� Subterranean Homesick Alien 4:29

 
Originally released: June 1997

Available on: OK Computer (album)

 
The breath of the morning
I keep forgetting
The smell of the warm summer air

I live in a town
Where you can't smell a thing
You watch your feet
For cracks in the pavement

Up above
Aliens hover
Making home movies
For the folks back home

Of all these weird creatures
Who lock up their spirits
Drill holes in themselves
And live for their secrets

They're all uptight
Uptight.. (x7)

I wish that they'd swoop down in a country lane
Late at night when I'm driving
Take me on board their beautiful ship
Show me the world as I'd love to see it

I'd tell all my friends
But they'd never believe
They'd think that I'd finally lost it completely

I'd show them the stars
And the meaning of life
They'd shut me away
But I'd be all right
All right..

I'm just uptight
Uptight.. (x7)

 

Originally called Uptight, which is how Jonny referred to it in its early staged, the song pays homage to Bob Dylan's Subterranean Homesick Blues. It deals with alien abduction and stems from two incidents in Thom's life. The first occured at Abingdon School, when he was assigned an essay question that went something like this: If you were an alien from another planet arriving on Earth, how would you describe what you saw? The second incident occurred when Thom was driving down a country road and hit a bird (which he believes was a pheasant). He stepped out of the car and at that moment began thinking about alien abduction.