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
Hot Day
The Flaming Lips Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
We're going after cops
And maybe then they'll shoot them
The lyrics of "Hot Day" by The Flaming Lips seem to be satirical in nature. The opening line, "They say it was so hot today," could be seen as a reference to how extreme temperatures can cause people to lose their patience and act irrationally. The second line, "We're going after cops," suggests that people may be looking for someone to blame for their discomfort, and police officers are often seen as easy targets. The final line, "And maybe then they'll shoot them," is where the sarcasm becomes clear - the suggestion that cops would shoot peaceful protesters is absurd and highlights the violence that can occur when tempers flare.
Additionally, the song has an experimental sound with its use of distortion and feedback which is a common characteristic of The Flaming Lips' music. This is further highlighted in the lyrics that seem almost like a stream of consciousness or a rant. The satire and the music combine to create a dystopian soundscape depicting a society in chaos in the face of trying times.
Line by Line Meaning
They say it was so hot today
Rumors say that the weather was extremely hot today.
We're going after cops
We plan to confront and challenge cops.
And maybe then they'll shoot them
We hope that in the confrontation the cops will resort to using their firearms.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: MICHAEL IVINS, RONALD JONES, STEVEN DROZD, WAYNE COYNE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind