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.
Crash the Party
OK Go Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I'm not the only boy with solid clothes and solemn frown
So to hell with valentines
To hell with perfume
To hell with chocolates and picnics and Sinatra tunes
As far as rest of the girls are drowning in roses and songs he composes
And while the rest of the guys are all trying
All trying so hard
Oh girl lets a crash party
El Dorado on the lawn
Hey hey hey!
Let's burn holes in the carpets
Take a shot at this linoleum tabletop
All night long!
I'm not so good with subtlety
You wouldn't say that I'm the picture of urbanity
Never put much stock in suavity, courtesy,
Chivalry, gallantry or all that useless jewelry
And while the rest of the girls
You'll sigh for deny you and smile at you politely
And while the rest of the guys are all trying
Oh, they're trying so hard
Oh girl lets crash a party
El Dorado on the lawn
Hey hey hey!
Let's burn holes in the carpet
Take a shot at this linoleum tabletop
Hey hey hey!
All night long
All night long
Let's crash a party
All night long
Let's go
All night long!
The lyrics to "Crash the Party" by OK Go convey a rebellious attitude towards societal norms and conventional ways of expressing love on Valentine's Day. The first verse sets the tone by stating that the singer and his love interest are not the conventionally attractive or polished individuals that society admires. Instead of conforming to the traditional gestures of love such as perfume, chocolates, and Sinatra tunes, the singer suggests discarding these cliches and instead embracing a more raucous approach to love. The chorus supports this narrative by suggesting that the ideal way to celebrate Valentine's Day is by crashing a party and indulging in reckless behavior, like burning holes in carpets or shooting at tabletops.
The second verse further expounds on the singer's character, highlighting his lack of refinement, sophistication, and adherence to societal norms like chivalry and gallantry. Instead, the singer implies that these traits are "useless jewelry" and not aligned with his personality. Both verses of the song convey a sense of discontent and rebellion against the norm, implying that love should not be constrained by traditional gestures or society's expectations.
Line by Line Meaning
You're not the prettiest girl in town
I don't care if you are not the most beautiful girl in town, I am still interested in you.
I'm not the only boy with solid clothes and solemn frown
I am not the only serious guy who dresses well.
So to hell with valentines
I don't care about Valentine's Day and its cliches.
To hell with perfume
I don't care about buying you expensive perfumes.
To hell with chocolates and picnics and Sinatra tunes
I don't care about traditional romantic gestures like chocolates, picnics or listening to Sinatra songs.
As far as the rest of the girls are drowning in roses and songs he composes
All the other girls are easily impressed by roses and songs written for them.
And while the rest of the guys are all trying
All the other guys are trying really hard to impress you.
Oh girl lets a crash party
Let's rebel against all these traditional ideas of romance and have fun instead.
El Dorado on the lawn
Let's have fun like we are rich and carefree like the city of El Dorado.
Let's burn holes in the carpets
Let's do something crazy and unconventional like burning holes in carpets.
Take a shot at this linoleum tabletop
Let's do something even crazier like taking shots on a linoleum tabletop.
All night long!
Let's party and have fun together all night long!
I'm not so good with subtlety
I am not very good at subtle hints and clues.
You wouldn't say that I'm the picture of urbanity
You wouldn't think of me as someone who is sophisticated and worldly.
Never put much stock in suavity, courtesy, chivalry, gallantry or all that useless jewelry
I don't believe in the importance of being suave, courteous, chivalrous or using jewelry to impress people.
And while the rest of the girls You'll sigh for deny you and smile at you politely
While the other girls will politely signal their lack of interest in you.
Oh, they're trying so hard
Other guys are also trying really hard to impress the same girl.
Let's go
Let's embrace our rebellious side and have fun together!
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: DAMIAN KULASH
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind