They play indie rock music, with influences such as Cheap Trick, T Rex and Queen. They share management with They Might Be Giants, with whom they toured before signing to Capitol Records. They served as the house band to the public radio program This American Life on the show's fifth anniversary tour. Ira Glass, the show's host, wrote their first official bio, calling them "living catnip" and describing their songs as "part indie rock, part stadium rock, part straight up pop with the occasional whiff of The Pixies or The Cars or Elliott Smith."
In the United Kingdom, "Get Over It", from their self-titled debut album, appeared at No. 21 in the singles chart on March 16, 2003, and the band performed it on that week's edition of Top of the Pops. Also that week, the single's video was named video of the week by Q Magazine. The single was also featured in EA Sports video games Triple Play Baseball and Madden NFL 2003 in 2002.
The band contributed a cover of "This Will Be Our Year," the Zombies classic, as the lead track of Future Soundtrack for America, a political benefit album put out by Barsuk Records in the fall of 2004. Lead singer Damian Kulash also became somewhat politically active during that election cycle, writing a heavily downloaded how-to-guide entitled "How Your Band Can Fire Bush" for bands hoping to help unseat President George W. Bush, which garnered him an avalanche of hate mail.
The band's second record, "Oh No", was recorded in Malmö, Sweden and produced by Tore Johansson (The Cardigans, Franz Ferdinand) in the fall of 2004. Released in August 2005, it gained notoriety for its first single, the Clash-esque "A Million Ways." Its popularity was due in large part to its video, which proved to be a viral internet sensation in the fall of 2005. The ultra-low budget, one-take video featured the band in their back yard performing a dance choreographed by lead singer Kulash's sister, Trish Sie. Using a camera borrowed from a friend, the video was produced for under ten dollars and released without the knowledge or consent of their label, Capitol Records. By November 2005, the video had become the most downloaded music video ever with over 3 million downloads. It also spawned hundreds of tribute performances by amateur dancers around the world, a phenomenon that was encouraged by the group, which sponsored a dance contest, "OK Go Dances with You(Tube)", in which contestants were asked to upload videos of themselves doing the 'million ways dance' to YouTube, which would subsequently be judged, with the winning group of dancers to appear on stage with the band at a future OK Go performance.
The nontraditional video for "A Million Ways" is not without precedent for the band. Previous oddball video efforts featuring OK Go include their Ping Pong Instructional Video and the Federal Truth In Music Project.
Their next video featured the band dancing on treadmills to the single "Here It Goes Again" from the "Oh No" Album. This video was produced in a similar style to "A Million Ways", and also choreographed by singer/songwriter Damian Kulash's sister, Trish Sie. As with the previous music video for "A Million Ways", "Here It Goes Again" was also recorded as one continuous unedited take, although it required 7 days of rehearsal, and was the best (take 14) of 17 attempts. The amateur and yet brilliantly original 'treadmill video' sparked an even greater viral internet phenomenon than the AMW video, and was subsequently viewed on YouTube and elsewhere online well over 15 million times. On February 11, 2007, the "Here It Goes Again" music video earned the band members of OK Go and Trish Sie the Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video.
OK Go toured North America with Silversun Pickups and Snow Patrol in 2007.
A Good Idea at the Time
OK Go Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The thing about St. Petersburg:
I was never there myself, so come on.
Anastasia might have cried all night, I couldn't say myself,
So come on, yeah, come on.
I appreciate your courtesy,
Your well-learned politesse,
You know the demon's in the design:
A good idea at the time.
Seemed like a good idea at the time.
Yeah, seemed like a good idea at the time.
Now how it all went down, only Pilate knows.
All I ever asked of him is when the bars would close, so come on.
Yeah, come on.
Oh, I appreciate your courtesy,
Your well-learned politesse,
But you got yourself into your own mess.
You know the demon's in the design:
A good idea at the time.
Seemed like a good idea at the time.
Yeah, seemed like a good idea at the time.
Now what you gonna do about it?
Now, it's true about my wealth, and true about my taste,
But you don't need no help from me,
You'll lay yourself to waste.
So come on.
Seemed like a good idea at the time.
The song "A Good Idea At The Time" by OK Go is a complex narrative that's difficult to interpret at once. Essentially, the song is about things that seem to be good ideas before they fall apart. Through the lyrics, the lead singer discusses his past experiences, some of which he only knows through hearsay. He mentions St. Petersburg, talking about how he never went there and cannot comment on it. The singer then mentions Anastasia crying because of something that he can't confirm.
The chorus seems to be about optimism, talking about how good an idea can seem at a specific moment but eventually lose its sheen. The verses are more about personal interactions with others, with the singer commenting on how those individuals got themselves in messes. The singer praises politeness but ultimately doesn't think it'll be enough to save them from their predicaments.
The final verse seems to be about the individual's clear reputation and success preceding them. While they may be wealthy and have great taste, the singer believes they don't need help and will fall on their own. Overall, the song is a dark commentary on individual choices and how they can lead to deception and failure.
Line by Line Meaning
True about my taste; true about my wealth.
I confess that I have good taste and wealth.
The thing about St. Petersburg:
Now, let me tell you something about St. Petersburg.
I was never there myself, so come on.
I haven't been there, so don't believe everything I say.
Anastasia might have cried all night, I couldn't say myself,
I don't know if Anastasia cried all night.
So come on, yeah, come on.
Let's move on from that topic.
I appreciate your courtesy,
Thank you for being polite.
Your well-learned politesse,
I can tell you've been well-raised.
But you got yourself into your own mess.
This problem is your responsibility.
You know the demon's in the design:
It's a flaw in the plan.
A good idea at the time.
We thought it was a great idea.
Seemed like a good idea at the time.
It looked like a good idea initially.
Yeah, seemed like a good idea at the time.
We all thought it was a great idea.
Now how it all went down, only Pilate knows.
Nobody knows exactly what happened.
All I ever asked of him is when the bars would close, so come on.
I only wanted to know what time the bars would close.
Oh, I appreciate your courtesy,
Again, thank you for being polite.
Your well-learned politesse,
You have been well-raised, I can tell.
But you got yourself into your own mess.
This situation is of your own making.
You know the demon's in the design:
The problem is a flaw in the plan.
A good idea at the time.
We thought it was a great idea.
Seemed like a good idea at the time.
Initially, it looked like a great idea.
Yeah, seemed like a good idea at the time.
Everyone thought it was a great idea at first.
Now what you gonna do about it?
What are you going to do to fix it?
Now, it's true about my wealth, and true about my taste,
I'm telling the truth about my wealth and taste.
But you don't need no help from me,
You don't need my help.
You'll lay yourself to waste.
You'll ruin yourself.
So come on.
Enough about that.
Seemed like a good idea at the time.
Initially, it seemed like a great idea.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: DAMIAN KULASH, TIMOTHY NORDWIND
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind