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
How Will We Know
The Flaming Lips Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And we don't know why
But when the king was born
His mother died
She was the queen of their hearts
And the queen of their minds
Her sisters
And the nation cried and cried
The lyrics to The Flaming Lips's song How Will We Know? are complex and open to interpretation. At face value, the lyrics detail the tragic tale of a king who was born, but whose mother passed away during childbirth. She was not only the queen of their hearts but also the queen of their minds, indicating her importance as a leader and the emotional impact of her death on her loved ones and country. The sorrowful feelings are emphasized in the last line, "Her sisters and the nation cried and cried," showing that the grief was widespread and affected everyone.
However, the lyrics may also be interpreted in a larger, metaphorical sense. The king's mother could be seen as a representation of something greater, like the planet or nature itself. The first two lines, "We don't know how / And we don't know why," suggest a sense of confusion and uncertainty about the world and what it holds. The loss of this mother figure could represent the detrimental impact of human actions and how they harm the world around us. There is a sense of collective mourning, as if the song is lamenting the loss of something essential to our very existence.
Overall, the lyrics to How Will We Know? are eclectic, touching on themes of loss and grief while also making connections to philosophical discussions on the meaning of life and the human condition.
Line by Line Meaning
We don't know how
We lack an understanding of the method or process.
And we don't know why
Our knowledge doesn't extend to the cause or reason.
But when the king was born
However, at the time of the monarch's birth,
His mother died
The mother of the ruler passed away.
She was the queen of their hearts
She had a special place in their affections and emotions.
And the queen of their minds
She occupied an important role in their thoughts and beliefs.
Her sisters
The siblings of the deceased woman
And the nation cried and cried
The nation expressed their grief and sorrow through wailing and tears.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Derek Brown, Steven Drozd, Wayne Coyne
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@nerdycat9180
I really love this song. It's really helping me get through COVID-19. Thanks for this.
@melvinwren
my dogs freaking out
@woodsmadness2
the one song that I would say works better as a "mixdown" rather than the intended fashion. this mix is fabulous and disorienting. nicely done!!!
@weirdlittlekid
the song's too amazing for you-tube to handle
@nishbrown
You should copy the audible warning into the top of the description, so people know right away. Just a suggestion. Think of the dogs :( Thanks , again for uploading these.
@the80sdumpster
Don't listened to this stoned.
@30761760
It BROKE youtube!!!! :o
@istankimjong-unbutcantstan3398
I thought the DAW was screwing up when I put this track in it.
@LSUOdyssey
my dog was fine during this
@soniclovenoize
This mix is pretty terrible, sorry. :( I would suggest dl'ing the "5-in-1 Superior Mix" as it's all four discs (plus the fifth bonus disc) mixed in stereo, but it's not just all the discs playing at once, it's an actual mixdown.