener with an insight into the weary life. Thom's gloomy, half hearted attempts at the lyrics and the repetitive, ringing tones give the listener pathos that someone turned out this way. It explains in music the pain and hurt that comes with giving up the dreams of your youth to become a nobody. The never ending rings are the demands that chain him to this life which has become a cancer to him. And now that he knows his fate, now that he realizes there will never be a day in his life when he is young, he requests a simple favor; he wishes for "no alarms and no surprises please". He just wants to numb to everything so that the hurt will die.
By Jessica

this song is obviously about living a molded life and being unhappy in that mold.

it's the loveless marraige: "heart full up like a landfill" the heart is full, but it's full of TRASH.

the tiresome occupation: "a job that slowly kills you" the job pays the bills, but you're so unhappy in it that it's making you weary.

the daily trauma that scars you for life: "bruises that won't heal"

and living in a society where no one is really heard: "bring down the government. they don't speak. they don't speak for us." there is no representation. ultimately--powerless.

he wants to break free, he wants to live his own life rather than produce an image of a working man who is happy in his life. he'd rather take the "quiet life" as opposed to creating something he doesn't really want. he wants "no alarms" disturbing him and telling him when to start his day, when to move on things, when to produce his achievements. he just wants to draw back from it all and achieve silence.

he has "such a pretty house and such a pretty garden", and it's just not something that he's ever really wanted. everything looks picture perfect, but he's crumbling inside.
By Rob

The first few lines tell the story of a guy who's basically got this unbearably dull and depressing life and he's sick of it. The next lines "I'll take a quiet life [unlike his present one], and handshake of carbon monoxide" There's nothing quieter than death, and breathing carbon monoxide is a sure way of getting there. No alarms and no surprises when you're dead. When a person is so sick of all the noise and fuss and things suddenly not turning out at all the way expected, a person will probably do anything to get out, even if it means suicide.

(or perhaps just going completely numb and tuning out the crap of the world altogether, without committing suicide. Maybe this is what the "handshake" with the CO is all about, finding a compromise between life and death--technically being alive, yet, in a way, dead already) "this is my final fit, my final bellyache" is more reference to suicide.

"Such a pretty house and such a pretty garden..." This is reference to the appearance of everything being just fine and dandy, but on the inside everything feels wrong. The appearance of "okayness" doesn't mean everything is okay. There could a man in there filling his garage with carbon monoxide.

"Having my pretty house and pretty garden doesn't mean anything at all, like I once thought it would" says the person. "I can leave it all behind and I won't even care, because that is not what is important anymore. I'd do anything for some sort of respite."
By Nadine

I've always thought that No Suprises had personal meaning for me since it has always been my idea that No Suprises unintentionally is about life and Canada. It has personal meaning for me because I live in Canada (no suprise?).

A heart that's full up like a landfill
A job that slowly kills you
Bruises that won't heal

Canadians suffer from a lack of ambition, enthusiasm, passion, and atittude. We're all bread to be middle management wankers. We make (or they) make perfect "Yes Sir!" type material. It's almost numb watching people go through school, go through university, get their computer programming job and move and/or evolve little over their entire life. Most people never leave their hometowns, living just a block or two from where they grew up, and most Canadians ideas of vacation involve going to the exotic United States, although suprisingly some take those "tour packages" and go to Europe.

You look so tired-unhappy (suffering from a horrifingly borring life)

Bring down the government
They don't, they don't speak for us

This part rings true the most. The federal government for the last 40 years has run the country in the ground. Dealing with changing the flag, offical bilingualism, multi-culturalism, and all the dealings with Quebec. The government has directed the policy and hasn't even asked the people what they really want. Also in regards to culture and such, the government has laid down the line as to what exactly "a Canadian really is". Going to the show now you can see that horrible "I Am Canadian" commerical followed by an advert for the pathetic military (we once had a proud and respected armed forces and reputation). Most Limey and Brit Canadians don't trust and don't like the goverment, though with that lake of passions and all, along with the tradional British atittude of "keeping to ourselves", you rarely hear anyone complain.

I'll take a quiet life A handshake of carbon monoxide With no alarms and no suprises

Silent Silence

Just telling of how "numb" Canadians are and how decrepent life in Canada is.
By Nikki

Radiohead are a truely phenomenal band both musically and philosphically. In my opinion, few musicians express life and love as poignantly and as subtely as Radiohead. When I say subtle I mean unpretentious and unrepetative. They get their point across without having to spell it out, and without using contrived symbolism that often comes across as feigned profundity. ( This is something that is found in way too many alternative bands, particularly American ones). I am not terribly familiar with Pablo Honey, however I have had both the Bends and OK Computer since both their releases and I don't think I could get sick of either of them....they are true masterpieces and as we all know....the music of the 90's was short of masterpieces. Anyway, my purpose for writing this is to express my opinion on the meaning of No Surprises...and to do that I want to focus on OK Computer as a whole.

OK Computer is a essentially a concept album...a fucking brilliant one too. We all know how dangerous a concept album can be....it is hard to sustain an underlying theme whilst maintaining the subtelty that Radiohead is famous for...often such albums become repetative and obvious ( for example Californication....I mean really, drum it a bit more why don't you). Back to my point...all songs on OK Computer are in someway connected to a single but complex theme....complacency of humanity in the modern world ( I could go on about what I mean here for a while but I'll spare you). No Surprises I believe is the song that encompasses everything dealt with in the album....it is simple yet sums everything Thom is trying to say throughout the album. It is a poignant and depressing expression of the monotony of life. It says that you can go out and achieve everything that is stereotypically considered to bring you sucess in the modern world, and yet you will not necessarily finds happiness and fulfilment. (Fitter Happier is also pretty much about this...in fact most of the songs deal with it in some way). When I listen to no surprises I am left feeling depressed and discontent...and the song achieves this both through its lyrics and its music.

Firstly the lyrics. They are very simple...but less is more. The images are tangible to most of us. "A heart that......, job that slowly kills you...etc"- we all have this...we all carry our own problems and emotions whilst we go about our daily lives working to make a living and by doing so not necessarily achieving the things we desire to do most deeply. The next lot of words are pretty much related- they all show images if life accessible to most of us. The chorus "No alarms and no surprises" can be interpreted two ways....there's the more obvious way that that is exactly what Thom wants...ie. "the quiet life" or my prefferred interpretation that "No alarms and No surprises" is exactly what life has become to most....it's just one monotonous cycle to which most of us have become complacent. The lyrics really are self explanatory....the only other thing I want to comment on is "such a pretty house....pretty garden" - the use of the word 'pretty' conveys a lack of passion....that these are things that people want in their lives and ultimately become symbolic of how as we settle into our monotony and conform to what we believe is important to achieve in life (that has been influenced by our society)..we begin to lose vitality and passion. This to Thom is depressing and paints a bleak picture of life in the modern world...and thus the back ground vocals chanting "Get me out of here" repeatedly.

Whilst the lyrics really are fantastic, I believe the genius of the song is actually in the music. In a Radiohead song...particularly their newer stuff, they strive to evoke a certain feeling rather than an idea ( although ideas inevitably come through)..and they achieve this by creating a soundscape with their songs. No Surprises is probably the easiest radiohead song to listen to because the glokenspeil mainline is gentle, repetative and catchy. However this is a complete contradiction to the lyrics which are heart wrenching if listened to properly. Whilst creating this paradox the music simultaneously supports the idea of the lyrics by being repetative ( this conveying monotony) and passionless ( notice there is rarely a shift in dynamics). The song is pleasant to listen to on the surface but does not give the sort of rise when listened to as the heavier songs such as paranoid android and Just ( to name a few). But when you realise how all these things work together....no song can drain you as emotionally as No Surprises....it really does make you feel as though life is rarely truely satisfying. The idea of this song is such a common underlying theme in radiohead....and it's catching on everywhere. One particularly noticable example is Fight Club...which although is a more violent reaction.....may as well have had OK Computer as its soundtrack.
By Creature Torn

i don't think this song is about suicide at all. i think it's much more to do with the way a person can deal with the screwed up nature of the world; by just taking themself off the world's frequency, they can walk around with their fingers in their ears, oblivious to it all. i don't know why, but when i listen to this song, i don't end up feeling depressed or sad...i wind up with a smile on my face, because it's like 'fuck it all. who gives a shit??' this is my favorite song by the band. and the best video too.
By Bill

No Surprises, I think, is about retirement and growing old. The narrator's job is tedious and soul-destroying, ("a job that slowly kills you, bruises that won't heal"). He prefers to be cut off, silent, with a "quiet life" and a "handshake of carbon monoxide" (a reference to the pathetic gifts people are given when they retire) and he wants, after spending all his life in fast, noisy society, to live a life with "no surprises". The song itself is the narrators "final fit" - after this he will be silent. The lines about the pretty house and garden are about pensioner's gardens in the suburbs, which are always very well-manicured since they have so much time on their hands. Thom himself doesn't judge the narrators views - just puts them forward (or maybe Thom wishes that he could do that?)
By ReconditE

My personal favorite. A beautiful song. The end of ambition. Tired of life and the pain it brings. Comfortable with yourself and your surroundings. Passing the times as you love to do. Reminscing of things of the past. You are dying. Your heart filled with aches and lost loves. A landfill has piled in your arteries. You feel your past. Trying to make peace of it all. All the faces that have passed before you. Some beautiful others not. All worth remembering. No longer able to work you can finally breathe. No responsibilities to anyone but yourself. That is how it should be. Isolation in everything but thought. Although you are far from the world you still appreciate what you have learned. Bruises and soars that will/have never healed. But you go on. You live. No longer obligated to a higher power, your peace numbs all pain and ignores all scars. You can now truly speak for yourself and think for yourself. You've always enjoyed the simple things in life. Amazed by how they could be conspicuous yet dignified and honest. You are a thouroughl examiner. An analyzer of all you glimpse. But in the end you enjoy simple handshakes, books, pens, and paper. You have found yourself. For once you are not precarious, and vendictive. You are not precocious and gullable. You have caught up with your mind, shaken hands with it, and found understanding. You have shed your last tear, you have said your last words, you have debated your last problem. And now you are free. Staring at your surroundings while they gently massage you, you can die now. Hearing nothing, seeing nothing, feeling nothing, smelling nothing, tasting nothing, and for once thinking nothing. You have lived a quiet life. One morning while attending Saturday School I could not get the tune out of my head so I wrote a short story about the song to kill time. Orginally about an old man sitting in his rocking chair on his porch. Altered just for you.
By Dana

i think that this song talks about a man who's about to kill himself and has given up life. life is too hard for him and he chooses death instead of the sadness and the bad surprises of life. u can see that in the line"this is my final bellyache"
By Jarrod

i think that the song is about being tried of a busy world or location (phsicaly/mental)and wanting it to go away or stop. ya know, it could be, look at thom, every flipping video and picture--he looks like hes bored as hell.
By RKCZ

It is my interpetation that this song has to do with the suburbs and the strings the are related with the sububian style of living. That is all using few words as possible.
By Andew

I interpret No Surprises to describe the giving up of a dream and the retiring to a life that isn't really yours or what you want. It depicts one's struggle and failure to shape one's own life, and the submission to the reality that what you have will never be what you want.

"A heart that's full up like a landfill,"
This line seems to suggest previous trauma, and pent up emotions that will never be unleashed and are burning a hole in the speaker's soul

"A job that slowly kills you,"
Although it may seem to imply a professional that has adverse long-term effects on health, I personally feel that this line expresses a painfully dull and mind piercingly boring job with barely sufficient pay.

"bruises that won't heal."
This is somewhat self-explanatory. I think it refers to permanent emotional scars.

"you look so tired and happy,"
the speaker attempts to delude himself. In reality, he has tried and tried and gotten no closer to the life he desires. "bring down the goverment, they don't speak for us." The speaker says this call to arms in a surprisingly helpless and half-assed way. Perhaps this is a reverie of his rebelious youth, though I'm inclined to believe that the speaker is dissatisfied with the government, but finally realizes that he has no influence over the forces that direct his life save for one pithy little vote, and that trying to chage the way things are is futile and too much effort.

"I'll thake the quiet life, a handshake of carbon monoxide, with no alarms and no surprises, no alarms and no surprises no alarms and no surpises please. Silent silence"
Fed up with the miserable fate reality holds, the speaker tries to convince himself that he'll attain bliss via deadly asphixiation.

"this is my final fit, My final bellyache, with no alarms and no surprises, no alarms and no surprises, no alarms and no surprises, no alarms and no surprises, please"
The speaker tries one last time to futily protest reality, only to submit once again.

"Such a pretty house and such a pretty garden"
The speaker once again deludes himself to try to escape the harsh misery of his circumstances.
By thinker_451

A sad song that is apparently not about resisting the urge of suicide as I first thought, that said the simplistic image of 'such a pretty house such a pretty garden' does sound like a childhood memory emerges to brighten up the heart of a sad individual. The line 'bring down the governmentt' I like to think of as an irony - all this political stuff isn't as important as the emotional and spiritual matters that we forget, and it is no cure for a heart that is 'full up like a landfill'. We have a sad man whose life is meaningless and asked for no more bad things to happen to him - then he promises not to let it hurt him anymore (my final fit) and he recalls simpler times. By the way, doesn't the sound of the drums at the beginning sound a lot like a beating heart?
By Exar Trickster

Iīve heard alot of Radioheadīs songs, but I think this is the most impressive song of them .

The Lyrics are so deep , letīs check it out. I think that Thom wants to express his desesperation and frustration because everything is so repetitive , yo know, you go to school, to work , you sleep, thatīs a life of shit.

Why do you have to do what everybody elseīs do?? you have to do what you wanna do. is so depressive to see all the stupid pretty boys doing the same things like if they were machines .

And there is another thing I see in this song, There is something missing here , you know like if someone is with a broken heart , But in a sadic way , everybody LikeS to suffer, but this gUy has said no MORE PAIN!!!!, you know he doesīt want more surprises, he wants to live a pacific life, no more girls that play wih ypu feelings , FUCK THAT STUPID GRILS !! FUCK ALL THE UNIVERSE, DONīT FOLLOW THE CROWDDDDDDD , FOLLOW YOUR INSTINCTS.
By Paul

Obviously there isnt much room to
vary in interpretation of this song.
Society; individual; strain. It can
strike some as depressing, others make
use of it for inspiration.

What I really think we need to emphasise
about No Sup. (and other titles)is
the nature of these lyrics
which are essentially poerty.

Im not talking about the stale stuff
you pick up in some
battered old 'Penguin collection',
butthe real thing, words that
are relative to the times,
but will also last.

Note, I'm not saying Yorke is a literary
genius or anything, what I am saying
is that he is producing of the most impressive
lyrics from our era that I have
seen, and all I can compare them to is
works that derive from post-modernist artists/poets
who, themselves, developed their art
on the theme of humanity from earlier
contemporary British writers and poets.
(Eliot, Larkin and more)

A heart full up like a landfill, a job that slowly kills you,
bruises that wont heal.
By nachtmensch

i think this song is about a person who gets sick of the whole world. he has a lousy job and he probably had a bad experience before ("bruises that wont heal"). and so he wants to take a "quiet life" and wants to kill himself ("some carbon monoxide"). he doesnt want any more bad surprises, he only wants everlasting silence.
By Dennis Koperdraat

One of the best Radiohead songs and one of the most beautiful ever heard.
The lyrics are so pure and so recognizable that it often makes me cry.

I think it's about somebody who's fed up with the way things are going in someones life. The person sees that his life is nothing. At the end he overlooks where he's at and thinks of what he could have become and gets emotional when he knows he going to make a end of it all.
(''Such a pretty house and such a pretty garden'')

After that he just wants to be left alone (''no alarms and no surprise please'')and die peacefully.

I also agree with the idea that the person is trying to keep telling to himself he's going to or having a good life. (Such a pretty house.... etc.)