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.
I Want You So Bad I Can't Breathe
OK Go Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Cheeks a little rosy in the February air
And running through the subway to catch the uptown train
Spend the night just dancing
And running through the subway to catch the uptown train
Spend the night just dancing
I want you, yeah I want you
So bad I can't think straight
So bad all my bones shake
So bad I can't breathe
And in the midnight quiet, outside the world away
We could have just one more night that you could stay
And in the light of morning for 21 days straight
There you are beside me
And in the light of morning for 21 days straight
There you are beside me
I want you, yeah I want you
I want you, yeah I want you bad
So bad I can't think straight
So bad all my bones shake
So bad I can't breathe
So won'tcha? Oh, wantcha say it?
So won'tcha? Oh, wantcha give in?
So won'tcha? Oh, wantcha come on?
I can't breathe
Cause I want you Yeah, I want you
I want you Yeah, I want you bad
So bad I can't think straight
So bad all my bones shake
So bad I can't breathe
I want you, yeah I want you
So bad I can't breathe
I want you, yeah I want you
So bad I can't breathe
I want you, I want you
I want you, yeah
So bad I can't breathe
So bad I can't breathe
I can't breathe
The lyrics of "I Want You So Bad I Can't Breathe" by OK Go is about the feeling of being completely infatuated with someone to the point that they're affecting the way you breathe. The verses detail a specific moment when the singer sees the person they're interested in walking in a raincoat and feels drawn to them. They describe the anticipation of running through the subway to catch the uptown train and spending the night dancing with this person. The chorus repeats the phrase "I want you, yeah I want you" followed by how bad the singer wants them, to the point that they can't think straight or breathe.
The second verse introduces the idea of having one more night together before the person has to leave. The singer imagines waking up for twenty-one days straight with the person they want by their side. The chorus is repeated with added pleas for the person to reciprocate their feelings.
Overall, the song is lyrically simple but effectively conveys the strong emotions of infatuation and desire. The upbeat tempo and pop-rock sound add to the playful tone of the song, despite the intense feelings expressed.
Line by Line Meaning
In your fitted raincoat and tangled winter hair
You are wearing a snug raincoat and your hair has become messy due to the cold weather
Cheeks a little rosy in the February air
Your cheeks have turned slightly red due to the chilly February air
And running through the subway to catch the uptown train
You are in a hurry to catch the train going uptown and are racing through the subway
Spend the night just dancing
The artist wants to spend the night dancing with you
I want you, yeah I want you
The artist desires you intensely
I want you, yeah I want you bad
The singer wants you so strongly that it is almost painful
So bad I can't think straight
The singer is so overwhelmed by desire that they cannot focus on anything else
So bad all my bones shake
The artist's desire is so intense that they feel it through every bone in their body
So bad I can't breathe
The artist's desire is so overpowering that they feel out of breath
And in the midnight quiet, outside the world away
The artist imagines a peaceful, secluded moment where they can be together away from the rest of the world
We could have just one more night that you could stay
The singer wishes they could spend one more night together
And in the light of morning for 21 days straight
The artist envisions spending the next 21 days waking up next to you
There you are beside me
The singer is content and fulfilled by the thought of having you by their side
So won'tcha? Oh, wantcha say it?
The singer implores you to express your reciprocal desire for them
So won'tcha? Oh, wantcha give in?
The singer wants you to give into their advances and be with them
So won'tcha? Oh, wantcha come on?
The artist is trying to persuade you to take the next step and be with them
I can't breathe
The artist's desire is so intense that they feel breathless
Cause I want you Yeah, I want you
The singer reiterates their strong desire for you
So bad I can't think straight
The singer is so overcome with desire that they cannot focus on anything else
So bad all my bones shake
The artist's desire is so intense that they feel it through every bone in their body
So bad I can't breathe
The artist's desire is so overpowering that they feel out of breath
I want you, yeah I want you
The artist desires you intensely
So bad I can't breathe
The singer's desire is so overpowering that they feel out of breath
I want you, yeah I want you
The artist desires you intensely
So bad I can't breathe
The singer's desire is so overpowering that they feel out of breath
I want you, I want you
The singer desires you deeply
I want you, yeah
The singer desires you strongly
So bad I can't breathe
The artist's desire is so overpowering that they feel out of breath
So bad I can't breathe
Reiterating how the artist's overwhelming desire for you is affecting their well-being
I can't breathe
Reiterating how the singer's overwhelming desire for you is affecting their well-being
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: DAMIAN KULASH, TIMOTHY NORDWIND
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind