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.

www.flaminglips.com

TRACKS

Genre not found

Artist not found

Album not found

Search results not found

Song not found

The Impulse
The Flaming Lips Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

If you'd just come down
From your space tower jail
I could have shown you
Those colors aren't so pale
The way it glows
The way it shines
The way it plays on
The dimensions in your mind

But it seems like nothing's gonna satisfy
Your shapeless urges
You tryin'
Tryin'
Tryin'
Tryin'
Tryin'

You say you're unhappy
That you don't like your hair
I could have shown you
There are heavens everywhere
We go through tunnels
And we go up high
But you just got frustrated
With those electric power glides

And it seems like nothing's gonna satisfy
Your shapeless urges
You tryin'
Tryin'
Tryin'
Tryin'
Tryin'

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to The Flaming Lips's song The Impulse are about the frustration of attempting to show someone a new experience or perspective, only to find that they are resistant to change due to their own unhappiness and dissatisfaction. The singer of the song is trying to convince someone to come down from their metaphorical "space tower jail" in order to experience the beauty and vibrancy of the world around them. However, despite the singer's efforts, the person remains stuck in their own discontent.

The lyrics describe the singer's attempts to show this person the "glow" and "shine" of the world around them, emphasizing the "dimensions in your mind" that can be unlocked through a willingness to explore and experience new things. However, the person remains focused on their own issues, such as their unhappiness with their hair, and is unable to appreciate the wonders of the world as a result.

Overall, The Impulse is a song about the frustration of trying to reach someone who is stuck in their own negativity and unable to appreciate the beauty of life. It speaks to the difficulty of changing someone's perspective when they are resistant to new experiences, and highlights the importance of keeping an open mind and a willingness to explore in order to truly appreciate all that the world has to offer.

Line by Line Meaning

If you'd just come down
If you would only leave your isolation and join me

From your space tower jail
From the confines of your own mind that makes you feel trapped

I could have shown you
I could have displayed for you

Those colors aren't so pale
The beauty and vibrancy of life are not insipid

The way it glows
The iridescent quality it exudes

The way it shines
The brilliant radiance it emits

The way it plays on
The manner in which it interacts with

The dimensions in your mind
Your emotions, memories, and imagination

But it seems like nothing's gonna satisfy
But it appears there is nothing that can quench

Your shapeless urges
Your indescribable desires and cravings

You tryin'
You attempt to find it