Radiohead - Fake Plastic Trees (with lyrics)

Artist : Radiohead
Title : Fake Plastic Trees
Album : The Bends

A green plastic watering can
For a fake Chinese rubber plant
In the fake plastic earth

That she bought from a rubber man
In a town full of rubber plans
To get rid of itself

It wears her out
It wears her out
It wears her out
It wears her out

She lives with a broken man
A cracked polystyrene man
Who just crumbles and burns

He used to do surgery
For girls in the eighties
But gravity always wins

And it wears him out
It wears him out
It wears him out
Wears him out

She looks like the real thing
She tastes like the real thing
My fake plastic love

But I can't help the feeling
I could blow through the ceiling
If I just turn and run

And it wears me out
It wears me out
It wears me out
It wears me out

And if I could be who you wanted
If I could be who you wanted
All the time
All the time

#radiohead #fakeplastictrees #thebends

[Prhmangel]

My first love in high school dedicated this song to me, said it reminded him of me/us. He broke my heart not long after he told me about this song. For the longest time I couldn't hear this song without crying. Now I sit here married to the absolute love of my life with 2 teenage sons listening to it and I smile. It reminds of another time that while it was difficult, it was a still a great time. I was 16yo, had a driver's license, had a group of friends who I loved and who loved me dearly, had wonderful loving parents (who were alive then) and my future was wide open. This is why I love music.
ETA- I just found out in December 2022 that my first love/the guy who told me about this song died in November 2021. He was found naked and alone in the middle of the road unconscious and spent 1 month in a coma and then died. His name was Sean David Roper and he didn't deserve to die like that. RIP my dear friend. We actually ended up getting back in touch as adults and were great friends like we were in high school before we dated. My husband liked him too. He was taken too soon and deserved so much better than what he got.

[binterwinterboyii]

Radiohead hits different when you have a crush that has no idea who you are and you can't get to know them

[irenefavela]

My son is going through a tough time . Leaving drugs behind and loves a person who is still using . Send prayers his way . Please . He counts the days he is clean . Plays the guitar and sings . He copes w music . Pray for my kid . 😢

[GrandpaTwT]

Radiohead hits different when you become completely hopeless.

[DeepGehra]

My interpretation of the song is that, Everyone around him feels fake\plastic. The guys she likes seem fake to him. She feels the only real person in his head, yet he realises she's as fake as the rest of the people. But he cannot help with the feelings he has for her and if only he could get rid of those feelings. He wishes he was a fake plasic tree just like everyone and be who she wanted, all the time. This feeling wears him out.

[MikeysMorgue]

And if I could be who you wanted. If I could be who you wanted. All the time. All the time. I love how this song ends!

[deepanshupremani]

Here's my interpretation of the song:

Verse 1: Fake currency created by people to buy a fake materialistic possession, she bought from a fake man who's running after materialistic things. Initially all this makes her wears her out, makes her really sad.

Verse 2 : Her lover/husband is also a materialistic person who runs after worldly possessions. She also has to pretend to be fake and live with him, as she cannot run away from this life. As gravity always wins. This makes Thom sad, frustrated and wears him out.

Verse 3 : In his head he imagined her as a real person in the world full of fake plastic people, ultimately realising she's just the same now. She's given in to being fake, but he cannot help with his feelings of love for her and he wishes he could get rid of those feelings. This feeling wears him out.

Outro: He wishes if he could also be as materialistic/shallow as everyone around him, which he acted to be sometimes, but he knew he wasn't that person and couldn't be that all the time. If only he was a fake and shallow person as everyone around him, then he'd be someone she wanted.

[pinpot]

I haven’t heard this song in years man. It’s good to hear it again

[knnthmlmn]

this is a song that can be interpreted as feeling disconnected, empty, and artificial in a world that often values superficiality and materialism. The "fake plastic trees" in the song can be seen as symbols of things that appear perfect and beautiful on the surface but lack genuine substance and meaning.

The lyrics suggest a sense of disillusionment and a desire for something real and authentic in a world that can feel phony and manufactured. It's a song that conveys a sense of longing for authenticity and a rejection of the superficial, plastic aspects of life.

In simple terms, the song is about feeling out of place in a world that sometimes seems insincere and shallow, and yearning for something more genuine and meaningful.

[tomie]

this song is exceptional and wonderful ... it makes me feel melancholy about something ... I have no friends, I suffer from bullying; but the music manages to make me vent

[pocketcampgyal]

I always imagine a girl in her apartment watering her plants and she's living with her boyfriend. She's trying not to cry and just smile for him.

[robmaddison]

That background effect at 1:45 (synth possibly mixed with strings) is heavenly. lifts this song to greatness.

[helheim]

Why this song hurts so much? This song is well made, it's a Masterpiece.

[brittanyswaim]

"if I could be
who you wanted
all the time"

🥺

[renatorodenelle]

Man I'm on moment where substantially I am down and absolutely everything around me doesn't has taste more...So right now I understand this lyrics.

[mmdtaha]

عندما استمعت لأول مرة إلى أغنية "Fake Plastic Trees" لفرقة Radiohead، شعرت وكأنها تعبر تمامًا عن تجربتي الشخصية في الشعور بالاغتراب والحزن. الكلمات المؤثرة والموسيقى الحزينة سحبتني إلى عالم مليء بالزيف والتصنع، تمامًا كما أشعر أحيانًا في حياتي اليومية. الأغنية جعلتني أدرك كيف أن الأشياء والأشخاص من حولي قد يفقدون قيمتهم الحقيقية في مجتمع مادي. كانت تجربة استماعي لهذه الأغنية بمثابة لحظة تأمل عميقة، جعلتني أعيد التفكير في ما يهمني حقًا في الحياة وما يجعلها ذات قيمة.

[Mika-byts]

I really love the song whenever i listen, makes feel extraordinary 🎸🎹🥁🎧🎤🎼🎶🎵

[randywhite]

I’m about to listen to this song for the first time

[seismicrocket]

Thom Yorke actually cried when they finished the first three recording of this song. It only shows this song is made for tearshedding.

[peterhudson]

You can only describe this song in one word ‘masterpiece’
Up there with the Waterboys ‘whole of the moon’ and the Verve’s ‘drugs don’t work’