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.
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She’s Leaving Home
The Flaming Lips Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
As the day begins
Silently closing her bedroom door
Leaving the note that she hoped would say more
She goes downstairs to the kitchen
Clutching her handkerchief
Quietly turning the backdoor key
She(we gave her most of our lives)
Is leaving (sacrificed most of our lives)
Home (we gave her everything money could buy)
She's leaving home, after living alone, for so many years (bye bye)
Father snores as his wife gets into her dressing gown
Picks up the letter that's lying there
Standing alone at the top of the stairs
She breaks down and cries to her husband
"Daddy, our baby's gone.
"Why would she treat us so thoughtlessly?
How could she do this to me?"
She (we never thought of ourselves)
Is leaving (never a thought for ourselves)
Home (we struggled hard all our lives to get by)
She's leaving home, after living alone, for so many years
Friday morning, at nine o'clock
She is far away
Waiting to keep the appointment she made
Meeting a man from the Motortrade
She (what did we do that was wrong)
Is Having (we didn't know it was wrong)
Fun (fun is the one thing that money can't buy)
Something inside, that was always denied, for so many years
She's leaving home, bye, bye.
The song "She's Leaving Home" by The Flaming Lips in collaboration with Phantogram, Julianna Barwick, and Spaceface is a reinterpretation of the classic Beatles song written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon in 1967. The song tells the story of a young girl who decides to leave her home and family without any explanation. The opening lines of the song, "Wednesday morning at five o'clock, as the day begins, silently closing her bedroom door, leaving the note that she hoped would say more," set the melancholic tone for the rest of the song.
The first verse describes the girl's actions as she leaves home. She carefully closes her bedroom door, leaving a note behind, and steps outside, feeling free. The chorus then describes the sacrifices the parents have made for their daughter, giving her everything money could buy, but in the end, she still decides to leave. The second verse depicts the mother's devastation upon discovering her daughter's absence, crying to her husband and wondering why their daughter would treat them so thoughtlessly.
Finally, the last verse depicts the girl living her newfound freedom, meeting a man from the motor trade and having fun. The song ends with the repetition of the girl leaving home, bye-bye, and a musical outro that reflects on the melancholic and bittersweet nature of the story.
Overall, the song's interpretation is open-ended, leaving the listener to imagine the reasons behind the girl's decision to leave and the emotions and thoughts of the parents in response. However, the song's overall melancholic and nostalgic tone captures the bittersweet experience of letting go of a loved one who has decided to seek their own path.
Line by Line Meaning
Wednesday morning at five o'clock
The day is just starting as the woman is leaving her home
As the day begins
The morning has just begun
Silently closing her bedroom door
The woman closes her bedroom door quietly
Leaving the note that she hoped would say more
She leaves a note behind, hoping to express herself more fully
She goes downstairs to the kitchen
She heads downstairs to the kitchen
Clutching her handkerchief
She holds onto her handkerchief tightly
Quietly turning the backdoor key
She unlocks the back door as quietly as possible
Stepping outside, she is free
As she steps outside, she feels a sense of freedom
She(we gave her most of our lives)
The parents gave their daughter their all
Is leaving (sacrificed most of our lives)
Now the daughter is leaving, leaving the parents feeling as though their sacrifice was in vain
Home (we gave her everything money could buy)
The parents provided their daughter with everything they could afford
She's leaving home, after living alone, for so many years (bye bye)
After years of living with her parents, the daughter is finally leaving
Father snores as his wife gets into her dressing gown
The father is asleep while the mother gets dressed
Picks up the letter that's lying there
The mother picks up the letter her daughter left behind
Standing alone at the top of the stairs
The mother stands alone at the top of the stairs, feeling overwhelmed
She breaks down and cries to her husband
The mother breaks down and cries to her husband
"Daddy, our baby's gone.
The mother calls her husband 'Daddy' as she shares the news of their daughter's departure
Why would she treat us so thoughtlessly?
The mother is hurt and confused by her daughter's sudden departure
How could she do this to me?"
The mother is feeling hurt and betrayed by her daughter's actions
She(we never thought of ourselves)
The parents never put themselves first, only their daughter
Is leaving (never a thought for ourselves)
The daughter is now leaving, despite her parents' constant selflessness
Home (we struggled hard all our lives to get by)
The parents worked hard to provide for their family
She's leaving home, after living alone, for so many years
The daughter is finally leaving, after having lived with her parents for so long
Friday morning, at nine o'clock
Several days have passed since the daughter's departure
She is far away
The daughter is now in a different place, far from her parents' home
Waiting to keep the appointment she made
The daughter is waiting to meet someone she scheduled an appointment with
Meeting a man from the Motortrade
The daughter is meeting a man who works in the motor industry
She(what did we do that was wrong)
The parents are questioning what they could have done differently
Is Having (we didn't know it was wrong)
The daughter is experiencing something new and exciting, even if it's not what her parents wanted for her
Fun (fun is the one thing that money can't buy)
Despite all the things her parents provided for her, the daughter is experiencing something that money can't buy
Something inside, that was always denied, for so many years
The daughter is finally doing something that she's always wanted to do, but never had the chance
She's leaving home, bye, bye.
The daughter is leaving her parents' home for good
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: JOHN LENNON, PAUL MCCARTNEY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind