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

The Strange Design Of Conscience
The Flaming Lips Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Given the hopeless nature of our times
And how it would change things
And given the circumstances of our lives
You'd have done the same thing

You'd have done the same thing
You'd have done the same

So if we're talking about forgiveness
Well don't put me up above you
'Cause in the strange design of conscience
We are controlled by our desires that can never be realized

That can never be realized
That can never be real

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of The Strange Design Of Conscience by The Flaming Lips focuses on the idea of the hopelessness of our times and the circumstances of our lives that could push us to do things we never thought we would do. It suggests that given the situation and the changes happening around us, we might end up making decisions that we wouldn't have made otherwise. The lyrics convey a sense of empathy towards people who have done wrong and seem to ask for forgiveness. However, the song also suggests that everyone has desires that can never be realized, and these desires can, in some ways, control our actions. It implies that we're all humans, and sometimes we do things that are beyond our control.

Overall, the lyrics of the song are quite thought-provoking and resonates with the listener's emotions. It highlights that the circumstances of our lives can define our actions, and sometimes it's necessary to understand this intricate design of conscience to forgive others and ourselves.

Line by Line Meaning

Given the hopeless nature of our times
Considering how dire and bleak our current situation is

And how it would change things
And the impact it would have on the world

And given the circumstances of our lives
And considering the factors that shape our existence

You'd have done the same thing
You would have acted similarly

You'd have done the same thing
You would have behaved in the same way

So if we're talking about forgiveness
If the topic at hand is forgiveness

Well don't put me up above you
Don't consider me superior to you

'Cause in the strange design of conscience
Because in the peculiar way our minds work

We are controlled by our desires that can never be realized
Our thoughts are influenced by unattainable desires

That can never be realized
That can never become actual

That can never be real
That can never become a reality