The Flaming Lips Explanations Series
I’m going to assume that since you are reading this that you have more than a passing interest in music. By chance, I ran across a really interesting gem on Rhapsody last night that was like finding a crumpled up $20 bill in an old coat pocket. I own most of the Flaming Lips albums so I already have them in my library and never really have needed to pull them up on Rhapsody but when I was clicking around and checking out new music I noticed a cross reference to the Flaming Lips that had “explanations” after the album name.
Naturally, my curiosity took over so I clicked on through to the bands landing page and found my little pot of music gold. The band has an intro before each track that gives a little background information and insight into the track. This was done for several albums including, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots and At War with the Mystics. For someone such as me who goes hardcore nerd or not at all when I enjoy something, this was really interesting stuff.
For example, the band talks about how the track, “The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song” seems to be a favorite among children and they always either side with the yeah yeah yeah side or the no no no side. Obviously this doesn’t make much sense if you haven’t heard the track but it is very insightful into human nature from the honesty of a child and I’m sure the catchy tunes don’t hurt the appeal to the kiddies either. Another interesting tidbit from this track is that people often ask the band if the track is about the band “Yeah Yeah Yeah’s” which seems odd but just goes to show how people make music their own by interpretation regardless of intention or accuracy.
So if you have more than a passing interest in the band then this is definitely worth checking out the next time you fell like putting the head phones on and listening to a Flaming Lips album. By the way, Rhapsody has some fucked up genre titles, Flaming Lips are Noise Pop. What the hell is that?
Also, I saw a documentary on the band called The Flaming Lips: Fearless Freaks that is a must see for any of their fans. It chronicles their history and the highs and lows of the band’s career.
This entry was posted on Thursday, May 15th, 2008 at 1:03 pm and is filed under The Flaming Lips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Ok, I’m a dork… I’ve heard of the Flaming Lips but have never actually listened to a song. I’m now a fan, thanks antimatter.