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
Unconsciously Screamin' 02
The Flaming Lips Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Filling down the void
We're not what we used to be
We're not really boys
Screaming till our lungs are full
Kicking down the teeth
We're not what we used to be
Unconsciously screaming
And whispering at everything she brings
The lyrics to The Flaming Lips's song "Unconsciously Screamin'" explore deep themes of identity, change, and paranoia. The opening lines, "Seeing the unseeable, filling down the void," set a tone of existential searching and contemplation. The singer seems to be grappling with the experience of growing older and realizing that they are not the same person they used to be. The repetition of the phrase "We're not what we used to be" emphasizes this sense of displacement and loss.
The next lines of the song, "We're not really boys," suggest a gendered aspect to the singer's identity crisis. Perhaps the singer is reflecting on the ways in which societal expectations and pressures have influenced their self-concept. The image of "screaming till our lungs are full, kicking down the teeth" is violent and aggressive, suggesting a release of pent-up frustration and anger. This behavior is in stark contrast to the more passive and introspective tone of the previous lines.
Towards the end of the verse, the lyrics become more surreal with the line "We're just paranoid." This could be interpreted in a number of ways: perhaps the singer is feeling scared or threatened by external forces, or they could be experiencing an intrusive sense of doubt and fear about their own identity. The repeated phrase "Unconsciously screaming and whispering at everything she brings" adds another layer of ambiguity to the song, leaving the listener to grapple with the deeper meaning of these words.
Line by Line Meaning
Seeing the unseeable,
Observing things that cannot be seen with naked eyes
Filling down the void
Trying to fill the emptiness or incompleteness inside oneself
We're not what we used to be
We have changed from our previous selves
We're not really boys
We are no longer youthful or innocent like boys
Screaming till our lungs are full
Shouting with all our might and passion
Kicking down the teeth
Fighting back against the challenges and obstacles in life
We're not what we used to be
We have transformed from our old selves
We're just paranoid
We are constantly worried, anxious, and suspicious
Unconsciously screaming
Shouting unconsciously, perhaps without even realizing it
And whispering at everything she brings
Speaking in hushed tones about everything that she brings into our lives
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: MICHAEL IVINS, RICHARD ENGLISH, WAYNE COYNE, ELAYNE NATHAN, Jonathan Donahue
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind