The Flaming Lips - the sound of failure, 2006

"It was tough to find a snippet of lyrics that did justice to the beauty of this song. One thing I’ve liked about past Lips record is that they seemed blissfully unaware of the pop culture around them; mentioning such pop idols as Britney Spears and Gwen Stefani in their lyrics is tantamount to putting up a big red sign that says “Forgettable lyric with a shelf life here – move along, folks.” But don’t judge it by that. The temporary nature of said stars may serve as an adequate contrast to the “failure” of a girl who just wants to do, or be, something unique. What, I can’t tell. Her insecurity plays out against a backdrop of lovely guitar strumming and faint orchestral elements that builds to such a beautiful crescendo, that part of me doesn’t really care what weirdness is being discussed here. As if self-conscious regarding the beauty they’re creating, the Lips throw in an insistent, nervous, blurting electric guitar, but it just adds to the idiosyncrasy, not managing to divert the beautiful melody despite the guitar’s relative monotony. The whole thing is very 70’s, and just to be a little more “prog-rock” than normal, the song expands into a second section, with a brief, slow verse and gentle guitars and bells, before the calming sounds of flutes, synthetic bells, and humming insects conclude the song, which has now stretched leisurely past the seven-minute mark. A bit much for only track three, but who cares, it’s a lovely piece of work."