I'm 98% Sure This Song by Thom Yorke Talks About Tinnitus

I want to write this post because I found this anecdote curious.

I listened to this song for the first time 10 years ago. I fell in love with the track from the beginning. I love the hallucinogenic atmosphere of it. But I never considered the meaning of the song, nor did I pay attention to the lyrics.

10 years later, after getting tinnitus, I remembered this song again and decided to record it on a CD to listen to it in the car.

I was in the car and this song began to play. At one point I began to realize that I was listening a new tone, was it my tinnitus? Where did it come from? I began to worry, just in those days I had developed a new tone and wondered if this would be another one new for the collection.

Then, suddenly, I realized that the sound came from the song. And then I began to pay attention to the song, those tones really seemed to sound like the tinnitus of many of us sounds.

Then suddenly everything seemed to make sense. The song is called "Hearing damage", and those tones it contains... and the lyrics...

Someone who has never had tinnitus is rare to approach those sounds so accurately. Listen it carefully and maybe you notice the sounds I refer to. They are "hidden" and are heard ghostly mixed with the rest of the music. I'm pretty sure I would never have noticed those tones if I didn't have tinnitus.

Is it possible that Thom Yorke has tinnitus, and this song it's about this damn thing?

What do you think? Did you know this song?

If you are looking for the meaning of the song on the internet, almost everyone thinks it refers to schizophrenia. For me they are clearly people who have never had tinnitus, of course.

It was simply an anecdote to tell.

Thom Yorke - Hearing damage (HQ)

 

Yepp I hear it too.

 

The lyrics, and the tones both lead me to believe that you very well may be correct. I know what you mean about being a tinnitus sufferer, and this song. It almost screams "tinnitus".

 

Very well spotted! I think the song probably is about Tinnitus.
I'm a lifelong Radiohead fan but somehow I've never heard this song, admittedly I haven't been following as much of Thom solo though as the band.
Thanks for this interesting post.

 

I was a huge Radiohead fan back in the OK Computer-In Rainbows days, and in the early 00's I would frequent the fan message boards. I distinctly remember being comforted by learning that Thom had it too. It was talked about back then. However, I can't find anything on the net where he talks about it, just stories on tinnitus that mention him as a celebrity that has it.

Also, this post has made me realize I listed my "Tinnitus Since" date wrong (I put 2005, it should be late 2007 or early 2008). I remember this because In Rainbows was the last full album I was able to listen to without having tinnitus (I developed it the winter after that album was released). Weird how that has stuck in my mind.

 

There are high tones that try to resemble tinnitus but they do not match my tinnitus... also the sound tries to have a hollow quality that is sometimes related to hearing damage, the sound title.

 

This was one of my favorite songs back in high school when it was on one of the twilight serious soundtracks. Crazy how several years out in now has a completely different meaning

The tones around 3:40 or so are EXACTLY the ones I hear as a result of my Hyperacusis sometimes, like over fans and stuff