true love waits

By Dave "Millhouse" H

This is one of the most beautiful Radiohead songs and the one I can relate to the most. First, the title shares its name with a card that I myself have. It basically says you'll be abstinent until your married, which I plan on following through with, and I feel that this song is trying to convey the feelings one goes through while trying to accomplish this. Lines like " I'm not living, I'm just killing time" sum up the way you dont feel whole until you find the love of your life. "Just lonely, longing" also sums it up pretty well. Beautiful. This song is just beautiful.

By Tray White

this song is simply about loving someone so much that you are willing to do anything to feel that love back. thom starts off singing "i'll drown my beliefs, to have you be in peace" then he goes on to sing "i'll dress like your niece, to wash your swollen feet", what he means by this is that he is willing to act like her niece who is immature and unsensible just so he can keep her around.

thom feels true love for this person and believes that in the end love will "win" or conquer all. in the song he begs her not to leave and cries out by telling her how lonely he is.

thom then sings "i'm not living, i'm just killing time" and he knows he will never truly feel alive without her love but he is willing to go on living a void, lonely life for as long as it takes. he is lonely but he truly loves her and he is willing to sacrifice who he is and everything he believes in for her to start loving him back.
By Dback86@aol.com

One of the most beautiful Radiohead songs ever, True Love Waits is about longing for that special someone in your life and being willing to wait forever to be with them. It's about knowing that there is someone out there just for you and knowing that some day you will find them, but until then you have this terrible feeling of lonliness. "I'm not living, I'm just killing time"-this line says to me that when you find that special person you will be alive like never before, but you're just wasting time until then. An absolutely beautiful song, and I hope to see it on the next album.
By Dean Bartorillo

This is an exceptionally beautiful song, and to me, i believe the meaning lives up to its title , "True Love Waits". I believe Thom has found perfect love, something we all one day look for, yet unfortunately we seldom find. Knowing this he pleads with this person, reasons why she should love him back. Although the feeling is probably mutual with whom Thom is referring to, he still feels that he has to let her know the things that she probably wants to hear, for some assurance. The lyrics plainly explain how much he would sacrifice to have and to keep her. He then says "just dont leave" and "lonely" to further describe his feelings. The line "And true love waits, it haunted all our days", means that they both knew that they would find eachother, and that it would only be a matter of time. This is an amazing song that we will all find ourselves singing at a certain point in our lives.
By BlindBear

I don't think this song is just about the ultimate sacrifice for love. The song is also about the ugly, scary side of love, about the desperation of someone who has given everything to someone, who depends utterly on this person, and is losing that person forever. The song is about the sadness of that situation in which one is entirely lost.
By Steve

THIS SONG SEEMS TO BE ABOUT LOVING SOMEONE AND NOT BEING LOVED BACK. "I'LL DROWN MY BELIEFS TO HAVE YOU BE IN PEACE" COULD MEAN THAT HE'D GIVE UP ALL HIS ASPIRATIONS TO HAVE HER SATISTFIED. GOING FAR OUT OF HIS WAY TO HAVE HER BE IN PEACE. "DON'T LEAVE" IS EXPLAINING THE FACT OF HER NOT WANTING TO BE WITH HIM ANYMORE. WHEN HE SAYS "AND TRUE LOVE AWAITS, IT HAUNTED ALL OUR DAYS", HE MEANS THAT TRUE LOVE'S ATMOSPHERE WAS AROUND. IN OTHER WORDS, IT KNOCKED ON THEIR DOOR A COUPLE OF TIMES. ALSO, IN THE LINE "IM NOT LIVING, I'M JUST KILLING TIME", HE SAYING THAT HE ONLY FELT ALIVE WHEN WITH HER. I ALSO THINK HE VISIONS HER ALL THE TIME. "YOUR TINY HANDS, YOUR CRAZY KISS AND SMILE". NOW THAT HE'S "LONELY, LONGING", HE CAN NOW ONLY WAIT UNTIL TRUE LOVE COMES KNOCKING ONCE MORE. IN MY OPINION, ONE OF THE GREATEST RADIOHEADS SONGS.
By Vigo

practically the picture of a codependancy. it depicts a relationship, or lack there of, when one side feels it necesarry (wether or not the need is realistic) to sacrafice his or her own beliefes and hopes to be with another. It represents the often viewed honorable, side of love....the ultimate sacrafice, to forget yourself entirely and completley devote yourslef to making another person happy, wether or not they love ytou back..while seeming fairly honorable, however, it leaves the person involeved emptey and without a self. i dont mean to make the song sound bad, but it represents something that many people face, and cant handle on their own. and the only person in the world who could help, is left not knowing, because he or she in "in peace".
By Southern Cross

the verse that says "i'll dress like your niece"is so absolutely funny, for me that means that the writer would act childish in front of his love.
By Tess

This is the song that made me a Radiohead fan. It was the first song I ever heard and I thought it was simply beautiful. I think that it's about what people will do to keep something they love even if it is not the best thing for them. Like an addiction. How low people can go.
By anonymous

This is yet another RH song to which I can really relate.
Lonely, lonely...
This is about my "love life" or lack thereof.
The One told me to wait for him while he finishes up his relationship with his girlfriend.
And since I love the guy, I, accustomed to being treated like a rag doll, wait. Patiently, longingly, foreverly, I wait.
I wait.
I wait.
But the reward will be sweet.
True love waits.
By Rachel

i just wanted to comment on the line "ill wash your swollen feet" there is a passage in the bible where mary magdeline(the sinner)washes jesus's feet with her hair...it is the ultimate show of respect from her to him. do with that what you will.