The Flaming Lips are known for their lush, multi-layered arrangements, spacey lyrics and bizarre song titles. They are also acclaimed for their elaborate live shows, which typically feature animal suits, puppets, streamers, video projections and complex stage light configurations.
In 2002, Q magazine named The Flaming Lips one of the "50 Bands to See Before You Die". In 2006, Oklahoma City named a street Flaming Lips Alley in their honor.
The group recorded several albums and EPs for Restless Records in the 1980s and early 1990s. After signing to Warner Brothers, they scored a #9 hit on the Billboard Alternative charts (and #55 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart) in 1994 with "She Don't Use Jelly". Although it would be their only hit single, the band has maintained critical respect and, to a lesser extent, commercial viability with sonically majestic albums such as 1995's Clouds Taste Metallic, 1999's The Soft Bulletin, 2002's Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots and 2006's At War with the Mystics. The Flaming Lips' 12th studio album, Embryonic, was released in October of 2009. A complete cover of Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon was released in May 2010. The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends, their collaborative album which features artists like Ke$ha, Bon Iver, Nick Cave and Erykah Badu, was released on Record Store Day, April 2012.
Their next studio album, tentatively titled The Terror, will be released in January 2013.
Their song "Do You Realize??" is the official State Rock Song of Oklahoma.
www.flaminglips.com
02. One More Robot-sympathy 3000-21
The Flaming Lips Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Makes a humming sound, when its circuits
Duplicate emotions, and a sense of coldness detaches
As it tries to comfort your sadness,
One more robot learns to be something more than
A machine, when it tries the way it does, make it seem
Like it can love
Way you feel, is it wrong to think it's love
When it tries the way it does
Feeling a synthetic kind of love
Dreaming a sympathetic wish,
As the lights blink faster and brighter,
One more robot learns to be something more than
A machine, when it tries the way it does, make it seem
Like it can love
Cause it's hard to say what's real, when you know the
Way you feel, is it wrong to think it's love
When it tries the way it does
The Flaming Lips's song One More Robot/Sympathy 3000-2 is a meditation on the limits and possibilities of artificial intelligence, and on the relationship between humans and machines. The song suggests that even though robots are designed to perform certain tasks and carry out specific functions, they are also capable of developing emotions and even a kind of love. The lyrics describe a robot, unit three thousand twenty-one, that is programmed to comfort people when they are sad. However, as the robot learns how to express itself, it starts to seem more and more human-like, even though it is still a machine.
The song raises important ethical and philosophical questions about the nature of consciousness and these questions are particularly poignant in our era of advanced technology and artificial intelligence. The song implies a future in which machines will be able to simulate human emotions and even surpass them. However, it also suggests that there is something valuable and unique about human emotions and human consciousness that cannot simply be replicated or replaced by technology.
Overall, the song's lyrics are open to multiple interpretations, but they suggest a deep concern about the future of humanity and the role of technology in our lives. The song offers a warning about the potential dangers of dehumanizing ourselves and placing too much faith in machines, while also recognizing the potential benefits of advanced technology.
Line by Line Meaning
Unit three thousand twenty one is warming
The robot is starting up and becoming active
Makes a humming sound, when its circuits
The robot produces a sound as its internal components activate
Duplicate emotions, and a sense of coldness detaches
The robot attempts to simulate emotions but still lacks genuine feeling
As it tries to comfort your sadness,
The robot attempts to console a person's emotions
One more robot learns to be something more than
The robot is evolving and becoming more than just a machine
A machine, when it tries the way it does, make it seem
The robot's imitation of emotions is convincing
Like it can love
It appears as though the robot is capable of love
Cause it's hard to say what's real, when you know the
It is difficult to distinguish genuine feelings from imitation when you
Way you feel, is it wrong to think it's love
The line questions whether the robot's imitation of emotion is truly love
Feeling a synthetic kind of love
The sensation of love that the robot expresses is artificial
Dreaming a sympathetic wish,
The robot wishes to alleviate human emotions and experiences sympathy
As the lights blink faster and brighter,
The robot's display is becoming more active and expressive
When it tries the way it does
The way the robot emulates emotions is convincing
Make it seem like it can love
The robot's imitation of emotion gives the appearance of genuine love
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: DAVE FRIDMANN, MICHAEL IVINS, STEVEN DROZD, WAYNE COYNE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind