Radiohead - No Surprises

Can someone explain to me what this song is about, if anything specific?

It's not that cryptic.

A heart that's full up like a landfill,
a job that slowly kills you,
bruises that won't heal
You were so tired, happy,
bring down the government,
they don't, they don't"speak for us
I'll take the quiet life, a handshake of carbon monoxide

No alarms and no surprises, no alarms and no surprises
No alarms and no surprises
Silent, silent
This is my final fit, my final bellyache with
No alarms and no surprises, no alarms and no surprises
No alarms and no surprises, please

Such a pretty house, such a pretty garden
No alarms and no surprises, no alarms and no surprises
No alarms and no surprises, please

So does the person being described committ suidice by carbon monoxide or something of that sort?

I don't think it's telling a story as much as it's an expression of the writer's feelings. He's dissatisfied with life, full of bullshit, farces, a frustrating job, and nothing out of the ordinary.

It's a depressing song alluding to suicide as a final act of escape.

If I recall correctly, Yorke was in a very depressing state around the OK Computer sessions (or following tour). In fact, I think Michael Stipe of REM had to help him out of it.

Thanks Don V

Great song.

Yeah, it's kind of the only Radiohead song I like right now, but I really like it.

Blasphemy!!

Let me explain the song to you.

Tom York decided to make an awful noise with his mouth and a recording studio guy thought it was too funny to not record and show to his beer drinking buddies. After Tom finished he killed himself because his face is so ugly. :p :p

The Doc

This song has a wicked music video.

Funny... Radiohead being my favorite band and OK Computer being my favorite album of theirs, No Surprises is probably my least favorite song on the album. But, I think maybe that's just because it was grossly over-played by the media (even by those who didn't like it).

Anyways, the song--according to the band--is about a guy who has had enough of the way his life has turned out, and is having relationship problems. There is an alternate, earlier, version of the song that include the lines "He was sick of her excuses / To not take off her dress when bleedin' in the bathroom."