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PPPrrrrrappappa prrrrappappappappa ppprrrrrappappa prrrrappappappappa...
and then begins that wonderful song called "Feeling Yourself Disintegrate," that wonderful song that first seduced me, then forced me to listen, and finally broke my heart, cut my breath, kidnapped my brain. That wonderful song that, quite possibly, disintegrated me.
Only my ears, clung to the headphones, were saved. A song that many might find nothing special, but for me, it is one of the possible answers to the question: why do you love music?
"Feeling Yourself Disintegrate," at the very moment it hypnotized me, 3 years ago, managed to prevent me from any other physical or cerebral activity for days and days, like many other great songs. It reminds me, just to mention another one, "Under The Milky Way" by the Church... but that's another story.
The Soft Bulletin, released in '99, immediately lived in the shadow of this song, for me, even though it is entirely a masterpiece.
Listening to it is like watching landscapes lit up, full of life and color from a moving train.
Wayne Coyne's unmistakable voice flies over these fields with the lightness of a flock of swallows. It's a real voice, touching, often out of tune, as the Condor likes (who returned to fly with a double on Sunday 9/2).
And all the instruments seem to play in the same way, creating a perfect symbiosis, strings with basses, guitars with piano, keyboards, xylophone.
The Flaming Lips on this album (more than in the recent Yoshimi...) succeed in their intent to propose the most natural and spontaneous sound possible. A lo-fi sound, and bucolic melodies, but in my opinion, less cloying than those of Mercury Rev, with whom the Flaming Lips have much in common, starting with the producer, Dave Fridmann.
The songs have the power to buzz in the listener’s head for a long time, and I think of the deadly start with "Race For The Prize," or maybe "Waitin' For A Superman." Sometimes they let themselves go into childish spasms, which fall unexpectedly into our ears but caress them, because that bass, that guitar, that voice are magical, and always retain their timbre, so sweet and sensitive.
And even the reflective moments, the empty spaces - one of the album's prominent features - manage to be moving.
This is why the global music underbrush considers them a cult band.
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
02 A Spoonful Weighs a Ton (03:32)
And though they were sad they rescued everyone
They lifted up the sun
A spoonful weighs a ton
Giving more than they had
The process had begun
A million came from one
The limits now were none
Being drunk on their plan, they lifted up the sun
Forcing it off with their hands
The trap door came undone
Above our heads it swung
The privilege had been won
Being drunk on their plan, they lifted up the sun
Yelling as hard as they can
The doubters all were stunned
Heard louder than a gun
The sound they made was love
03 The Spark That Bled (05:54)
I accidentally touched my head
and noticed that it had been bleeding
for how long i did not know.
What was this, I thought, that struck me?
What kind of weapons have they got?
the softest bullet ever shot...
I stood up and I said yeah!!
I stood up and i said yeah
I stood up and i said Hey, Yeah!
From this moment on
blaring like a trumpet
comin from above us
and somewhere below
the confidence of knowing
decsending to relieve us
of the struggle to believe its so
I stood up and i said yeah
I spoke up and i said Hey
I stood up and i said hey yeah
And it seemed to cause a chain reaction
It had momentum it was gaining traction
it was all the rage it was all the fashion
the outreached hands had resigned themselves to
holding on to something that they never had
and thats too bad
'cause in reality there was no reaction
i accidentally touched my head
and saw that it was bleeding
for how long i did not know.
04 The Spiderbite Song (04:01)
When you got that spiderbite on your hand
I thought we would have to break up the band
To lose your arm would surely upset your brain
The poison then could reach your heart from a vein
I was glad that it didn't destroy you
How sad that would be
Cos if it destroyed you
It would destroy me
When you had that accident in your car
That whole thing just really seemed too bizarre
Dodging holes and telephone poles through the dash
A million to one that you could survive such a crash
I was glad that it didn't destroy you
How sad that would be
Cos if it destroyed you
It would destroy me
When you fell in love it was so sweet
So devoted, completely swept off your feet
Love is the greatest thing our heart can know
But the hole that it leaves in its absence can make you feel so low
I was glad that it didn't destroy you
How sad that would be
Cos if it destroyed you
It would destroy me
06 What Is the Light? (04:04)
what is the light
that you have
shining all around you?
Is it chemically derived?
Cause if it's natural,
something glowing from inside
shining all around you
it's potential has arrived
Love is the place
that you're drawn to.
Looking into space
it surrounds you.
Love is that face
that you're drawn to
What is the light
that you have
shining all around you?
is it chemically derived?
08 Waitin' for a Superman (04:17)
Asked you a question
I didn't need you to reply
Is it gettin' heavy?
But they'll realize
Is it gettin' heavy?
Well I thought it was already as heavy
As can be
Is it overwhelming
To use a crane to crush a fly?
It's a good time for Superman
To lift the sun into the sky
'Cause it's gettin' heavy
Well I thought it was already as heavy
As can be
Tell everybody
Waitin' for Superman
That they should try to hold on
Best they can
He hasn't dropped them
Forgot them
Or anything
It's just too heavy for Superman to lift
Is it gettin' heavy?
Well I thought it was already as heavy as can be.
Tell everybody
Waitin' for Superman
That they should try to hold on
Best they can
He hasn't dropped them
Forgot them
Or anything
It's just too heavy for Superman to lift
09 Suddenly Everything Has Changed (03:54)
Putting all the vegetables away,
That you bought at the grocery store today,
And it goes fast,
You think of the past,
Suddenly everything has changed,
Driving home the sky accelerates,
And the clouds all form a geometric shape,
And it goes fast,
You think of the past,
Suddenly everything has changed,
Putting all the clothes you washed away,
As you're folding up the shirts you hesitate,
Then it goes fast,
Think of the past,
Suddenly everything has changed
10 The Gash (04:02)
Is that gash in your leg
Really why you have stopped?
‘Cause I’ve noticed all the others
Though they’re gashed, they’re still going
‘Cause I feel like the real reason
That you’re quitting, that you’re admitting
That you’ve lost all the will to battle on
Will the fight for our sanity
Be the fight of our lives?
Now that we’ve lost all the reasons
That we thought that we had
Still the battle that we’re in
Rages on till the end
With explosions, wounds are open
Sights and smells, eyes and noses
But the thought that went unspoken
Was understanding that you’re broken
Still the last volunteer battles on
Battles on
Battles on
11 Feeling Yourself Disintegrate (05:17)
Love in our life is just too valuable
Oh, to feel for even a second without it
But life without death is just impossible
Oh, to realize something is ending within us
Feeling yourself disintegrate
13 Race for the Prize (04:18)
Two scientists were racing
For the good of all mankind
Both of them side by side
So Determined
Locked in heated battle
For the cure that is their prize
But it's so dangerous
But they're determined
Theirs is to win
If it kills them
They're just humans
With wives and children
Upwards to the vanguard
Where the pressure is too high
Under the microscope
Hope against hope
Forging for the future
But to sacrifice their lives
Both of them side by side
So determined
Theirs is to win
If it kills them
They're just humans
With wives and children
Theirs is to win
It will kill them
They're just humans
With wives and children
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By zaireeka
"A family of timpani arrives to open the dance, like a waterfall thrown out of bed."
"Love in our life is just too valuable... But life without death is just impossible."
