Week 56: THE FLAMING LIPS (420 to 30: A Music Retrospective)
Few rock bands have ever provided live shows as memorable as The Flaming Lips do, and since 1983, they've recorded over 20 studio albums worth of music to fill them with. An accidental discovery of their 10th studio album in 2002, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, hooked me in immediately with its ethereal, spacey, introspective, imaginative take on rock and roll, and The Flaming Lips have remained one of my very favorite bands ever since.
420 to 30: A Music Retrospective
Here's 7 of my favorites from The Flaming Lips.
Week 56: THE FLAMING LIPS
#388/420 - The Flaming Lips, “The Abandoned Hospital Ship”
The last slot for The Flaming Lips was definitely the toughest to fill. There are dozens of songs that I could have listed here, and many more from this album alone, but ultimately I chose this one because it is just such a killer album opener, and Wayne’s vocals here are so heartfelt, sincere, and captivating. The music behind them is so unique and creative, and whenever I listen to the full Lips discography straight through (which I have plenty of times) this always really represents a shift into a new era for me. Although I group Clouds Taste Metallic with the earlier stuff in the 90s, it really ushers in the Zaireeka/Soft Bulletin/Yoshimi/Mystics era well as a transitional piece. This is where they really became less of a rock band and more of a mellow band that is hard to classify, but perhaps I would say “psychedelic pop”.
The music blends so well with hospital noises here, the way it fades in and glimmers, but it hits hard with its rock roots as it progresses. It’s a jam, but it’s also a ballad, even sad. It’s very vague, what is it about? But the emotion of the music and the vocals tell you it is dire and desperate, but yet accepting and peaceful, but yet frustrating and an emotional release. It’s daring, and The Flaming Lips have always been that, but here their daringness matures into a beautiful album with one of their best album openers ever.
And I’m sort of relieved.
And I’m getting over it now.
I listened to this album during one of the coldest nights of my life, sleeping in my van sans heat during a frigid December night in Roswell, NM, and I absolutely love it, and every time I have listened to it before and since.
#389/420 - The Flaming Lips, “Vein of Stars”
Following Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, the Lips saw their biggest gap in album production since their inception. It was a hotly anticipated follow-up that could have easily fallen short of such an excellent string of albums to come before it, but it instead delivered as a spectacular sequel in style to the previous. Once again, the album is full of nothing but great tracks such as “My Cosmic Autumn Rebellion”, “The Stars Are So Big... I Am So Small... Do I Stand a Chance?” and “The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song”, but my favorite of the bunch, by a hair, is this one. It has all the heart and feels you could want and elevated itself even more for me after seeing it performed live, in the front row at that thanks to an old friend.
And if there ain’t no Heaven, maybe there ain’t no Hell.
Who knows?
The words are simple, yet, as is typical for The Flaming Lips, profound and contemplative. Where The Soft Bulletin feels like staring at the stars from your rooftop, At War with the Mystics feels like you are in space, among the stars and vast infinity normally shielded by our atmosphere. The Flaming Lips are transportive and dazzling captains to take you away on these auditory journeys.
While I do prefer Yoshimi and The Soft Bulletin to At War with the Mystics overall, all three are major favorites of mine, and fit together so well conceptually while remaining distinct from one another. This is the star child of the bunch, and this track is my favorite to drift off to.
#390/420 - The Flaming Lips, “Godzilla Flick”
Curiously enough, I just watched a Godzilla flick late last night. The early days of The Flaming Lips are heavily underrated in my opinion. They did not catch on and become big until much later in their careers. I believe Wayne Coyne continued working at Long John Silver’s in Oklahoma through a lot of these albums—a comforting notion for us struggling artists out there, though undeserved considering the talent on display here. The style is certainly different than what they would produce a decade later, and two decades later, and now three decades later, but what it is, well, here it is, Hear It Is, and it has some great tracks on it, including one of my favorites of all, this song.
This is a simple, acoustic piece that you don’t get from the Lips later in their career, or even compared to the rest of this album. Wayne’s vocals (his first foray as lead singer for the band) and guitar playing are really on point here. The song is bouncy, catchy, light, and enjoyable. The simple yet thoughtful and thought-provoking lyrics the band is now known for are present here right from the start.
It does seem to be a hot debate between lyrics sites online as to whether the song states, “this isn’t no Godzilla/Clint Eastwood flick” or if it is saying, “this is an old Godzilla/Clint Eastwood flick.” I always thought it was the prior, but now I am questioning everything. Either way, I like the way they fit together, the way they sound, and the imagery they call to mind. I love the “ahh”s at the end. It’s just a solid song, and part of a great gateway into decades of great music to come.
#391/420 - The Flaming Lips, “Once Beyond Hopelessness”
The entirely instrumental soundtrack album to The Flaming Lips’ psychedelic, trippy, indie space film, Christmas on Mars, is probably not the main music that comes to mind when thinking of the band, but for me, it is one of my favorite albums of theirs, and one that sits in a very special place for me personally, beyond the association with their wonderfully odd film.
I really love the subdued quality of this track, and the entire soundtrack in particular. It takes you to a different part of your brain, like a drug in music form. It is introspective and inner-looking without needing words. It feels almost like watching the inside of your brain, and seeing a vast landscape to explore, like exploring Mars inside your head. It is epic and dramatic and yet chill and calm, far from bombastic, yet powerful, strong. It’s like facing down the edge of a cliff with the wind blowing at your back as you ponder your life and existence. It’s both a flood of words and descriptions that it brings to mind, while still being ultimately very hard to describe. It’s just fantastic, I think.
It’s an album I have played many times in my life, but I will never forget one moment in particular. I was driving through Texas when I was 22 in my conversion van, and snow had hit outside Lubbock and I was driving to Roswell—and I had no functional heater in my vehicle. As soon as I hit the road to Roswell, the ice started setting in, and I realized very quickly how ill-equipped Texas was for these types of driving conditions. The road was a sheet of ice for miles and miles and I couldn’t exceed 30-35mph without spinning out and losing control. So I had to take this incredibly long stretch of highway at a snail’s pace, with no heat, and basically with no other drivers around. The flatter than flat Texas plains were completely white with snow, and I felt like I was on another planet. So what did I do? I packed a bowl and turned on this album, and rode it out. And as I drove on, I finally encountered other lifeforms, a herd of some of my favorite animals, the pronghorn, and I got out and ran alongside them through the snow with Once Beyond Hopelessness echoing from my idling van.
Truly one of the most serene and unforgettable moments in my life, and this music brought it all together. I very much love this album, especially this song which leads it off beautifully, and it is a staple for any pensive moments of calm now for me, whether on a trip or just a peaceful night at home. Definitely an album to be experienced!
#392/420 - The Flaming Lips, “Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell”
I obtained my first album by The Flaming Lips, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, almost by a fluke. I was about 12 when this came out and back then I used to search for music online to use (illegally?) in my amateur film productions using keywords related to the content or characters of the shows, and see what might fit or have the right sound among what turned up. One of my staple characters was named Rupert Hans and was known for wearing pink snow-pants all the time. As a result, I was searching for music with “pink” in the title and came across this entire album. I am very glad I did.
Choosing songs to highlight from this album is a difficult task. Of course “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Pt. 1” is a major favorite of mine and for awhile I considered “Are You a Hypnotist??” to be my favorite Flaming Lips song of all, but ultimately I gave this track the slot because not only is it as amazing of a song as those others, but I really think this song in particular changed the way I thought about music at a young age and what I thought it could be.
This wasn’t a radio hit type of song, it was transportive. It had a mood to it. It wasn’t just flashy to catch your attention, it had substance. The bassline is very striking, and the accompanying tones are auditorily authoritative. It wasn’t like any music I had been exposed to before. It felt like this great discovery I had made. I started telling all my friends to check out The Flaming Lips.
Besides the style of the music, the idea of the song is very deep too.
All the billion other moments, were just slipping all away.
I must have been tripping…
Wow, what a message, what a thought, what a perspective on life. Especially as a young person, I fell victim to this trap of the ego many times. I would exert so much energy and anticipation into things I wanted to happen, that often all the things actually happening around me would just pass me by. Life itself was happening, and I was waiting for something else. No more. The next verse addresses love.
All the other love around me, was just wasting all away.
It cuts deep with very few words. It describes the pitfalls of fixation on a future or romance that may not be meant for you. I have wasted a considerable amount of my heart and passion on things that would not reciprocate, and it is a shame. I view things very differently now, and though this song is no magic spell and it took life lessons to really hammer this home for me, having it echoing in the background with its message is something I am grateful to have had as an influence on my outlook.
The Flaming Lips are a very special band, and this song is truly one of their best.
#393/420 - The Flaming Lips, “When Yer Twenty Two”
My favorite album by The Flaming Lips is my favorite rock album of the 90s, and one of my favorite albums of all time. While the complete listening experience is really what makes it for me, and each track is really a stand-out in its own way, my very favorite of all is this one, and imagine my joy when it coincided that my first Flaming Lips concert I attended fell on my 22nd birthday. Ah, if only they had done a deep dive and played this song to make it perfect… Nonetheless, it was awesome, and so is this song.
This album is the first appearance of drummer Steven Drozd, one of the three main members of the group over time, and the drum-playing really shines here, as throughout the album. Between the drums and the keyboard, both played by Drozd, the pulse of this song is just killer, like waves going through you, burying you. Somehow, Wayne Coyne climbs out of this to screech out the vocals, “stuck in the perpetual motion, dying against the machine!” Music meets message here very well. There is perpetual motion to the song. It is heavy and intense. It’s a banger and a jam.
I love that they chose the age 22. It’s not generally a significant enough age or defining enough crossover in life to merit its own song, but here it takes center stage, and I think it captures those undistinguished qualities of that age very well. “Your number is backwards again when you try.” It is a bit cryptic and random, just like being 22. Now that I passed all these milestones I anticipated in my youth, what am I? What is this all about?
While the sound of the Lips became fuller, cleaner, and taken to new heights after this album, the sound here represents this amazing middle era of the band that, to me, features everything great about their early years with all the promise of the later. Songs like “She Don’t Use Jelly” and “Plastic Jesus” were some of the first Flaming Lips songs I ever heard, and take me back to simpler times in my youth, and songs like this, and “Turn It On”, and “Pilot Can at the Queer of God”, and “Slow Nerve Action” take me into my teenage years and beyond. It’s full of nostalgia, it’s great for grungy days in grungy garages or grungy vans, and it’s not even grunge. It’s psychedelic, noisy, distorted, and awesome, and I love it.
#394/420 - The Flaming Lips, “Do You Realize??”
My favorite from The Flaming Lips is a rather obvious choice, as it has even gained status as Oklahoma’s official rock song (the home state of the band), but it’s a song worthy of acclaim. It’s one of my very favorite songs of all and one of the best songs ever written in my opinion.
This is peak production from The Flaming Lips. The quality and polish of the mix are in top form. Seemingly all of the right artistic choices were made at every turn, it’s hard to imagine this being done any better. Fun to try and make or hear different versions, but when you’ve nailed it, you’ve nailed it, right from the crash of the bell at the start.
Besides being musically exceptional, this song makes one of the most important, simple, profound realizations that one can make, and puts it beautifully into the lines of this song. It is just about perfect.
Do you realize we’re floating in space?
Do you realize that happiness makes you cry?
Do you realize that everyone you know someday will die?
In particular, as a kid, I had this loaded onto my first ever mp3 player and I would rewind and replay the first chorus over and over.
It was uplifting, it was sad, it was deep, and it was and is 100% true. It’s the way I think about things, and this song put my thoughts and feelings into music and lyrics in a way that hits home for me completely. To realize the nature of our existence and to realize the limited scope within which we are and within which we can perceive and interpret, and how fleeting those abilities and that perspective are, it’s everything. And the way the song jumps from speaking about absolutely everything there is to speaking about you specifically, it just gets it. Enjoy every moment. Appreciate who and what you have while you do. You are nothing, life is illusion, but it is everything we have as far as we know and it is meant to be loved and valued.
Of course, when I saw them live, I was anticipating this song must appear on the setlist. I had spent the day (my 22nd birthday) with someone very special to me in my life who I hadn’t seen in awhile and haven’t seen much since, but who I always loved a lot and always will. I was really happy to have spent that day with her and to have done all the fun things we did together, topped off with the concert of one of my absolute favorite groups. She had an early day the next day, and since this ended up being the final song of the encore and we wanted to beat the rush out, I ended up hearing it as we held hands, pushing through the crowd with the lights up as brightly as they had been the entire show, showering over the audience. It was definitely a moment that embodied the song for me. I knew that day was not going to repeat itself, and a lot of times previously when I was younger, even with respect to that same person, I hoped for more and didn’t always stop to appreciate the moments I did have. That time I did, and for once, I didn’t feel like I was saying goodbye to her, I just felt lucky to have shared the moment with her that I did.
Going through these songs and thinking of so many more that have meant something to me or just been damn enjoyable listens over the years, it feels criminal to have ranked The Flaming Lips only fifth out of my top five artists. They are such an incredible, inspirational, imaginative, and personal band to me, I could easily call them my favorite of all. Wayne Coyne is one of my heroes and if I could work with any artist on any project, he would probably be my top choice. I can think of no one I would rank higher whose art I feel more connected to and with. Their live shows are spectacular and I can’t believe they continuously appear on free stages at my home city’s summer music festival so even a poor fool like me can enjoy their music in such a setting. I am so grateful for all the music they have made and continue to make over the years and feel very fortunate that I stumbled upon this album all those years ago. Flaming Lips forever.
All this having been said, there’s still four weeks to go, and I still have even more to say about four more artists who I have ranked even higher on this list. Next is someone who was tragically killed before I was born, who I will never have the chance to see perform, but whose albums and songs have accompanied some of the best, pivotal, and amazing times in my life, whose music I love very much. He is one of my mighty four favorite singers of all time, unbelievably talented and one of the true visionaries in art and music of our lifetimes. He conquered the music of three different decades through the 60s, 70s, and 80s in a way no other musicians could. From Gospel to rock and roll to groovy soul to rhythm and blues to funk to jazz to pop to disco to psychedelic, experimental, indescribable sounds that escape categorization, he’s been called the Prince of Soul and he’s one of my very favorites, Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr., a.k.a. Marvin Gaye.
420 to 30: A Music Retrospective
Week 2: The Jackson 5/The Jacksons
Week 3: A Tribe Called Quest
Week 4: Weezer
Week 5: Bob Dylan
Week 6: Led Zeppelin
Week 7: 2Pac/Makaveli
Week 8: Billy Joel
Week 9: Electric Light Orchestra
Week 10: Elvis Presley
Week 11: Dr. Buzzard’s Original Savannah Band
Week 12: The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Week 13: Nirvana
Week 14: The Doors
Week 15: The Rolling Stones
Week 16: Gnarls Barkley
Week 17: Gábor Szabó
Week 18: Galaxie 500
Week 19: Simon & Garfunkel
Week 20: Gorillaz
Week 21: Ennio Morricone
Week 22: The Moody Blues
Week 23: Koji Kondo
Week 24: Rob Zombie/White Zombie
Week 25: Paul McCartney/Wings
Week 26: George Harrison
Week 27: Phil Spector
Week 28: John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band
Week 29: Public Enemy
Week 30: The Love Language
Week 31: Barry White
Week 32: Frank Sinatra
Week 33: David Bowie
Week 34: Queen
Week 35: The Offspring
Week 36: Louis Prima
Week 37: The Notorious B.I.G.
Week 38: Nancy Sinatra
Week 39: Stevie Wonder
Week 40: Roger Miller
Week 41: Röyksopp
Week 42: N.W.A
Week 43: Sly and the Family Stone
Week 44: Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass
Week 45: Supertramp
Week 46: "Weird Al" Yankovic
Week 47: The Kinks
Week 48: Eminem
Week 49: Mort Garson
Week 50: Foster the People
Week 51: Pink Floyd
Week 52: David Wise
Week 53: Sam Cooke
Week 54: Wu-Tang Clan
Week 55: The Beach Boys
View the full list of "420 Songs" here: https://tinyurl.com/y8fboudu (Google spreadsheet link)
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