The Flaming Lips Songs Ranked
The Flaming Lips are an American rock band formed in 1983 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The band consists of Wayne Coyne (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Michael Ivins (bass), Steven Drozd (guitars, keyboards), Derek Brown (guitars, keyboards), Jake Ingall (keyboards, guitars), Matt Duckworth Kirksey (drums) and Nick Ley (percussion). The group recorded several albums and EPs on an indie label, Restless, in the 1980s and early 1990s. After signing to Warner Brothers, they released their first record with Warner, Hit to Death in the Future Head (1992). They later released The Soft Bulletin (1999), which was NME magazine’s Album of the Year, and then Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (2002). In February 2007, they were nominated for a BRIT Award for “Best International Act”. The group has won three Grammy Awards, including two for Best Rock Instrumental Performance. They were placed on Q magazine’s list of the “50 Bands to See Before You Die” in 2002. Here are all of The Flaming Lips songs ranked.
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20. Placebo Headwound (Clouds Taste Metallic, 1995)
“Everyone is asking themselves these questions now and then. Wayne does it himself and at the same time he realizes that the questions are lame (he doesn’t even finish his question about the birds). So he’s calling it a placebo headwound: a moment where these questions pop up in mind, although you know there’s never an answer and it doesn’t really matter anyway. I like to think that its alright to have questions like this sometimes, but only when you realize it’s just a placebo headwound.”
19. Slow Nerve Action (Transmissions from the Satellite Heart, 1993)
“This song makes me cry. and this is the only song I ever heard that does. I don’t quite understand why. the flaming lips are underrated. but that never mattered much. the dissonance makes this song so dreary but it sounds nice at the same time; it can be both depressing and beautiful.”
18. When You Smile (Clouds Taste Metallic, 1995)
“‘When You Smile’ is another really good song – good contrasts between the distorted guitars, driving verses and the empty transitions.”
17. Mr. Ambulance Driver (Wedding Crashers, 2005)
“The Flaming Lips have the uncanny ability to create music that finally lets my life accept some kind of positivity. Even in a sadder song such as Mr.Ambulance Drive, I recognize the morbidness of the situation, but at the same time feel an inspirational power infuse my soul. As the lyrics amalgamate with the sounds I feel introspectively energized and ready to finally crawl out from underground and embrace the beautiful blue sky. The Flaming Lips are a magical source of musical serenity. “
See more: The Flaming Lips Albums Ranked
16. The Sound of Failure (At War with the Mystics, 2006)
“I believe that this song is about a girl who is influenced by mainstream pop music and has lead her to a life of not caring about philosophical things such as death. But the i think the song is sarcastic in saying that its just a sound going through your head let them go on. because music DOES effect your decisions and morals.”
15. The Gash (The Soft Bulletin, 1999)
“This song is about conscious existence. The gash represents life. If you’re alive, you’re going to die. If you are gashed, you’ll die, too. The fight for sanity is one that we fight against ourselves, our own reasoning, our own thoughts. If anybody is passing through this thing they know what I mean.”
14. In the Morning of the Magicians (Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, 2002)
“I think this song is about the general mindset of someone who no longer understands love and is just ready to accept whatever life throws at them. beautiful song.”
13. They Punctured My Yolk (Clouds Taste Metallic, 1995)
“This one is very self-explanatory. Two astronauts fall in love, go through the space program together. They were going to go to space together. But NASA for some reason decided not to send them both, maybe it will hurt the mission. So they man is forced to watch the woman go to space from the launching pad without him. The title “They Punctured my Yolk” refers to the people destroying their bond.”
12. Suddenly Everything Has Changed (The Soft Bulletin, 1999)
“I think the meaning is clearly described in the subtitle, but I always saw it as something kind of opposite of that until I read that. It reminded me of when something awful happens, like the death of a loved one, or a particularly traumatic break-up. Just as you are moving on and getting back to the status quo – a la mundane tasks – all of a sudden the full weight of what happened ca hit you like a freight train. Then you find yourself reliving that terrible experience in your mind all over again. Suddenly you feel the entire weight of what happened. You go through it, get back on your feet, and then the cycle starts over again. But either way, it’s the enormity of a life-change hitting you as soon as you let your guard down.”
11. Assassination of the Sun (One More Robot, 2012)
“This song is about the horrible feeling you have when someone you are close to passes away. In the song, the sun is replaced by a “horrible machine” consisting of “pain instead of love”, but it “looks just like the sun.” Everything seems the same on the surface, but you feel that something is deeply wrong beneath the surface.”
10. Waitin’ for a Superman (The Soft Bulletin, 1999)
“This song was inspired by a conversation Wayne Coyne had with his brother during the time before his father passed away. His father was very ill and slowly dying and Wayne’s brother asked Wayne if he was doin ok, or if things we “getting heavy”. Wayne thought things we already “as heavy as they could be” but realized his brother was letting him know that it would get worse when their dad does eventually pass away. A beautiful, beautiful song with a gorgeous melody written by Steven Drozd”
9. Fight Test (Fight Test, 2003)
“This has become a VERY dear song to me even more increasingly as my life has progressed. Wayne’s lyrics are probably the most cut dry of any of my favorite lips tracks I could count them out I think but jesus CHRIST does the delivery just beautifully capture every essence of emotion.no FEAR UNCERTAINTY Anxiety tremors devastation pit stomach man call it whatever or however many you want and that’s not even counting the absolutely breathtaking instrumental layering seriously there’s like 12 competing walls each as I pick apart with every subsequent listen just continue to amaze me even more and more to this day.”
8. Sleeping on the Roof (The Soft Bulletin, 1999)
“Sleeping On The Roof” is exactly as it sounds, crickets chirping, watching the night sky as you drift asleep, but then suddenly being lifting up and ascending away from our pale blue dot.”
7. Feeling Yourself Disintegrate (The Soft Bulletin, 1999)
“Can’t get this song out of my head. It is so beautiful. I played it for my mother and she actually started to cry. Not many lyrics but they are so damn profound! Love is the most valuable thing we have, and death is the only sure thing. The ending lines “something is ending within us” and “Feeling yourself disintegrate” are so sad and powerful. This song is truly amazing”
See more: Foo Fighters Albums Ranked
6. Race for the Prize (The Soft Bulletin, 1999)
“This song feels so great to listen to, and so fitting of the Lips, to have songs feel opposite of their lyrics. However, the phrase “Upwards to the vanguard” is just gets me feeling powerful every time.”
5. Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Pt. 2 (Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, 2002)
“Probably the coolest song on the whole album. the screams are hysterical. Can’t get any funnier. i can remember the first time i shared this song with some close friends. the look on their faces was priceless. what a memory.”
4. The W.A.N.D. (The Soft Bulletin, 1999)
“”The idea of a magic wand and magic powers occurred to me while watching a homeless guy in Oklahoma City. He was, I believe, Vietnamese, and had a cool looking wizardly beard and mustache and he carried a long stick, which he used as a kind of cane-weapon. And one day I saw him fighting an “imagined” enemy and the long stick became (as best I could tell) a kind of magic wand that made his invisible foe retreat. I mean… it seemed to give him a confidence that allowed him to defeat his hallucinations…and at first I thought “how sad…he believes this old stick is saving him”… but the more I thought about it, the more I envied him in a way…for the evil manifestations of his mind he invented a sparkling sorcerer’s baton to lead his psychic revolution…yes!!…”
3. She Don’t Use Jelly (Transmissions from the Satellite Heart, 1993)
“The Flaming Lips are my new favorite band. Just accept that it sounds so cool. And there are these people that seem like they’re out of that painting where the guy has that big apple in front of his face. That was random, but maybe you know what I mean. It’s an abstract song.”
2. The Spark that Bled (The Soft Bulletin, 1999)
“This song is about dying….as is the whole album. The spark that bled is you/a human. The Soft Bulletin is being born/realizing that you will die. Standing up is just say…though I realize I am going to die I have made the decision to accept it and live before I do. And that decision causes a chain reaction among other people who have been thinking the same thing but did not have the inner force to say it out loud. And the people who are holding on to what they never had are holding on to a notion of the afterlife while squandering the actual life that they have been given.”
1. Do You Realize?? (Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, 2002)
“This is one of the most beautiful songs I’ve ever heard. Stop and look around and try to understand the fact that life is for today. Everything you love may not be there tomorrow, so don’t take it for granted. Life only happens once, so don’t neglect it.”
