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.
WTF?
OK Go Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
What the fuck is happening?
I'm trying to make some sense out of
What you're doing with my head.
It's like a skydive
Or getting high
The kinda thing'll maybe kill you.
With a wild lion.
Oh,
I don't know what to tell you.
There's just this thing about you.
So maybe you can help me clear this up,
Cause me myself I just can't tell.
Are you some kind of dark sorcerer
Am I under some kinda of spell?
'Cause I could go on for days,
Just crazy about it, oh,
You're so respectable,
A little animal.
It's like a skydive
Or getting high
The kinda thing'll maybe kill you.
It's like I'm eye-to-eye
With a wild lion.
Oh,
I don't know what to tell you.
There's just this thing about you,
So are you gonna tell me what comes next,
Or am I just supposed to know?
Do I make my own decisions here,
Or am I under your control?
'Cause I been like this for days,
Just crazy about it, oh,
And it's startin' to get, you know,
A little uncomfortable,
It's like a skydive
Or getting high
The kinda thing'll maybe kill you.
It's like I'm eye-to-eye
With a wild lion.
Oh,
I don't know what to tell you.
Do you think I'm out of line?
Do you think I'm out of line?
Well maybe it's fine, maybe it's alright it's like I'm eye-to-eye with a wild lion,
Yeah I don't know what to tell you.
I don't know what to tell you.
There's just this thing about 'cha
The lyrics of OK Go's song WTF? explore the confusion and uncertainty that can arise in a relationship. The singer is struggling to understand what is happening, and feeling like they are losing control - they are asking if they are under some kind of spell or if someone else is controlling the situation. There is a sense of danger and excitement reminiscent of skydiving or getting high, but also a feeling that things could go terribly wrong at any moment. The singer is irresistibly drawn to the other person, despite their confusion and discomfort.
Overall, the song captures the complex emotions that can come with being in a relationship - the highs and lows, the confusion and uncertainty, the excitement and danger.
Line by Line Meaning
I've been trying to get my head around,
I'm trying to understand
What the fuck is happening?
I don't know what's going on
I'm trying to make some sense out of
I'm trying to find meaning in
What you're doing with my head.
What you're doing to me emotionally
It's like a skydive
It's intense and dangerous
Or getting high
Or thrilling like drugs
The kinda thing'll maybe kill you.
It's risky and dangerous
It's like I'm eye-to-eye
It's like facing
With a wild lion.
With something untamed and unpredictable
Oh,
This is overwhelming
I don't know what to tell you.
I don't know how to explain it
There's just this thing about you.
There's something unique about you
So maybe you can help me clear this up,
Can you help me understand?
Cause me myself I just can't tell.
I don't understand on my own
Are you some kind of dark sorcerer
Are you using magic on me?
Am I under some kinda of spell?
Am I being controlled?
'Cause I could go on for days,
I could talk about this endlessly
Just crazy about it, oh,
This is driving me crazy
You're so respectable,
You're very admirable
A little animal.
But also wild and unpredictable
So are you gonna tell me what comes next,
What's going to happen?
Or am I just supposed to know?
Do I need to figure it out on my own?
Do I make my own decisions here,
Am I in control?
Or am I under your control?
Or are you controlling me?
'Cause I been like this for days,
I've been feeling like this for a while
Just crazy about it, oh,
It's been driving me crazy
And it's startin' to get, you know,
It's starting to feel
A little uncomfortable,
Unpleasant and unsettling
Do you think I'm out of line?
Do you think I'm wrong for feeling this way?
Do you think I'm out of line?
Do you think I'm acting inappropriately?
Well maybe it's fine, maybe it's alright it's like I'm eye-to-eye with a wild lion,
Maybe it's okay to feel this intense
Yeah I don't know what to tell you.
I don't know how to explain it
I don't know what to tell you.
I don't how to express it
There's just this thing about 'cha
There's something about you that I can't explain
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: DAMIAN KULASH
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Fabian Robles
I've been trying to get my head around,
What the fuck is happening?
I'm trying to make some sense out of
What you're doing with my head.
It's like a skydive
Or getting high
The kinda thing'll maybe kill you.
It's like I'm eye-to-eye
With a wild lion.
Oh,
I don't know what to tell you.
There's just this thing about you.
So maybe you can help me clear this up,
Cause me myself I just can't tell.
Are you some kind of dark sorcerer
Am I under some kinda of spell?
'Cause I could go on for days,
Just crazy about it, oh,
You're so respectable,
A little animal.
It's like a skydive
Or getting high
The kinda thing'll maybe kill you.
It's like I'm eye-to-eye
With a wild lion.
Oh,
I don't know what to tell you.
There's just this thing about you,
So are you gonna tell me what comes next,
Or am I just supposed to know?
Do I make my own decisions here,
Or am I under your control?
'Cause I been like this for days,
Just crazy about it, oh,
And it's startin' to get, you know,
A little uncomfortable,
It's like a skydive
Or getting high
The kinda thing'll maybe kill you.
It's like I'm eye-to-eye
With a wild lion.
Oh,
I don't know what to tell you.
Do you think I'm out of line?
Do you think I'm out of line?
Well maybe it's fine, maybe it's alright it's like I'm eye-to-eye with a wild lion,
Yeah I don't know what to tell you.
I don't know what to tell you.
There's just this thing about 'cha
Making Haven
Looks like it's that time of year again where I watch every OK Go music video at 3am
Alex Toone
This is proof you don't need a large budget to make an awesome music video.
RandomThings43
Just a broken monitor
That Guy Gus
I don't think I'd call it awesome. Creative? I think that's fair. But awesome? It feels really low energy and low effort and no one really seems excited to be doing it which comes off making it feel more like a drag and more like they're just doing it to fullfill a record company contract. I think there's potential but in terms of music videos it feels like they're just metaphorically jingling keys in front of us to entertain us
Alexi
@That Guy Gus they're always like that. It's their shtick.
That Guy Gus
@Alexi I don't think so because I've seen their other videos and those seem like they have alot more effort and energy. Like Needing/Getting took alot of effort to do. Same with This Too Shall Pass. Though I do agree that Ive never seen them really looking enthusiastic.
Alexi
@That Guy Gus yeah that's what I meant they definitely made other videos which take more effort and time, but they can't necessarily do that for every video. Plus this song is more of an alternative low energy song. Where as needing/getting is a much more energetic and percussive song.
Jenny
I love how OK Go uses really simple things, like wiffle bats, beach balls, and gaff tape, paired with endless creativity and great video editing to make such amazing videos. That's really what YouTube is all about: raw talent.
marylizabetha
I love watching their music videos. They always do something fun.
sickboysam
他們MV是唯一可以讓你看到目瞪口呆~目不轉睛的MV 更何況曲子又是如此的好聽啊 OK GO!!!GOGOGO