lift
By Joonas Lintera

I think Lift is the best Radiohead song, lyrically and musically. If you just read the lyrics it´s like reading fine poetry.

To me this song tells of a certain moment when a person realises that it´s not that bad after all. But not in the way of: "Everything will be alright starting from here". It´s a moment when someones  attitude towards life changes.Would sound terribly corny if Oasis would do it, but not our Thom.

Perhaps this change in attitude comes from a real low point. For example your life isn´t going too well in the first place and just when you think this is all you can take, some little incident happens. Like being stuck in a lift...

So you think like, "Fuck I´m stuck in a lift, so what,"instead of just going lower. And then when you get out of the lift, you just go home and start living the rest of your days.

By Mike Colby

this is the place * sit down, your safe now * you've been stuck in a lift * we've been trying to reach you, thom * this is the place * it won't hurt, it will not hurt * a scent of recognition * a face you barely loved * empty all your pockets * 'cause it's time to go home * this is the place * remembering all the things you always see * you've been stuck in a lift * in the belly of a whale at the bottom of the ocean * a scent of recognition * a face you barely loved * empty all your pockets * it's time to come home * a scent of recognition * a face you barely loved * barely loved *let it go * let it go * today is the first day * of the rest of your days * so lighten up, squirt

Ever feel like when this world gets too hard that you have to tell yourself some kind of myth, have some fantasy world, or tell yourself this world is not even real to stay alive...or from keeping yourself killing yourself in escape from this cruel world? Ever feel like you are the only one alive in a place you are not supposed to be?

The song Lift is a beautifully written song of a fantasy or possible truth to Thom Yorke that this world he lives in is a just a lift that he is stuck in to get back to the real world or could be called (heaven). He feels like he has been caught in a place he does not even belong in.

At the very beginning of the song it is clear that a person of high authority is talking to Thom. Possibly a official of the real world (heaven) maybe an Angel. This official is telling Thom about the fake world Thom has been stuck in. "This is the place, sit down, you are safe now." Explaining to Thom that this is the place he has been looking for. He should have no more worries. "You've been stuck in a lift, we have been trying to reach you Thom." Here it is clear to see that the official of the real world is telling Thom he has been stuck in a lift to "the real world." The real world has been trying to reach him to get him back. The person goes on to say, "It will not hurt." Telling Thom that it is going to be okay. He is now safe.

In the Chorus, "a scent of recognition * a face you barely loved * empty all your pockets * 'cause it's time to go home," it is Thom thinking to himself about the world we live in that he has been stuck in. He has a scent of recognition for completing this life. A face you barely loved is talking about how he barely even liked his life but now he gets his real body. He has to empty all his pockets, meaning that he has to get rid of all his earthly possessions and memories. He goes on to think more about the world, "remembering the things you always see." Telling about his memory of the life on earth.

The person or official of the real world goes on to tell him that he was stuck in a lift in a whale at the bottom of the ocean. Meaning Thom has been stuck in the middle of nowhere, a pretty much implied rotten place. The person tells Thom to empty all his pockets because it is time to come home. Thom must get rid of his thoughts of the fake place he was in.

The persons or official of the real worlds last lines to Thom is to let it go,(let the fake world go that he was in. He says, "today is your first day, of the rest of your life, so lighten up squirt." Telling Thom that he will be able to live the rest of his days in the real world, and that Thom can now relax because he is finally home. Finally safe. Finally at Peace.

This song is a song I use to escape from my everyday life when it is going so horribly bad. I tell myself that this place is not real. This is not happening and one day soon I will get out of this lift and finally reach my destination. My Heaven.

Lift can also be interpreted of a elevator that is leading towards heaven. It could be about the lift ride is a life and when it says this is the place, Thom just died and the lift ended and now he is in heaven. The lift was his life.

Either interpretation this song is one of the best songs written ever by Radiohead.
By Mike K

Ever wish you weren't able to remember so much about your life, all of the painful or embarassing details, that you could just let it all go and move on with your existence? This theme is central to "Lift," which in my interpretation uses amnesia as a metaphor for escape and renewal of life. The protagonist is sit down by authorative but warm figures, who tell him while he sits confused and frightened, completely unaware of where he is and what is going on about him, that "it will not hurt." They saved him from the lift he was stuck in, basically his previous miserable existence, where he was neither going up nor down, while others were trying to reach him and implore him to try to live again. He empties his pockets of all his previous regrets and ill thoughts and, no longer plagued by them, proceeds on to the next phase in his life with assurance and calm. "Today is the first day of the rest of your days," the advice is given as he is pushed out through the doors and into the world, signaling a new start for himself and his future, a lesson most if not all can sympathize with, be it religiously or professionally or otherwise. We all want our own particular brand of escape, to get the lift moving again, and to leave behind our differences and our sorrows no matter what the costs.
By petrushka

Don't ask me why, but when I hear this song I think of Thom as about six (like the kid in the flower on Pablo Honey). He had a number of operations on his eye when very young, as you probably know... it sounds to me just like a child who is scared and doesn't understand what is going on. Imagine a six-year-old, stuck in a lift for two or three hours, unable to hear anyone, while the engineers try to sort it out. Imagine that at the end of this that child is terrified, tearful, half-insane from fear that he will never escape. Imagine the parents comforting the child, and although he slowly returns to a calmer state, he is never quite the same afterwards...