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
Chrome Plated Sucide
The Flaming Lips Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And every day was Christmas
We could spend our lives in the drip
At the edge of the world
Cause love does things that you can't see
It's like telepathic surgery
And cuts and scrapes just like Iggy Pop thrown in a hole
If you take away my nerves
And leave just my words
Love would be the best thing in the world
You and me in a chrome reflection
We were born to suffer some
Please don't chase me from this jail
You know it looks so nice
If all my dreams were a microwave
And every day was summer
When I feel this way, you know
We should start our own religion
If you take away my nerves
And leave just my words
Love would be the best thing in the world
And if you take away my pain
Please don't leave my brain
Cause when I think it hurts just the same
The lyrics of The Flaming Lips' song "Chrome Plated Suicide" are somewhat enigmatic, but they appear to revolve around the theme of love and its transformative power. The singer imagines a world in which his dreams and desires are fulfilled, and every day is filled with joy and wonder. He sees love as a force that is both mysterious and powerful, capable of changing us in ways that are difficult to understand. The line "love does things that you can't see" suggests that love has a transformative power that is invisible, yet no less real for being so.
The singer also imagines a world without pain or anxiety, where love is the only thing that matters. He sees himself and his lover reflected in chrome, a symbol of modernity and technology, and imagines that together they could build their own religion based on the power of their love. Despite these lofty aspirations, however, the singer also acknowledges that suffering is an inevitable part of life, and that he was "born to suffer some". Nevertheless, he asks his lover not to abandon him, even if he winds up trapped in a metaphorical "jail".
Overall, "Chrome Plated Suicide" seems to be a meditation on the power of love to transform us and make us whole, even in the face of pain and suffering. It is an ode to the transformative power of love, and a reminder that we can all be made better by the people we love.
Line by Line Meaning
If all my dreams were a tidal wave
If my aspirations became overwhelming
And every day was Christmas
And every moment felt festive and exciting
We could spend our lives in the drip
Our time would be consumed by a slow and steady rhythm
At the edge of the world
Spending life on the very brink of existence
Cause love does things that you can't see
Love has a way of working in mysterious ways
It's like telepathic surgery
Healing through emotional connections
And cuts and scrapes just like Iggy Pop thrown in a hole
Although painful, sometimes suffering leads to the greatest of innovations
If you take away my nerves
If I lost all fear
And leave just my words
And only have my voice
Love would be the best thing in the world
Love would be the most powerful existence
You and me in a chrome reflection
Seeing ourselves as we truly are
We were born to suffer some
Our existence was always meant to encounter hardship
Please don't chase me from this jail
I hope that I am not abandoned when vulnerable
You know it looks so nice
Despite the adversity, it can still seem beautiful
If all my dreams were a microwave
If my hopes were effortless and quick
And every day was summer
If every moment was a time to bask in the warmth and light
When I feel this way, you know
During moments of clarity
We should start our own religion
We should create our own beliefs
And if you take away my pain
If my struggles and challenges were eradicated
Please don't leave my brain
I want to retain my recollection of those experiences
Cause when I think it hurts just the same
Because remembering the past pain still hurts equally as much
Lyrics © OBO APRA/AMCOS
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