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High and Dry Lyrics

Performed by Radiohead
Review The Song (103)

Two jumps in a week, I bet you think that's pretty clever don't you boy
Flyin' on your motorcycle, watching all the ground beneath you drop
You'd kill yourself for recognition, kill yourself to never ever stop
You broke another mirror, you're turning 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 one 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 you've had has gone away

So 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

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Uhm | Reviewer: whatever | 5/3/12

This song is about a girl who's boyfriend is a thrill seeker that likes to jump his motorcycle. She's worried he'll crash and want her help. He even broke the bike's mirror while putting the bike in the truck, sing of bad luck and the second time he did that.
This time she had to sweep it up, when it used to be he'd sweep. Its like he's not himself.
Now he's off jumping, that jerk.
She's the best thing that he ever had, and when he's paralysed, she's outta there.




fast pace life | Reviewer: Anonymous | 1/9/12

It's about living a fast pace life, trying to keep up and turning to drugs; which are great at the begining but eventually it starts wearing you down. You become impotent, lose the ability to carry on a conversation, etc.

My $.02 | Reviewer: Nash | 12/14/11

I think the song is being sung internally to himself.

He's willing to kill himself for recognition. He's afraid he's turning into something he isn't. He's afraid of being the kind of guy who has nothing to say, and being criticized for what he does have to say- But he's spending so much time worrying about these things, that's he's letting life slip by, leaving himself high and dry. Why waste precious time with self criticism, after all, you life is the best thing that you've ever had, and it's going away.

A Father's "Talk" | Reviewer: Anonymous | 11/30/11

I think it's about a father talking to his son about what his doing/did to his life.
There is a play with verb tenses which gives as a sense of continuity to the conversation, as if he talked to his son over and over, but he would never listen. This way, the song is in constant flash forward/back from when he acted like a foolish teenager ("Two jumps in a week, I bet you think that's pretty clever, don't you boy?")to the time he had a motorcycle accident (Flyin' on your motorcycle" "All your insides fall to pieces, you just sit there wishing you could still make love").
In the end something irreversable happened, perhapps losing his friends he drove away, or his life even("The best thing you've had has gone away").
All in all the verses are intended to tell a story where the symbology is more important the the actual events, leaving its actual "plot" very ambiguous and focussing on the meaning: A son left his father "high and dry".

Why not? | Reviewer: nico | 11/17/11

I think it's a story about a boy, let´s say it´s yorke, who really wants to be admired and desired, and he was with a girl. When he was with her, he loved her, but then he started to believe he was better than what he really was. So, now, he is regretting what he has done, saying the only thing he wanted to do was catch attention but now, he doesn't want her to leave him "high and dry".

This song is about dying... | Reviewer: jazz | 10/20/11

The lyrics are not meant to be taken literally in every word. If you listen to the spirit of what's being said and played musically (which is even more important than the words themselves), it certainly sounds like an ode to a dying person that you love with all your heart - including sexually. A person who is dying from a degenerative disease like cancer or HIV. "You broke another mirror" refers to the the declining appearance of a dying person. "All your insides fall to pieces" again refers to the shutting down of the bodily functions. "You just sit there wishing you could still make love" again referring to the emotions of a person immersed in the degenerative process of a slow death. The repeated mantra "Don't leave me high and dry" is Yorke's plea to the dying person not to leave him "high and dry." If you've ever sat beside a person you love with all your heart and watch them slip away despite all your prayers, pleas and efforts, then you understand perfectly what this means. The rest is just artistic license to keep people guessing...as we all are right now! ;-)

What it's actually about! | Reviewer: Obvious | 9/22/11

Interpret this in anyway you want, that's the beauty of a good song, however...

It is blatantly about being at the point of orgasm and not being finished off/ allowed to cum! - it's so obvious I can't believe nobody else has pointed it out!

Great Song! | Reviewer: Karma | 9/6/11

I believe this song is about a man who f*cked up with a woman he loved. He tossed her aside our of selfishness and then realized, too late, that she was the best thing he ever had and she left him 'high and dry'. Stop looking too hard into these lyrics. It is about relationships, reckless behaviors, thoughtlessness, men f*cking-up and the cost of your mistakes.

what it means to you | Reviewer: bipolar2 | 8/31/11

There are some very interesting interpretations posted on here. I think any song can mean whatever it means to each person. For me, being bipolar I can definitely relate to that interpretation but I also think it could be about a failed relationship. How high you feel when things just seem so perfect and then at some point that dissipates and you feel like you are left high and dry. Great song!

high and dry | Reviewer: mccarthymontage@yahoo.com | 8/4/11

the lyrics to this song are allmost the same as the song paul mccarthy wrote the night before radioheads first photo shoot at the lamb inn at buckland village.paul was loosing his grip on life couse he was out e,ing his head off most nights of the week,paul new his friendship with thom was at an end.high and dry was the response to how he felt at the time. paul gave his lyrics to edward as the band made there way across the carpark..edward remarked,,"well it rhimes paul, i give you that" more tales will be found in pauls book..who,s the villian,out late 2012..

my opinion | Reviewer: p. | 6/18/11

To me it's a song about a boy who got everything he needed to feel safe, loved and brave but who chose completely the opposite of what he had without realising the reason why. Now he's turning in something he's not and he knows it but cannot do anything to avoid it. He cannot talk anymore too. He can just chat but talking about something more important or about him seems impossible these days. He wish he could make love again and feel so good like he felt before but the only thing he can get is sex without any feelings. And most of the people he's hanging out with now are the ones who won't care about him in a couple of months time, who don't know who he really is and who will spit at him because he's not behaving good with them (he's turned in something he's not).
The best thing he had, a girl who really loved him and who knew what was the best for him, is gone now and not because she wanted to but because he didn't do anything to stop her. Sometimes he can hear his voice inside him telling her "don't leave me high and dry" but the moment after he's doing the same stupid things he was doing a moment before. And the only moment left to let him thinking a bit is when he's riding his motorcycle, ready to pick up a girl he doesn't care about.

Pulling the Wire | Reviewer: Anonymous | 4/28/11

It's about a daredevil (<---get it?) who gradually loses grasp of who he is after achieving fame, fortune, and making these things the sole provider of his self. And as he becomes less important his bloated ego gets admonished, and then HE starts saying "Don't leave me high and dry" because he fills betrayed. His feelings of betrayal are then mocked by saying "Oh, it's the best thing that you ever had", then "it's gone away". At first I thought the chorus was a chick, but it's his conscious telling him over and over again you fucking deserved this for not listening to me.

ack | Reviewer: Anonymous | 4/23/11

as i see this song:
when we don't succeed or don't get what we want we don't have to be "at our wits end" because it just can harm us. bad things happen there a lot of crisis in our life but we should'nt collapse we have to continue and fight for ourselves.


Love me | Reviewer: Anonymous | 3/19/11

Hmm well when someone says 'high and dry" that means being left alone with nothing an no one. To me this song is about a person who would do anything to fit in and when he finally has it all and is happy the ppl who he / she tried to be like will not be happy for them. This person singing the song is pleaded for them not to leave him high and dry. This could be about a previous girlfriend or even a friend. Someone who desperately trying to fit in and be accepted when really the person who sings this song has accepted them all along.

This has nothing to do with the lyrics. The song just has history to it. | Reviewer: Sam | 12/18/10

So, I know this has absolutly nothing to do with the lyrics of the song, but this is the first song I ever slow danced with my current girlfriend to. It was in the middle of a dark empty basketball court. It was perfect, and I remember hearing the lyrics "Oh, it's the best thing that you've ever had. The best thing that you've ever, ever had" and thinking that she was the best that has ever happened to me.


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------ 05/21/2012

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