The Flaming Lips is an American neo-psychedelic band, formed in Oklahoma Ci… Read Full Bio ↴The Flaming Lips is an American neo-psychedelic band, formed in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States in 1983. Throughout their career, band members have come and gone, but currently The Flaming Lips consist of original members Wayne Coyne (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards) and Michael Ivins (bass, keyboards, backing vocals), along with members Steven Drozd (drums, guitar, keyboards, backing vocals), and Derek Brown (guitar, keyboards, backing vocals). Former members include Mark Coyne (lead vocals), Richard English (drums, keyboards, backing vocals), Nathan Roberts (drums), Jonathan Donahue (guitar, backing vocals), who went on to form Mercury Rev, Ronald Jones (guitar, backing vocals), and Kliph Scurlock (drums).

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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Stand in Line
The Flaming Lips Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Ten men stand in line
At the gates of the cemetery on Tuesday morning
They're not open today
And ten moms stand in line
At maternity ward
They're not bringin' no babies out to play
Anytime today

What's a nice girl like you doin'
Walkin' around this part of town?
See you sometime tomorrow

And ten men stand in line
Waitin' for some personality to be put out on the corner

Today ain't garbage day
Ain't no grabage taken today

Overall Meaning

The Flaming Lips's song Stand in Line depicts various individuals waiting in line for different reasons. The lyrics talk about ten men who stand outside the gates of a cemetery, waiting for it to open, and ten mothers outside a maternity ward waiting for their babies to be born. The lyrics suggest a sense of anticipation on the part of those waiting in line. The waiting is futile, however. The cemetery is closed and there will be no babies born that day.

The lyrics also talk about a woman walking in a bad part of town, a woman that does not fit the mold of the environment. The tone of the verse suggests danger or trouble. The listener is left with a sense of concern for the woman's well-being, with the words of advice, "See you sometime tomorrow." The song ends with ten men waiting for something to happen on the street corner, only to realize that there will be no garbage pickup that day.

The song Stand in Line touches on the theme of waiting, but it's not just about waiting on something. It's about the expectation that comes with waiting and the disappointment that comes when reality sets in. It suggests that waiting for something doesn't always lead to results. Just because you want it to happen, doesn't mean it will happen. It's a reflection on how life doesn't always work out the way you want it to.

Line by Line Meaning

Ten men stand in line
Ten individuals are waiting in a queue

At the gates of the cemetery on Tuesday morning
They are waiting outside the entrance of a graveyard on a Tuesday morning

They're not open today
The cemetery is closed

And ten moms stand in line
Another group of ten people, mothers in this case, are also waiting in a queue

At maternity ward
They are waiting outside the maternity ward of a hospital

They're not bringin' no babies out to play
No newborns are being discharged at the moment

Anytime today
There isn't a particular time for when they will be able to leave

What's a nice girl like you doin'
Addressing a woman and asking her what she is doing

Walkin' around this part of town?
Asking the woman why she is in this specific location

See you sometime tomorrow
Planning to see her again sometime the next day

And ten men stand in line
Referring back to the first group of men waiting in a queue