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
Listening To The Frogs With Demon Eyes
The Flaming Lips Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Listening to the frogs
Hiding ourselves in the trees
Watching with demon eyes
Here we go again
Here we go
Have you ever seen someone die
Is that what your demon eyes see?
Have you ever gone through the hole in the night sky?
I can't see the moon though I know it's there
I can't see the end but I know it is there
I can't see the sun but I feel it's there
I can't see your love but I know it is there
I know it's forbidden
We can squash the stars
New holes in the darkness
Darkness in the dark
Yeah, here we go again
Here we go
Have you ever seen someone die
In the summertime?
Is that what your demon eyes see?
Have you ever seen someone die
In the summertime?
Is that what your demon eyes see?
Have you ever seen someone die
In the summertime?
Is that what your demon eyes see?
The lyrics to The Flaming Lips's song Frogs can be interpreted in various ways with respect to the relationship between humans and nature. The opening lines, "Glistening in the moonlight, listening to the frogs, hiding ourselves in the trees, watching with demon eyes," suggest a sense of awe and wonder towards nature's beauty and magnificence. The phrase "demon eyes" could be seen as a metaphorical reference to the humans' ability to observe nature's darker side, i.e., the reality of the cycle of life and death in the natural world.
The chorus, "Here we go again," implies that this sense of wonder and awe towards nature and its eternal cycles is not new. The next lines, "Have you ever seen someone die in the summertime?" take on a more somber tone and suggest a reflection on the fragility of human life in comparison to the eternity of nature. It also hints at the realization that death is a natural part of this circle of life and, in a way, an integral part of the larger process of nature.
The subsequent lines, "I can't see the moon though I know it's there, I can't see the end but I know it is there," adds further depth to the theme of accepting the unknown cycles of life and nature. Here, the lyrics imply that there is something beyond human's comprehension or perception, yet everything is connected in some way. The song ends with the same question repeated thrice, "Have you ever seen someone die in the summertime? Is that what your demon eyes see?" again emphasizing the transience of human existence relative to the timeless cycles of nature.
Line by Line Meaning
Glistening in the moonlight
Shining bright in the light of the moon
Listening to the frogs
Hearing the sounds that nature makes
Hiding ourselves in the trees
Taking cover in the forest
Watching with demon eyes
Looking at the world with a dark and ominous perspective
Here we go again
Starting over once more
Here we go
Let's start
Have you ever seen someone die
In the summertime, in the summertime?
Have you ever witnessed death during the hot summer months?
Is that what your demon eyes see?
Do you represent it as something evil with your perspective?
Have you ever gone through the hole in the night sky?
Have you ever experienced astral projection?
I can't see the moon though I know it's there
I can't see the source of light, but I know it exists
I can't see the end but I know it is there
I can't see the conclusion, but I'm assured it exists
I can't see the sun but I feel it's there
I cannot visualize the sun, but I sense its presence
I can't see your love but I know it is there
I can't see your affection, but I believe it exists
I know it's forbidden
I am aware of the interdictions
We can squash the stars
We have the power to crush the celestial bodies
New holes in the darkness
Fresh punctures in the void
Darkness in the dark
Obscurity within blackness
Yeah, here we go again
Yes, we are starting over
Have you ever seen someone die
In the summertime?
Have you ever witnessed death during the hot summer months?
Is that what your demon eyes see?
Do you morally perceive this act as malevolent?
Have you ever seen someone die
In the summertime?
Have you ever witnessed a lifeless being during the hot season?
Is that what your demon eyes see?
Do you morally perceive this act as evil?
Have you ever seen someone die
In the summertime?
Have you ever witnessed a living being pass away during the summer season?
Is that what your demon eyes see?
Do you morally perceive this act as wicked?
Lyrics © BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT
Written by: Wayne Coyne, Steven Drozd
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind