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
Ode To C.C. Part 2
The Flaming Lips Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
He asked me if I'd been born again
I told him I didn't think I had
That I had been rejected
But I think hell's got all the good bands anyway
In The Flaming Lips's song Ode to C.C. Pt. 2, these lyrics represent a critique of religion and the idea of being "born again." The singer is approached by a man who asks if they have been born again, a reference to the Christian idea of being saved and starting anew with a clean slate. However, the singer rejects this idea, stating that they have already been rejected by some unspecified authority, likely a reference to societal norms or expectations.
The singer's final statement, "but I think hell's got all the good bands anyway," is a clever play on words that underscores their rejection of religious conformity. The phrase "all the good bands" is often used to describe a collection of talented musicians, but here it is applied to the idea of a desirable afterlife destination. In this way, the singer is suggesting that even if they were to be rejected by traditional religious institutions, they would rather be in the company of the creative and free-thinking individuals who are often associated with "hell."
Overall, this song is a poignant exploration of nonconformity, critique of mainstream society, and the power of music to bring people together in unconventional ways.
Line by Line Meaning
This man came up to me just the other day
A guy approached me recently
He asked me if I'd been born again
He inquired if I had a spiritual awakening or transformation
I told him I didn't think I had
I replied that I didn't believe so
That I had been rejected
I felt as if I had been cast aside or dismissed
But I think hell's got all the good bands anyway
I believe that the best musicians and artists are in hell rather than heaven.
Lyrics © OBO APRA/AMCOS
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