My Iron Lung
MY IRON LUNG (4:38) Song info
Faith, you're driving me away
You do it everyday
You don't mean it
But it hurts like hell

My brain says I'm receiving pain
A lack of oxygen
From my life support
My iron lung

We're too young to fall asleep
To cynical to speak
We are losing it
Can't you tell?

We scratch our eternal itch
A twentieth century bitch
And we are grateful for
Our iron lung

The headshrinkers, they want everything
My uncle Bill, my Belisha beacon
The headshrinkers, they want everything
My uncle Bill, my Belisha beacon

Suck, suck your teenage thumb
Toilet trained and dumb
When the power runs out
We'll just hum

This, this is our new song
Just like the last one
A total waste of time
My iron lung
The headshrinkers, they want everything
My uncle Bill, my Belisha beacon
The headshrinkers, they want everything
My uncle Bill, my Belisha beacon

And if you're frightened
You can be frightened
You can be, it's OK
And if you're frightened
You can be frightened
You can be, it's OK

The headshrinkers, they want everything
My uncle Bill, my Belisha beacon
Available on:  The Bends (US CD), The Bends (UK CD), The Bends (Japan CD), My Iron Lung EP (Holland CD), My Iron Lung (US CD), My Iron Lung (UK CD1), My Iron Lung (UK CD2), My Iron Lung (Australia CD), My Iron Lung (Holland CD), My Iron Lung (Holland 2-track CD)
Other Versions: 2 meter session - available on: 2 meter sessies, volume 6. Live at Melkweg - available on: High and Dry (Holland CD), My Iron Lung (Holland CD). Live at The Forum - available on: The Bends (Ireland CD single), The Bends (US promo CD).

Written the day Radiohead was forced to pull out of the Reading Festival in 1993 due to problems Thom was having with his vocal chords, this song comes off very bitter. But as it progresses, "My Iron Lung" seems to drive out Thom's anger about how the band's music was largely ignored -- aside from "Creep". Thom has admitted in interviews that he is very proud of this song's lyrics; he felt he had perfectly captured the essence of what he was writing about. A few live versions have been released, and all are as intense as the original, though the tempo of some versions is quicker than the one on The Bends. [Radiohead: From a Great Height] 



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