All We Have Is Now
Flaming Lips Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

All we've ever had was now
All we have is now
All we'll ever have is now

I noticed that he had a watch and hat
That looked familiar
He was me, from a dimension torn free
Of the future
"We're not gonna make it" He explained how
The end will come, you and me were never meant
To be part of the future,
All we have is now,
All we've ever had was now
All we have is now
All we'll ever have is now

All we have is now

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of the song "All We Have Is Now" by Flaming Lips are profound and thought-provoking. The opening lines suggest that it is impossible to meet someone from the future, for the future is yet to come. However, the song's story takes a curious turn, and a man from the future appears and explains to the listener that the end is near, and neither of them was meant to be a part of the future. The song thus beautifully captures the notion that we have only this moment and that the future is uncertain.

The song's lyrics hold a metaphorical meaning, suggesting that the future is not fixed and that we can do something today that can change the course of tomorrow. The singer from the future represents our thoughts and fears about what might happen, while the listener represents the present moment. The song encourages us to live in the present and make the most of what we have because ultimately, all we have is now.

Line by Line Meaning

As logic stands you couldn't meet a man Who's from the future
It is impossible to encounter someone from the future based on logical reasoning

But logic broke as he appeared he spoke About the Future
Despite what logic dictates, a man claiming to be from the future suddenly appears and talks about what will happen in the future

"We're not gonna make it" He explained how The end will come, you and me were never meant To be part of the future,
The time traveler predicts that humanity will not survive and that the present individuals were not meant to exist in the future

All we have is now, All we've ever had was now
The only moment that exists is the present and it has always been that way

All we have is now All we'll ever have is now
The present is the only thing we have and will ever have, as the future is uncertain and could disappear at any moment

I noticed that he had a watch and hat That looked familiar
The time traveler appears to have an object that the present person recognizes and finds familiar

He was me, from a dimension torn free Of the future
The time traveler is actually a version of the present person from a different dimension that is separated from the future

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: STEVEN DROZD, WAYNE COYNE

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

To comment on or correct specific content, highlight it

TRACKS

Genre not found

Artist not found

Album not found

Search results not found

Song not found

Most interesting comment from YouTube:

@stevegunther1047

7y↑93

As logic stands you couldn't meet a man
Who's from the future
But logic broke as he appeared he spoke
About the Future
"We're not gonna make it" He explained how
The end will come, you and me were never meant
To be part of the future,
All we have is now,
All we've ever had was now
All we have is now
All we'll ever have is now
I noticed that he had a watch and hat
That looked familiar
He was me, from a dimension torn free
Of the future
"We're not gonna make it" He explained how
The end will come, you and me were never meant
To be part of the future,
All we have is now,
All we've ever had was now
All we have is now
All we'll ever have is now
All we have is now

All comments from YouTube:

@johnmaldonado2974

3y↑34

"You and me were never meant to be part of the future"

That line will always resonate so hard with me

@DrManhattanLoL

48w↑7

I saw the flaming Lips hours ago when they performed this album

I cried throughout their performance but this song broke me

@kevinkarimi

7y↑75

The past will never comeback and tomorrow will never arrive.

@hujinom

4y↑1

Kratezzz precious

@nomadrat

3y↑12

I cry every time I listen to this song. Because, in my heart, I realise the truth of it.

@edvh88

Me tooooo. It’s all we have. And it’s so much. It’s almost too much.

@RidleyJones

11y↑101

This song is so sad and tender. It always makes me tear up a little bit. I think it's because I'm a lover of science fiction, but it really captures the melancholy that would occur if you somehow found out that this wondrous sci-fi future was going to happen (time travel, etc.), but that you yourself wouldn't be able to make it there. On the surface it's about living in the moment, but there's a well of sorrow at the bottom of it. Sort of like "Do You Realize" I guess.

@massparody

5y↑6

It definitely encapsulates the emotion and the eerieness of this concept with the instrumentation.

@deekshith3238

♥️

@stronkman9157

It still isnt afraid to show the real message, enjoying what you have now before it is too late

@jimmy4eyes8404

❤❤❤

@OMIMmusic

6y↑12

How beautifully can a human being sing the words "all we have is now"? Wow. 💓

@jvasilyev

4y↑29

20 years after our divorce, i met my ex wife. we discussed this song and wept like babies. this song crushes my soul.

@MeatStew232

13w

Damn, brother. Just...damn. I love you.

@mr.nobody8181

5y↑19

ALL WE'VE EVER HAD IS NOW...fully comprehend the meaning of these words and the universe is yours....

@Tifftoe7

14y↑12

I love this song. This whole album is incredible! Badly needed.

@Llvpiluttmab2three

12w

especially in '24🩷🫦

@joshua969

4y↑16

This song takes on more of an emotional weight this year.

@Jordan-id7vf

7y↑85

Listen to this with headphones, the balancing is phenomenal.

@mcpeko5773

Agree. But listen on for instance Spotify. This YouTube version is very distorted. https://open.spotify.com/track/2cVj88Q5SL5bZa8O2iFrDL?si=GYcsKJOFQA2g3YevjFCbNw

@justinclark5591

4y↑3

i also like what they do with "Feeling yourself disintegrate" ... the beginning bounces left to right so beautifully

@gilpinmatthews

3y↑2

I completely agree

@PaulJackino

2y↑1

Produced by Dave Fridmann

@stevepatton711

i can tell on speakers. my monitor is pretty wide so the stereo field is good at like 2 feet.

@edvh88

2y↑3

Ughhhh this song makes me cry, I love it

@BlakeGildaphish76

11y↑4

their music is just beautiful. one of the few great things about the 21st century.

@adammarquez5203

Some of theyre songs yeah but the rest are silly as hell

@saturatedneowax

3y↑1

@@adammarquez5203 isn't that how life is too?

@hakonericson6279

4y↑12

This is so beautiful on so many levels.

@MoeSlislack

6y↑8

this album and at war with the mystics are both masterpieces. there aren't very many albums where I like every song.

@PeterBondeVillain

10y↑53

Time is circular. Take nothing for granted. All we have is NOW

@PaulJackino

9y↑7

To me, it's not so much that time is circular, it's that there is no such thing as time..(if you have to think of it in terms of infinity, than that still means there is no such thing as time in a way.) so there is just Now and now is forever. buuut we still somehow have clocks and calendars and Date of births and date of deaths and all that

@iamhereblossom1588

8y↑3

Paul Jackino that's Aristotle's viewpoint. Look it up. It may blow your mind

@dontpanic15

6y↑1

delusional much?

@newforestpixie5297

5y↑1

Peter Bonde Mr David Icke explained this to me the other day. “ when you think of the past - it is now And when you think of the future , it is now “ . The way I organise my plumbing business proves I’ve always subconsciously realised this fact. Great band . Best wishes from wessexshire

@darkwatchesvideos

13y↑3

I first heard this album when I was 13 and man did it change me, This is the first psychedelic/trippy/ambient rock I ever heard. This album will always have a special place in my heart. The Flaming Lips are one of the best bands out there and Wayne is a genius.

@saturatedneowax

I also think I first heard this when I was 13 (some time towards the end of middle school) and fell in love, dsotm was my first album like this tho

@Mblandreth1

3y↑2

This album is so important to me! This song explains so much!

@pedropolin

7y↑37

Underrated gem

@faunnis2007

8y↑18

Love this song so much

@heidileeshire5959

5y↑20

This album gives me an existential crisis in the most intense, terrifying, magnificent, breathtakingly, exquisite way...thank you, & r u hypnotists? 😊👾💖

@Periphery830

11y↑18

im sick and i feel like this band is curing me

@Stu_DLNGR

6y↑3

This album, whilst tripping, is perfect. Life synced beautifully.

@MrRobgregory

14y↑3

this is a beautiful song. the first time i heard it , it made my cry.

@stevegunther1047

7y↑93

@timothydowd4180

10w

I first heard this song at a play I went to for one of my university classes. I was there at the play at night by myself and this song memorized me that night when it was played on the opening credits. That was in 2006, nearly 18 years ago.

I never could find out what that song was as I was not able to find it online when I searched for it soon after the play was over with.

The song stayed in my mind all of these years and I finally came across it online here 18 years later to hear it once again, the second time I ever heard it, and now I know the name and title at last.

Astonishing how just hearing this song once over 18 years ago in the year 2006 made it stay dormant in my mind for all of these years until I finally searched for it again just now because the song popped in my mind today from first hearing it once in the year 2006.

@IV-tz1sl

14y↑6

i'm tired, i'm going to bed and i want this song playing over and over to have a peaceful sleep and beautiful dreams

@hrahmani5738

4y↑1

Are you still asleep?

@jessmobess1

7y↑13

Vinny always has great taste in music.

@rsk47reviews59

jessmobess1 binyor

@GroWgrooveNmovinG

12y↑19

the flaming lips definitely took that place in my heart that mgmt failed to fill

@CondemnedLegacy

3y↑4

Both hold a similar place for me I think

@Knifymoloko

3y↑2

Little Dark Age exists now

@gerbilpmc

2y↑1

@@Knifymoloko Congratulations is better

@feraldrollerypdx

4y↑6

Crazy how relevant this is now!

@joslynflaherty1149

11y↑11

I just saw the play adaptation for this Album, it was called Yoshimi battles the pink Robots, and it was FANTASTIC! I beg everyone to go see it, it isn't on Broadway (yet) but when it is, GO SEE IT! I cried and laughed and its just soo soo good!

@mcpeko5773

Where?

@patcharisma

9y↑22

They're no questions asked, that "The Flaming Lips* was the sole only Band, that brought Pop-Music over the iron Millennium-Border forever as Indie-Outfit - within no commercial attitudes ever - being great and true forever as themselves!
A pure rare outfit in such wasted times!
(Pat; Switzerland)

@MagusMirificus

9y↑3

+patcharisma As much as I do like Radiohead, ever time I read some rock critic prattling on about how they carried music forward with their combination of sonic innovation and song-craft, my knee-jerk response is "Well, The Flaming Lips were doing the same thing, and they did it while staying true to pop-music's roots, rather than just ditching pop and making mopey electronica records."

@josephchastain7751

8y↑5

+MagusMirificus But Radiohead are gods too. I love both bands. Why do some people have to bash other great bands to prove their bands are good? Pop music isn't necessarily a good thing BTW.

@MagusMirificus

I wasn't bashing Radiohead. I like Radiohead. Some days I love them. I was bashing all the rock critics and the occasional fans who claim that Radiohead were solely responsible for rock music surviving into the 21st century, which is hyperbolic and somewhat silly when there were bands like the Lips doing a lot of the same stuff. And I didn't say "Pop music", I said "Pop music's roots", which ARE necessarily good things. They established music as a form of direct interaction with the listener, which is something I think Radiohead abandoned around the time of Kid A.

@josephchastain7751

Fair enough. I do love Radiohead. I think a lot of Radiohead fans can go way overboard with their devotion too though. I think Radiohead not doing the pop music roots thing is a good thing as their doing their own thing. Let Radiohead be Radiohead and Flaming Lips be Flaming Lips. They;'re both great bands and I wouldn't want them to be any other way.

@MagusMirificus

8y↑1

Joseph Chastain
I essentially agree. I dunno, I go back and forth on Radiohead, and Kid A especially, which is at the crux of the point I was making (It being their first album of the new millennium). Sometimes I have nothing but admiration for its sonic adventurousness and emotional ambiguity; sometimes I feel as though the length they took those things to is a betrayal of rock n' roll and everything it stands for. Rock n' roll, to me, even in its darkest extremes like Joy Division, is about having a relationship between the singer/songwriter and the listener, where some kind of idea or emotion is communicated with the desire for the listener to understand it, even if it's on a purely emotional level rather than an intellectual one. Kid A always felt very shut off to me, like it was something I wasn't invited to be a part of, and Thom Yorke is singing purely for himself rather than to me. Which isn't helped by the undeniable fact that Radiohead openly stated that Kid A came from a feeling that rock music was done, having become boring, stale, and passe. They were interested in making something entirely different, and I have to look at it as something different in order to enjoy it, while believing that the sentiment that lead to its creation is absolutely and completely wrong and cynical.

This all contrasts rather directly with what the Lips were doing around the same time. This album, as well as Soft Bulletin, are just as exited by the idea of new sounds as Radiohead was, are very nearly just as innovative, and can explore emotions that are just as dark or complex. But they retain that rock n' roll position of being essentially being one side of a conversation, recorded not only for its own sake but so that Wayne Coyne could properly address those on the other side of the speakers.

Again, none of this is meant as a slight against Kid A, or Radiohead in general. It's just an explanation of why I'm naturally disposed to be more comfortable with what The Flaming Lips are doing here than what Radiohead did on that album. Rock n' roll is my passion, and any music, even a masterpiece, that actively tries to distance itself from everything rock n' roll is on a fundamental level, is going to make me slightly suspicious, however great it is.

2 More Replies...

@videotepec

4y↑2

this song is getting me through 2020

@tonyroulhac

50w↑2

Came across the do you realize due to guardian of the galaxy and ended up downloading this gem of a album and been listening ever since

@sunnytsofiya

14y↑2

Thank you so much for posting this album. I love 'the flaming lips'.

@goku_dunker_420

4y↑2

Forget I had this shit in my music playlist, love that I found it again.

@bouncyfunkyrecords

11y↑2

i can't believe how this lyrics fits so perfect

@v.cloud9

7y↑1

All I want right now is someone to go to balboa park with me and listen to the flaming lips albums while we smoke a j.

@Pegasus300100

14y

Yes... Really great... I like this song. :)

@mehsfx

14y↑1

yeah its a great album all the way through, plus i love albums with songs that sort of segway into eachother

@markharper3043

38w

Just saw The Lips last night in Detroit. They played all of Yoshimi straight through. Incredible. They perform every show as if it’s their final, farewell performance and they somehow make the audience feel special. Impossible not to weep hearing this and Do You Realize? They heal a lot of souls.

@pozzi0

14y↑2

fking nice song and lyrics too

@kcharles520

11y↑3

that's just one of many possible interpretations tho...i think it's a little deeper than just that. you can interpret this album in so many ways, it's brilliant.

@MariaKhordina

12y↑2

I want to live by these words.

@rafaelcamargourango5082

5y↑1

Epic tune.

@PinchePeloSpiderman

11y↑1

I saw the Musical at the La Jolla Playhouse at its debut. Easily one of the most amazing shows I've ever seen.

@marauderjocks

this song is like a therapy for me

@Azwel

12y↑3

amazing song. as good as anything on soft bulletin

@XmetalXrobotX

13y↑2

oh how i love the flaming lips. everyone should love them. <3

@tigerboar10

11y↑7

This is a much better love story than Twilight

@heidileeshire5959

4y↑1

All we have is N.O.W. No other who. No other what. No other when. No other where. No other why. 💓

@WhoisJacqueFresco

14y↑1

This is my favorite song

@Ikkepedia

12y

I'm going through a agnostic to atheist period of my life right now. I saw this link, man. What an awesome song and band!

@Tranquil_Photon

11y↑58

I cried like a bitch to this once i learned this was actually a concept album around breast cancer ;_;

@root-beer

6y↑19

It's a tribute to their Japanese friend who died

@root-beer

6y↑11

From cancer

@tbh5789

5y↑6

"The music, which Coyne has denied was intended as a conceptual whole, works very well as exactly that"

sadly, no. but there was a stage production that used the album and its conceptual themes as exactly that!

http://www.sandiegostory.com/her-life-is-the-prize-those-robots-are-cancer/#targetText=Yoshimi%20Battles%20the%20Pink%20Robots,young%20woman's%20battle%20with%20cancer.&targetText=Named%20Yoshimi.,are%20suddenly%20devastating%20her%20body.

@jeupater1429

4y↑6

@@KurtMathes-eg5ee in fact Wayne's father died right before the soft bulletin and together with this album it marked a sea change in their musical style. I suspect many of these songs were heavily influenced by the death of Wayne's father

@adammarquez5203

4y↑1

Oh god

@zzyyxxo

11y

fantastic song.

@zemanken

2y↑1

what does it say about me that i didnt even register the factt that the lyrics reference "you and me are never going to be part of the future" i always just envisioned the lyrics as a one way dialogue with another character in the context of the song. i am traveling into the future with every passing moment.

@CharlesR91

11y↑3

Omg, them feels...

@caramason56

28w

Beautiful ❤️

@NZBeautiful

11y↑1

Love this song❤

@Bob-bx4xg

I noticed that he had watch that looked familiar… he was me from a dimension torn free from the future.. the coolest most sci-fi scene this line makes in my head is both touching and devastating

@a70921

13y

@Skyechanter Maybe because the first track on there compolation album has Wayne, the singer from this band on it, plus that album came out idk 7 years after this, and really didn't get realesed till this year on account Mark killed himself. Thanks for dropping musical knowledge on us though everyone should look into Dark Night of The Soul imo best album of 2010

@paulwright2081

12y

Me is growing with this band.In reply to patriotsurfer.

@firebird881

14y

@PirateNaziZombie yoshimi is one of the singers best freinds. she was fighting breast cancer(the pink robots) when this album was written. yoshimi lost.

@giga0524

14y

2 poeples brains where so twisted and bent from the psycadelicness from this song they thought the "dislike" button was the "like" button :(

@giga0524

14y↑4

Who would ever dislike THIS song?

@aq3x.1

True

@aq3x.1

4y↑1

I was 6 when u commented this

@giga0524

@@aq3x.1 i was 15. song's still a banger tho

@johnmaldonado2974

People with no souls

@stilt2209

1y↑1

I was 3 when you comment this comment. I'm now 15

1 More Replies...

@heidileeshire5959

I wish the 🌎 lived in the "now." It's possible. A paradigm shift would be both necessary & full of potential! Ok, on the count of 3 let's start! 1..2..3.. Dammit...

@NatalieBugzBad

14y↑1

to me its like a Beatles (acid era) / pink Floyd / blend and i like it (:

@vaiapatta8313

4y↑1

Left On Read brought me here.

@WhoisJacqueFresco

12y↑1

I was agnostic, but I relate with Naturalistic Pantheism.

@arnoldjoseph1122

14y↑1

man this is good stuff

@fishonade

12y

same for me, this is great for the mind

@Metalgazer

13y↑1

@br4ve Might I suggest Black Moth Super Rainbow, Of Montreal, Solex, Fever Ray, The Faint, Tortoise, Pinback, CocoRosie, M83, Ghostland Observatory, Boards of Canada, Washed Out, Tricky, Slowdive, Burial... nothing quite like this, though.

@br4ve

13y↑2

This sounds amazing, any other suggested bands? I'm trying to discover as much goodness as possible

@samo8730

2y↑2

did ya find some

@cgo5161

52w

grandaddy is a pretty similar band listen to their most popular album-the software slump

@gerbilpmc

2y↑1

masterpiece

@synixx9286

12y

@YoshiAddict I'm a massive floyd fan but I still rate the flaming lips very highly. They have different styles so for me I can't really compare them in the first place.

@Fuckoffgoogle25

14y

a good easy song for the piano. sounds nice like rice ice splice dice zeitgeist

@OMIMmusic

6y↑2

Fuuuck this is CRAZY! <3

@Shichman

4y↑3

All we have is now...

@fuente2607

10w

Un dia me la dedicaste sabiendo nuestro triste futuro y ahora vivo sin ti.

@afrosamurai..

10y↑1

Everybody listen to XV-Farewell. he made another version of this.

@EddieDingle515

11y

Good to hear the play version is good

@brendanshari1895

2y↑1

All we have is now ❤️❤️

@bookninja1

14y

this is only the second Flaming lips track i've listened to. but hot damn, if i don't like them

@AnaLuciaLinsSoneghet

3y↑2

Tudo o Que Temos É o Agora

@sciences8

13y↑3

If you like Flaming Lips you'll also like MGMT. -Your Personal Pandora.

@PaulJackino

They share the same producer!

@Alexandra14anarch

11y

Me TOO. Like shit, they're soo good

@noneofyourbusiness7013

4y↑1

I miss you dad

@sickwater

13y

Top Drawer, Sir. Top Drawer.

@deekshith3238

♥️♥️

@BENebuchadnezzar

13y↑8

just me, but I prefer this to dark side of the moon

@trilliumallison9363

4y↑1

both great, in much different ways

@bubbachubba4436

@@trilliumallison9363 agreed. they both server their own purposes. they both have so so much to offer and honestly I don't know if I could pick one or the other if I had to.

@sambt123

flaming lips is way better than Pink Floyd

@michaeldblack

12y

500th like!

@IndiePeaches

13y

@1TomatoJuice1 Very cool way of putting it ..... Very nearly as cool as the Lips themselves ;o)

@IndelibleHD

8y↑26

This song is the shit....

@TheBattleofYonkers

11y

Feels like Doctor Who.

@wissarutsingeam3354

Beyond Blue brought me here

@locustskater

14y

Ineffable

@itskarmabxtch

14y

HA that was exactly what i was thinking of.

@stingme88x

13y

i gotta stop pushing replay button

@pozzi0

12y

wow

@davidsantella

13y

@patriotsurfer16 see them live and they will become your favorite band

Load More Comments...

More Comments

just now