exit music (for a film)

By Samir Patel

The title is "Exit Music (For a Film)" To me this says there is some kind of closing, a departure, a never coming back type of feeling.

I think this is a song about a man who kills himself because of the world around him which push him over the edge.

In the first stanza, the man's mind is telling him to realize that this is the day he is going to kill himself. The man will "escape" life itself.

The second stanza, is the mind of the man telling him to kill himself before anyone notices him gone, and he has to kill himself before the world around him does it for him. (Ex. "Hell breaking loose", means all the carnage in the man's life that is killing his mind)("Father" in this stanza refers to society)

The third stanza, is the man saying that he has to keep up with his negative feeling towards society, and kill himself...he says he can't do it alone, and he's not doing it alone, the corrupt society around him, is forcing him to commit suicide.

The fourth stanza, the "song" he "sings" refers to the good memories he might have had when he was younger...he's remembering these as he is killing himself, and the pain of death is the "chill" he feels.

The fifth stanza, this stanza deals with the society's have towards the man, which make him kill himself...all they can do is laugh at his demise, for they never really cared for him. They treated him very cruelly. They have no spine, which means thay have no mercy...they don't really give a f--- about this dude. He just hopes all their knowledge and rules that they are governed by kill them. He says that this is what will bring them all down. This is another reason that he killed himself, he wishes not to live by their rules or go along with their thoughts. He will not conform to their ideals. They might be the "normal" people and he could be a recluse. But one is it ask, what is normal? No one can say the truth to that question because no one can judge.

The next two lines, is the man saying he is now dead, in heaven possibly, he is at peace with himself and ultimately happy. No regrets.

The last three lines are repetition, "We hope that you choke" ..... over and over. This is the man looking down upon the corrupt world and hoping that they too eventually fall because of their own faults. He wishes that they die and realize how corrupt they have made their lives with their "rules" and "wisdom."

By raven15@alltel.net

ok....everybody knows this song was written for the movie soundtrack of 'romeo and juliet'...hence the name...and the song is at the end of the movie with the credits

'wake from your sleep' and 'today we escape' is romeo talking to juliet.. he tells her to pack and get dressed...leave before her father hears them and kills romeo

'breathe...keep breathing....dont lose your nerve' is romeo telling her she has to keep cool and help him with the plan..'i can't do this alone'

'sing us a song to keep us warm...there's such a chill' is when they both die....

'you can laugh' is telling the capulettes and montegues that they are wrong....and they hope they're foolish 'rules and wisdom' choke them ...and they see how stupid the whole feud was

'now...we are one...in everlasting peace' is when they are finally dead....they are together and nothing can stop them or hurt them any longer

By FakePlastikMe@aol.com

Exit Music is about the romeo and juliet movie.

Ex. Pack and get dressed before your father hears us that is when they were readying themselves to elope.

Ex. today we escape, we escape they are leaving their homes

Ex. we hope your rules and wisdom choke you

Talking about the two families rules of them not being able to love each other

By Josh Spiceland

i think this might be about a boyfriend and a girlfriend, or perhaps two friends, one boy and one girl. the girl's father beats her, and when he's does it, he laughs, a spineless laugh. because he is an alchoholic. the boyfriend has decided that he is getting the daughter out of there. he wakes her up in the middle of the night, tells her not to cry, because there is no reason to be sad that she is leaving, because she is finally escaping. they must do it quietly so the father doesnt wake up and let 'all hell breaks loose'. then they get out of there. she tells him to sing them a song to ease the spirit, because the father is now awake and has realised what has happened. now the air has a chill in it because the father's looking for them. but they are in everlasting peace, and they hope that he chokes. its exit music for a film because the film is the story of her life, a triumph, because she has escaped.
By dither_nachos@hotmail.com

it is fairly obvious for me the meaning of exit music: escaping the cruel and disgusting world that we are unfortunatly forced to live in for our whole life. and i find that simply by listening to the song carefully, you escape (for those five seductive minutes) this world. you just wish that the song would never end.

when thom sings stuff like:"you can laugh, a spineless laugh", i'm certain he's talking to the "world leaders"(presidents,bla bla bla...) of the world. hoping that they choke so that we can live truly better life.
By Yotam

in my opinion, this song is about a mother who is anxious about run away from her abusing/mean husband and decides in the middle of a night to escape with her son. so she runs away with him and tries to cheer him up and herself. but then she realised what a mistake she have made by taking him with her.

so she wishes to his death or something like that.
By Michael

I think that the title of this song defies interpretation being as it is the exit music for a film, ie. Romeo and Juliet. It takes the theme of Romeo and Juliet and subverts it, manges the plot a bit but it is basically as follows The Romeo character (I assume, cos Thom aint no girly) is singing, and he is waking Juliet so they can run away from their families (before your father hears us, before all hell breaks loose). Startstruck lovers and all that. After the first btwo verses, when Thom breaks into the BRREEEAAAATTHHEEE bit, this is where they have run away, they are out n the streets or whatever but things ae going a bit pear shaped, and Juliet is losing it a bit. (Dont lose your nerve etc). He tries to keep her spirits up with a song ( sing us a song, a song to keep us warm, duhhh) but soon he is feeling low aswell (theres such a chill such a chill). In a final blast of anger, as they both slip away, theyre coldand on the streets watever, they have a pop at the establishment and their families and all the other people who have control and have forced them into where they are now-cold, homeless and doomed. Their last thoughts are we hope that you choke, their final fit their final bellyache (oops wrong song). So thats that. Its such a great old fashioned song, thats why its so appealing. Its just two people forced to become outcasts because they love eachother, and it builds slowly from a morose, nervy escape to a angst ridden moving finale. My favourite radiohead song
By Mireille

This is the Romeo and Juliet song. But to me, it's what would've happen maybe if Romeo and Juliet had survived. When he says:

Today, we escape, we escape.

Romeo and Juliet never did "escape and never did pack and get dressed before your father hears us" It's what they wanted all along but they never got to do it.

The very strong part about chocking makes me think of how Romeo and Juliet must've felt about the hatred between their families. They just wanted the brawls to stop. The hate to choke.

On a more personal note, exit music is a lot about depression for me. Being in a very bad place, but instead of getting out by suicide, you get out by leaving. And you're not happy, nor sad about leaving. You just leave and you're gone.
By Chris

First of all, I know that the song appeared in the updated version of Romeo & Juliet, but since I couldn't sit through that piece of crap I didn't see/hear it. So I have a untainted vision of the song. To me, this song is for anyone "standing on the edge" of a decsion or at a crossroad in their life.It could in the context of a romantic relationship but that is not a necessity. It's about doing what needs to be done to get on with one's life, and not letting anyone (parents, peers, society etc.) stand in your way."We hope your rules and wisdom choke you" says this in a more poetic way. By the way, with a line like "Breathe..keep breathing..Don't loose your nerve" It's obvious the song is about suicde because if you're still breathing then you have been successful in commiting suicide. I'm sure that's the message everyone gets when listening to this song.
By Kylie

this song is defintely one of my favs...
ummm... i know it was written for Romeo and Juliet but i think (personally) that there are heaps of people out there who can relate to it.

i think it's about escaping from reality, escaping from the pathetic society we have today. The world (society's barriers) are trying to keep people apart and this song's about two people who try to stay together despite everyone's criticism.

"i can't do this alone" because so many people are blinded by society's stereotypes the couple need each other to overcome the obstacle.

"sing us a song, a song to keep us warm" we can express our feelings through music, to keep us alive (warm), a vent to expose our anger and depression, to keep away the "chill".

"you can laugh, a spineless laugh" a line directed to "society's" people, people who feel they have to impress others, to be something they aren't. knowing these people, they would laugh at others for being different.

"we hope your rules and wisdom choke you" us hoping that their stereotypes will end up backfiring on them, that others will sooner or later realise how shallow "society's" people are.

"and now we are one
in everlasting peace" the only way to get away and to defeat them is to end one's life.

"We hope that you choke" is pretty self explanatory...

ok...that;s my interpretation so yeah i hope ya like it. BYE
By Unborn Chicken Voices

First of all, you all must realize that ok Computer is a concept album. Hence all songs are related to each other, and not to the movies from which they appeared on soundtracks. Ok Computer's concept is materialism. This is evident from it's excerpts from "Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy." as well as in the slip and the lyrics of other songs. From this we can identify that Exit music is NOT about a relationship (although we respect your opinions). The first few lyrics have understandbly misguided the majority. They seem to show a couple's escape, we however, would like to introduce to the possible metaphor:
"Wake from your sleep/dreams":
Step away from reality. Sleep, or dreams is the metaphor for reality. Something, possibly the media is trying to pull the person away from reality.

"The drying of you tears":
This implies that it was or is not a very good dream, therefore not a very good reality.

"Today we escape...":
We escape from the reality, thus from the bad dream Into the hypnosis of the television or movie theater, hence the name.

"Pack and get dressed/before your father hears us":
Hurry up and submit to escape before your morals get in the way. You father is a common label for your god, god represents your morality.

"Before all hell breaks loose":
Before we are judged.

"Breath keep breathing"
Stating the obvious would be that somebody is dying, but we think it is more. The person is dying because the media is trying to control them. The person feels that slavery is immenant, and the only was out is suicide.

"Don't loose your nerve"
The media personna is attempting to stop this diffection.

"I can't do this alone"
Mock sympathy from the media.

"Sing us a song"
This is becoming the slave, the media's last grasp to keep the escapee.

"A song to keep us warm"
Joining the media is not bad, it will save you!

"Theres sucha chill"
This proves the above, in that, the running away would be cold, empty, not good.

BUT! The person still escapes! And vanguishes the evil media. Or so it would seem to their eyes, suddenly the media is not warm and open armed, contempt is heavily laced into every word. The fleeing is advantageous to them as well. They use it to gain popularity, just like any major death (i.e. Princess Di)

"You can laugh your spineless laugh"
The laugh represents that the dead escapee claims victory. It is a spineless laugh because it is considered cowardly to commit suicide. Th media is also laughing, laughing at the dead because they used the escape to their advantage, to gather more slaves.

"We hope your rules and wisdom choke you"
The media hopes that the ethics that caused this defection make even more of a sentimental advantage for them. The choking is just that they thrive on peoples sadness for this person. Sentamentality sells.

"Now we are on in everlasting peace"
Now I've got you! The media triumphant cry as the escapee is caught. The everlasting peace is the media's sarcasm and spite.

"We hope that you choke that you choke
We hope that you choke that you choke
We hope that you choke that you choke"
The hope that that this will sell to the slaves, that they will choke on this person's death.


This song, we believe, is the album's protangonist. Critisism of modern media and it's relation to materialism.

we hope you are ok.

Thank you for listening

By Forkoid

Exit music for me is about the extremes of teenage rebelion! How you may ask. Well basically the song, taken literally, is about to young lovers, namely Romeo and juliet. They have planned to escape from mean parents. It reminds me of climbing in through your lovers bedroom window, waiking her/him and trying to be quiet, in case you waik the parents. I remeber playing this song to my girlfriend as we dreamed of running away together. I hate it when people say this song and the lyrics are depressing! I think it is one of the most uplifting songs i have ever heard. It's a real eff you! you grown up beliefs. BRILLIANT!
By Zommie from Russian

While listening i feel that the one i love has died. 1st lines - i don't believe it,i deny it. Later - begging to come back. Than wanting to be dead too,and feeling dead. The end - feeling crazy cuz everyone sees me getting sentimental and crying,the 'leave-me-alone' hate&scream.
By Christy

this song is a song that everyone can relate to at one time or another. it's meaning is so simple but at the same time so powerfull. just the idea of a love so strong that it's worth leaving everything behind gives me hope for the world. at the end it is saying f*** everyone. we are getting the hell out!!!
By Cojiro

I don't like to think of this as purely being the Romeo and Juliet story, as that's not really how I see Radiohead.

I see this as Radiohead making fun of the people who asked them to write a song for the film. They may start off about Romeo and Juliet, but then they go off track. The bit I think is best (Sing us a song, a song to keep is warm) is describing how the film makers wanted a Radiohead song in the film, so people would remember the film. The "we hope that you choke", another brilliant line, is saying how Radiohead hope the film fails.

That's what I think, anyway.