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 sound of failure it's dark...is it always this dark
The Flaming Lips Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
From the inside out
The sound of failure calls her name
She's decided to hear it out
So go tell Britney and go tell Gwen
She's not tryin' to go against all them
'Cause she's too scared and she can't pretend
Or what it means to be dead
It's just a sound going through your head
Let them go on
Standing there in the graveyard
While the moon sprays its fireworks in your hair
The sound of failure calls her name
She's decided to hear it out
So go tell Britney and go tell Gwen
She's not tryin' to go against all them
'Cause she's too scared and she can't pretend
To understand where it begins or ends
Or what it means to be dead
It's just a sound going through your head
Let them go on
Where it begins or ends
Or what it's like to be dead
It's just a sound going through your head
Let it go on
The lyrics to "The Sound of Failure" by The Flaming Lips are open to interpretation, but they seem to describe a person who has decided to face their fears and confront their failures, even though it may be a scary and uncertain path. The person in the song is starting to live their life from the inside out, meaning they are focused on their inner feelings and desires rather than external expectations or pressures. The sound of failure is calling their name, which could represent the negative voices or doubts in their head that have held them back in the past.
The reference to Britney and Gwen may indicate the pressure that society puts on women, particularly in the music industry, to conform to certain expectations and standards. The person in the song acknowledges this pressure but decides not to go against it or pretend to understand it. Instead, they embrace the sound of failure and let it go on.
The second half of the song takes a surrealist turn, with references to standing in a graveyard while the moon sprays fireworks in the person's hair. This may be a metaphor for facing mortality or accepting the inevitability of death. The sound of failure continues to call their name, but instead of being afraid, they have decided to hear it out and let it go on.
Overall, "The Sound of Failure" is a song about personal growth and confronting one's fears and failures. It encourages the listener to embrace the uncertainty of life and to not be afraid of the negative voices or doubts that may hold them back.
Line by Line Meaning
She's starting to live her life from the inside out
The singer is describing someone who is beginning to prioritize their own desires and feelings above external expectations and pressures.
The sound of failure calls her name. She's decided to hear it out.
The singer is saying that the person they are describing is willing to face the possibility of failure, even if it is scary or difficult.
So go tell Britney and go tell Gwen, she's not tryin' to go against all them. 'Cause she's too scared and she can't pretend to understand where it begins or ends, or what it means to be dead
The singer is suggesting that the person they are describing is not intentionally trying to rebel against societal expectations, but is rather just following their own path. They may not fully understand what that path entails, but they are too scared to pretend to understand or conform to others' expectations.
It's just a sound going through your head. Let them go on.
The artist is acknowledging that the fear of failure (or any negative emotion) is just a passing feeling and should not be dwelled on. They suggest letting it pass and moving on with life.
Standing there in the graveyard, while the moon sprays its fireworks in your hair, the sound of failure calls her name. She's decided to hear it out.
The artist is painting a vivid, eerie picture of someone standing in a graveyard at night, while the fear of failure (represented by the 'sound') echoes in their mind. Despite the unsettling setting, the person is still willing to confront their fears and listen to the voice.
Where it begins or ends, or what it's like to be dead, it's just a sound going through your head. Let it go on.
The singer is emphasizing that fears and negative emotions are ultimately just mental constructs that have no real power over someone, and they should not be allowed to consume a person's thoughts or actions.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: WAYNE COYNE, STEVEN DROZD, MICHAEL IVINS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@bengszy8124
Wayne's Notes from the Album:
"We have some friends whose father was dying of cancer - I say 'was because it (the cancer and his death) dragged on agonizingly for over a year - and they (our friends) were becoming, understandably, weary of being forced to be upbeat... And I remember hearing a comment once about how annoying it was, to them, to have to hear this gratingly jubilant fake enthusiasm (usually hokey hyped-up pop groups like Black Eyed Peas, Destiny's Child, Ashlee Simpson, Hillary Duff, etc.) blasting out of the 'Muzak' systems virtually everywhere they went. To them this cheerleader-type assault was really only effective if you didn't actually have any real psychic stress... And they felt that it was, surprisingly, helpful to them to try to understand their fears and their sadness - as opposed to pretending that it's 'all good.'
And, you see, this is true insight... finally we know it's okay to have a troubled mind, it's okay to fail...
And so this song (which was written in the car on the way up to New York from Oklahoma while I drove and Steven played battery powered keyboard and computer) is about a young girl whose best friend has died, and everywhere she goes (like the friends I mentioned earlier) she must endure the empty optimism of the inexperienced. She wants to know, since it has arrived, what is despair, what is hope, what is failure... And what is in the darkness??
The line in the song, 'so go tell Britney and go tell Gwen' is obviously a reference back to my friends and their Muzak incident... meaning, 'Yeah, go tell Britney Spears and Gwen Stefani that their energy and their Prom Queen smiles only go to prove that they don't empathize with my sadness.' I believe, in the song, that Britney and Gwen could be thought of as this grieving girl's less mature friends... and that she's not trying to go against them, she just doesn't want to pretend that she understands what she doesn't really understand - what death is... what despair is... what existential fear is... She doesn't know, but she's starting to find out..."
@francapra1346
She's starting to live her life
From the inside out
The sound of failure calls her name
She's decided to hear it out
So go tell Britney and go tell Gwen
She's not tryin' to go against all them
'Cause she's too scared and she, she can't pretend
To understand where it begins or ends
Or what it means to be dead
It's just a sound going through your head
Let them go on
Let them go on
Standing there in the graveyard
While the moon sprays its fireworks in your hair
The sound of failure calls her name
She's decided to hear it out
So go tell Britney and go tell Gwen
She's not tryin' to go against all them
'Cause she's too scared and she, she can't pretend
To understand where it begins or ends
Or what it means to be dead
It's just a sound going through your head
Let them go on
Let them go on
Where it begins or ends
Or what it means to be dead
It's just a sound going through your head
Let it go on
Let it go on
Where it begins or ends
Or what it means to be dead
It's just a sound going through your head
Let it go on
Let it go on
She doesn't know where it will take her
And she's going into the unknown
Read more: Flaming Lips - The Sound Of Failure Lyrics | MetroLyrics
@unscrupulous_shrimp3266
She's starting to live her life
From the inside out
The sound of failure calls her name
She's decided to hear it out
So go tell Britney and go tell Gwen
She's not tryin' to go against all them
'Cause she's too scared and she can't pretend
To understand where it begins or ends
Or what it means to be dead
It's just a sound going through your head
Let them go on
Standing there in the graveyard
While the moon sprays its fireworks in your hair
The sound of failure calls her name
She's decided to hear it out
So go tell Britney and go tell Gwen
She's not tryin' to go against all them
'Cause she's too scared and she can't pretend
To understand where it begins or ends
Or what it means to be dead
It's just a sound going through your head
Let them go on
Where it begins or ends
Or what it's like to be dead
It's just a sound going through your head
Let it go on
@sydIRISH
This is my favorite Lips song, I agree it has a retro feel. Love it. Long live the Lips.
@grimdimly
I played this song to death when the album first came out and it still knocks me out.
@alecaventura
So do i my friend :)
@PinkFloydrulez
if you don't like the flaming lips i don't want to be your friend
@gojohnnyog
this music is so touching, that it takes you to a different world all together
@bathtubgeorge
This band is magic
@bengszy8124
Wayne's Notes from the Album:
"We have some friends whose father was dying of cancer - I say 'was because it (the cancer and his death) dragged on agonizingly for over a year - and they (our friends) were becoming, understandably, weary of being forced to be upbeat... And I remember hearing a comment once about how annoying it was, to them, to have to hear this gratingly jubilant fake enthusiasm (usually hokey hyped-up pop groups like Black Eyed Peas, Destiny's Child, Ashlee Simpson, Hillary Duff, etc.) blasting out of the 'Muzak' systems virtually everywhere they went. To them this cheerleader-type assault was really only effective if you didn't actually have any real psychic stress... And they felt that it was, surprisingly, helpful to them to try to understand their fears and their sadness - as opposed to pretending that it's 'all good.'
And, you see, this is true insight... finally we know it's okay to have a troubled mind, it's okay to fail...
And so this song (which was written in the car on the way up to New York from Oklahoma while I drove and Steven played battery powered keyboard and computer) is about a young girl whose best friend has died, and everywhere she goes (like the friends I mentioned earlier) she must endure the empty optimism of the inexperienced. She wants to know, since it has arrived, what is despair, what is hope, what is failure... And what is in the darkness??
The line in the song, 'so go tell Britney and go tell Gwen' is obviously a reference back to my friends and their Muzak incident... meaning, 'Yeah, go tell Britney Spears and Gwen Stefani that their energy and their Prom Queen smiles only go to prove that they don't empathize with my sadness.' I believe, in the song, that Britney and Gwen could be thought of as this grieving girl's less mature friends... and that she's not trying to go against them, she just doesn't want to pretend that she understands what she doesn't really understand - what death is... what despair is... what existential fear is... She doesn't know, but she's starting to find out..."
@MoeSlislack
interesting, I can't stand Britney and gwen. I mean they are pretty but that's all I really like about them.
@johnnymckracken2237
Funny that they performed live with Miley Cyrus after releasing this song. I guess Miley is nothing like gwen or Brittany. Why? "Cause it's a party in the USA!"
@chriserrickson1624
@@johnnymckracken2237 i thionk you missed the point.
their music or themselves are not bad, what is badis the picture of a beautiful world where everyone is happy and the love (SENSUAL LOVE) is the moving forcé and shit like that. i don't even like Miley but playing with her or any other musician just proves that the flaming lips don't take things personally, and why would they? Miley is just making music, and if her music is shit what better way of helping her get beter thatn playing some jams with her.