The lyrics to Kid A have been described as 'incomprehensible' and 'nonsensical'. There is an element of truth in both of these accusations. In several of the songs, Thom's voice has been distorted by computer (probably in ProTools), making the lyrics difficult to hear in several places. This distortion is not merely for the sake of it, but serves to blur the lines between voice and instrument, between human and machine, between analogue and digital. The fact that the lyrics have never been published doesn't help.

Some of the songs also sound lyrically somewhat random. Thom has said several times in interviews that he was having problem in writing words to songs during the period between OK Computer and Kid A. To get round this problem, he took snatches of lyrics (mostly single lines), put them in a hat, and drew them out at random when the band were rehearsing the songs. This adds to the odd atmosphere of certain songs (Everything In Its Right Place, Idioteque, Morning Bell), but also to our difficulty in understanding them. It is unlikely, however, that lyrics would be left in the final product unless they fitted in with the overall theme of the song. There is method in this madness. Thom also seems to find some gratification in a literary precedent for this style of writing, as it is not unlike the 'exquisite corpse' poetry of Tristan Tzara and the Dadaists, and TS Eliot's The Wasteland.

A more musical point of reference for the album is Talking Heads' Remain in Light. Colin had this to say about Kid A: "We hope the album is a piece a work that works from beginning to end, reflects the music we were listening to, and how we were working together during the recording process."

The album is partly about ' the generation that will inherit the earth when we've wiped evrything (sic) out'. This fits in with the idea of Kid A as the first human clone. Thom also talked about 'a lot of apocalyptic imagery. I couldn't get rid of it, so I put it on the album'. We could argue, pretentiously, that this makes Kid A a classic 'fin de siecle' work. It is filled with images of disintegration and decay: of communication, of ethics, of society itself.

There is also a strong political element. The band's interest in politics is well known. Kid A deals with Thom's despair at the way globalization is destroying the world, particularly the developing world, and also his feelings of disappointment at the current Labour government in the UK. Thom has cited Gorge Orwell's novel 1984 as an influence on the album. There will be much more of this in the next album, especially in songs such as 'You and Whose Army?', 'Dollars and Cents'. A recent live version of 'Follow Me Around' also expresses disappointment in the performance of the Government (see unreleased songs page) .

The 'hidden' booklet in the first pressings of Kid A created some controversy in the UK press for its unabashed caricature and criticism of the current government. It contain a grinning anti-christlike cartoon of Tony Blair, accompanied by the lines, "He'll take the money from under your nose. He'll tell you all you want to hear. He paints himself reflective white to reflect the blast when it comes. He will take your children and he'll break your homes. He will tell you how hard he is trying, but we're all in the market now. He says he wants to be our friend. He says he's always been on our side. Tough choices with difficult decisions that you really wouldn't understand". The dedication of the album 'to Leo' is probably to Phil's baby son, however, not the Prime Minister's.

Thom has described the hidden booklet as an exercise by Stanley and himself to put down on paper a lot of the thoughts and ideas that were going around in their heads in the year up to the completion of Kid A. He also claims an influence from TS Eliot's 'The Wasteland'. The style of the booklet - and even more so, the poster for the Kid A tour - with its use of a wide variety of fonts, is reminiscent of Victorian circus posters. Perhaps Stanley was thinking in particular of the poster that influenced the Beatles song, 'Being For The Benefit of Mr Kite'.

According to Ed, the best time to listen to Kid A is at about four or five in the morning, after a 'banging night out'.