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
Butterfly How Long It Takes to Die
The Flaming Lips Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You will see how many times it tries
If you've ever really seen the sun set
You will see how long it takes to die.
You can see the butterfly has landed
Landed on your prison plates, you're out
You can feel its trouble making a teardrop
You can see the universe beginning
Making all the sun and the sky
You can see the universe is ending
Making love darker than the night
The lyrics to The Flaming Lips's song "Butterfly, How Long It Takes to Die" are filled with vivid imagery and metaphors that express the concept of time and the never-ending cycle of life and death. The first two lines talk about the rising and setting of the sun, which symbolizes the beginning and end of a day, and how many times it tries to rise and set. The next two lines are talking about the butterfly, which has landed on the prison plates and is trying to fly away. It symbolizes the struggles of life and how it can be difficult to break free from the constraints that hold us down.
The second verse talks about the universe, how it began with the creation of the sun and the sky and how it will eventually end with love that is darker than the night. This suggests that even though everything comes to an end, the memories and experiences that we have will always live on, and new ones will be created.
In essence, the song is an introspective look into the concept of time, life, and death. It presents the idea of seizing the day and cherishing the moments we have, for time waits for no one. The Flaming Lips seem to suggest that we should let go of our worries and troubles and live the best life we can, for in the end, all we will have are our memories.
Line by Line Meaning
If you've ever really seen the sun rise
If you have truly witnessed the beginning of a new day
You will see how many times it tries
You'll notice how many times the sun has tried to rise before successfully doing so
If you've ever really seen the sun set
If you have truly observed the sun setting
You will see how long it takes to die.
You'll understand how much time it takes for the sun to completely disappear below the horizon
You can see the butterfly has landed
You can observe the butterfly resting on a surface
Landed on your prison plates, you’re out
Having landed on a surface you're confined to, the butterfly reminds you of a sense of freedom
You can feel its trouble making a teardrop
You're able to sense the butterfly's worries, causing a tear to drop from your eye
You will see how long it takes to fly
You'll realize how much time it takes for the butterfly to take off and fly away
You can see the universe beginning
You can witness the creation of the universe
Making all the sun and the sky
Giving birth to the sun and the sky
You can see the universe is ending
You can observe the end of the universe
Making love darker than the night
Causing even love to seem dark and dismal
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: KLIPH SCURLOCK, MICHAEL IVINS, STEVEN DROZD, WAYNE COYNE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind