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
Mountain Side
The Flaming Lips Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And I'm flyin' through your trees
We're all drivin' our own heads now
And I'm blessin' all your screed
And I'm flyin' through your mountainside
Dyin' in your plane crash of love
If I'm drivin' down your highway
And I'm crashin' in your dreams
We're all drivin' our own heads now
All your lights are never green
And I'm drivin' down your highway
Crashin' through your windsheild of love
And if I'm standing on your mountainside
And I'm crashin' through your dreams
We're all drivin' our own heads now
And all your bathroom floors are clean
And I hold your electric toaster while
Standin' in your bathtub of love
And I'm flyin' through your mountainside
Dyin' in your plane crash of love
The lyrics to The Flaming Lips's song Mountain Side describe a feeling of being lost and overwhelmed within someone else's world. The singer is "driving their own head" but it's as if they are navigating through someone else's reality. The mention of the mountainside and trees brings to mind an image of nature, perhaps a place of solace, but even in this space, the singer is "dying in [the] plane crash of love." This metaphor can be interpreted as the singer's inability to escape the intensity of their emotions.
The second verse shifts to a different landscape, a highway with traffic lights that are never green. The singer is "crashing in [the] dreams" of the person they are addressing. The sense of chaos and confusion continues as the singer is "standing on [the] mountainside" again, but now they are "crashing through [the] dreams" of the person they had originally addressed. The final lines of the song become more surreal with the mention of a clean bathroom floor and holding an electric toaster in a bathtub. This sequence can be read as a metaphor for the danger and unpredictability that comes with getting too close to someone else's emotions.
Overall, the lyrics to Mountain Side are a contemplation of what it means to exist in someone else's world while still maintaining one's own sense of identity. The use of nature imagery and surrealistic metaphor add depth to the song's themes of love, loss, and self-discovery.
Line by Line Meaning
If I'm standin' on your mountainside
If I am in your presence, feeling small and insignificant.
And I'm flyin' through your trees
Trying to maneuver your way through life's challenges, but still being surrounded by beauty.
We're all drivin' our own heads now
In this journey, every person has to understand their own thought process.
And I'm blessin' all your screed
Feeling grateful and content for all that you have to offer.
And I'm flyin' through your mountainside
With the support of a loved one, life seems to become more manageable.
Dyin' in your plane crash of love
Despite the relationship being a tragedy, it still provides comfort and joy.
If I'm drivin' down your highway
Navigating through life's journey, unsure of what is in store.
And I'm crashin' in your dreams
Existing in your subconscious and occupying your thoughts.
All your lights are never green
Encountering numerous obstacles that prevent progress.
And I'm drivin' down your highway
Trying to find a way through the chaos of life.
Crashin' through your windsheild of love
Experiencing a painful breakup or heartache that feels like crashing through a windshield.
And if I'm standing on your mountainside
Seeking comfort and solace by returning to a loved one.
And I'm crashin' through your dreams
Entering your consciousness and filling your thoughts.
All your bathroom floors are clean
Finding a sense of peace and security in the cleanliness of your home.
And I hold your electric toaster while
Cherishing the small moments and insignificant things experienced together.
Standin' in your bathtub of love
Feeling vulnerable and helpless but finding comfort in the love of a significant other..
And I'm flyin' through your mountainside
Gaining strength and solace in the presence of a loved one.
Dyin' in your plane crash of love
Enduring the pain of a failed relationship, but still finding comfort within it.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: MICHAEL IVINS, RICHARD ENGLISH, WAYNE COYNE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Loquetopus Laur
Holdin your electric toaster while standing in your bathtub of LOVE
Carri Krueger
Not enuf likes for this song! 😭
TheSemtexCow
Loquetopus Laur, that’s my favourite line from it too lol 👍
Paul Caldwell
Back alley woman. Rooting through my trashcan of love!