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.
Bye Bye Baby
OK Go Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You can bet that Hollywood looks oh-so-good,
Much better than it ever has before.
So my pets have left me in search of careers and richer soils,
Heading off to pure-bread friends and happy ends
And anything to prove I'm disloyal.
Â
It's not just that I'm so unprepared.
It's just you'd think I'd grow out of this, wouldn't you?
Â
So take me to winter, as if it was discontent I'd see.
I'll live with the madmen there and pull my hair
Cause lunacy is everything I need.
Â
It's not just that I'm selfish and scared,
It's not just that I'm so unprepared.
It's just you'd think I'd grow out of this, wouldn't you?
Â
"Bye bye, baby" Cybil says as she walks out the door.
You can bet that Hollywood looks oh-so-good,
Much better than it ever has before.
The lyrics of the song Bye Bye Baby by OK Go seem to be about a person who is left behind by their loved ones, who has left to pursue their careers and ambitions in Hollywood, seeking greener pastures. The singer seems to be struggling with the situation and is torn between their feelings of loyalty and their own ambitions. The lyrics may be interpreted as a commentary on the fickle nature of relationships and the pressures of trying to reconcile personal desires with the needs of those one loves.
The singer seems to be in a state of flux, vacillating between different emotions such as fear, selfishness, and unpreparedness, which may be indicative of a larger existential crisis. The line "It's just you'd think I'd grow out of this, wouldn't you?" suggests that the singer is self-aware about their own shortcomings and is struggling to come to terms with them. The lines "So take me to winter, as if it was discontent I'd see. I'll live with the madmen there and pull my hair. Cause lunacy is everything I need." may be interpreted as the singer's desire to escape from the mundanity of everyday life and embrace insanity as a means of finding purpose.
Overall, the song seems to be a reflection on themes such as loyalty, ambition, personal growth, and the search for meaning in a world that can be both thrilling and unforgiving.
Line by Line Meaning
Bye bye, baby Cybil says as she walks out the door.
Cybil is leaving and saying goodbye.
You can bet that Hollywood looks oh-so-good,
Cybil is leaving for Hollywood, as it looks very appealing to her.
Much better than it ever has before.
Hollywood has improved over time and is now even more attractive than before.
So my pets have left me in search of careers and richer soils,
The singer's loved ones have abandoned them to pursue their own dreams.
Heading off to pure-bread friends and happy ends
The singer's loved ones are going to successful friends with good lives.
And anything to prove I'm disloyal.
The singer's loved ones are leaving to prove the singer is unfaithful or disloyal.
It's not just that I'm schizo and scared,
The singer is not just schizophrenic and afraid.
It's not just that I'm so unprepared.
The singer is not just unprepared for the situation they are in.
It's just you'd think I'd grow out of this, wouldn't you?
The singer is acknowledging that they should have grown out of their issues by now, but they haven't.
So take me to winter, as if it was discontent I'd see.
The singer wants to be taken to a place of unhappiness and depression as they feel they need it.
I'll live with the madmen there and pull my hair
The singer is willing to live with other mentally unwell people and harm themselves.
Cause lunacy is everything I need.
The singer needs madness and chaos in their life.
Bye bye, baby Cybil says as she walks out the door.
Cybil is saying goodbye again.
You can bet that Hollywood looks oh-so-good,
Cybil is still leaving for Hollywood, as it remains very attractive to her.
Much better than it ever has before.
Hollywood is still improving and becoming even more desirable.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind