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
Christmas at the Zoo
The Flaming Lips Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Should do, I thought I'd free the animals all locked up at the zoo
I opened up the fence where the peacocks were, the lamas were
Unleashed the snakes and seals could all get out, but they
Refused to leave
All of the animals agreed they're not happy at the zoos
But they preferred to save themselves, they seemed to think
The elephants, orangutans, all the birds and kangaroos all said
Thanks but no thanks man, but to be concerned is good
It started to snow on Christmas Eve in the middle of the night
Walking through the state park zoo and everything is white
The Flaming Lips's song Christmas at the Zoo depicts an unusual scenario on Christmas Eve. The singer notices that there's no snow, which doesn't sit right with him as it's a requirement for the perfect Christmas atmosphere. So, he decides to take action and do something to make the holiday special. As he walks around, he comes across the zoo where he sees all the animals locked up in their cages. Determined to give these animals a shot at freedom and happiness, he opens the cages and lets them all free.
However, he quickly learns that his good intentions may have been misguided. The animals don't seem to enjoy their newfound freedom and prefer to stay in their cages, despite the singer's coaxing. They acknowledge that they aren't happy with captivity either, but they'd rather deal with it than take their chances in the unfamiliar world outside the zoo. Despite this, the singer notes that their concern for the animals' welfare is a good thing. As he walks back home, it starts to snow as he ponders the complex nature of humanity's relationship with animals.
The song is often interpreted as a commentary on the ethics of animal captivity and the conflict between human desires to see animals and the animals' own well-being. It also raises philosophical questions about freedom and the nature of choice.
Line by Line Meaning
Their wasn't any snow on Christmas eve and I knew what I
Should do, I thought I'd free the animals all locked up at the zoo
It wasn't snowing on Christmas Eve and I decided to free the animals locked up in the zoo.
I opened up the fence where the peacocks were, the lamas were
Unleashed the snakes and seals could all get out, but they
Refused to leave
I opened the fence where the peacocks and lamas were locked up. The snakes and seals could have also gotten out, but they chose not to.
All of the animals agreed they're not happy at the zoos
But they preferred to save themselves, they seemed to think
They could
All the animals agreed that they are not happy in the zoo. However, they preferred to save themselves instead of escaping, thinking they could manage on their own.
The elephants, orangutans, all the birds and kangaroos all said
Thanks but no thanks man, but to be concerned is good
The elephants, orangutans, all the birds, and kangaroos declined my offer to free them, but they appreciated my concern for them.
It started to snow on Christmas Eve in the middle of the night
Walking through the state park zoo and everything is white
It started snowing on Christmas Eve in the middle of the night. As I walked through the state park zoo, everything was covered in white snow.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: MICHAEL IVINS, RONALD JONES, STEVEN DROZD, WAYNE COYNE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@amberpamber9619
There wasn't any snow on Christmas Eve
And I knew what I should do
I thought I'd free the animals
All locked up at the zoo
I opened up the fence where the peacocks were
The lamas were unleashed
The snakes and seals could all get out
But they refused to leave
All of the animals agreed they're not
Happy at the zoos
But they preferred to save themselves
They seemed to think they could
The elephants, orangutans
All the birds and kangaroos
All said thanks but no thanks man
But to be concerned is good
It started to snow on Christmas Eve
In the middle of the night
Walkin' through the state park zoo
And everything is white
@ashpatel22
Freaking love this song. Perfect indie Christmas song. The bells and chimes and echo vocals in the end just nailed it. Indie pop geniuses those lips!
@karlmorris-xz6iq
if you like this you might like my brothers music, his name is Stu Morris.
@dougsmith7083
One of my All-time favourite Xmas songs...Lips high-water mark...the "Ronald Jones Years"
@tostare
What a wonderful, lovely, song this is. I love the mix of fragility and joyfulness in Wayne's voice.
@ROBOTWORKMAN
MERRY CHRISTMAS 2020!!! This song will put you in the spirit!
@jasonmuhsmann5670
Merry Christmas 2021!
@skeletonbone
back here again for christmas 2021
@mrturret01
Happy Crimbus 2022! Don't for forget to eat a pound of hair or the Winter Man won't come.
@FrenkOFrenk
I am driven to tears every time I listen to this masterpiece.
@usernamebada42
Brilliant songwriting of Wayne, mesmerizingly beauteous guitar work of Ron, whimsical, exploding drums of Steven, and the dafuq basslines of Michael. This has to be my favorite era of the Lips, despite how goddamn incredible "In A Priest Driven Ambulance" and "Hit To Death In The Future Head" are.