Album: Re-Animator (2020)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This proggy, synth-heavy, slow-burner originated from an advert that frontman Jonathan Higgs heard. He told Apple Music it had this "really slow triplet-y synth thing," which he tried to re-create, but it went wrong. However, Higgs still liked the end result: "This really slow 6/8 feel. And then it goes double-speed for the chorus."
  • Lyrically, the song finds Higgs crying out for acceptance.

    Can you love me?
    More than the planets


    Higgs is struggling with romantic love, so he resorts to a love of nature and natural things. He explained it's "a song about calling out to be loved, feeling unworthy and finding the love of the universe instead."
  • Higgs admitted to Apple Music the lyrics are "really ridiculous." He explained they were some of the last ones he wrote for Re-Animator, and realizing much of the record was quite somber, he "threw all of my fun into this last song, so that there is that color on this record."
  • "Planets" is the third single released from Re-Animator. The album finds Everything Everything operating on a more instinctive level than past releases. "It's full of beautiful human experiences - love, death, sex, birth, life," bassist Jeremy Pritchard told Uncut magazine. "This exploration is over the songs. Our last two albums was steeped in social-political machinations and we just got tired of carrying all that around. There's more of an ease about this one."
  • Higgs directed the bizarre video, which features a lip-synching chimpanzee puppet during the coronavirus-enforced lockdown. He explained it focuses on a primate caught up in an existential dilemma as he compares his relative insignificance to the universe.

    "I kind of wanted it to be like Carl Sagan-like, Cosmos, '70s sort of slightly crappy space stuff," Higgs said. "And the monkey just seemed to fit in in sort of a 2001: A Space Odyssey kind of way. There's some kind of deep connection between the planets and monkeys! So it was really as simple as that."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull

Ian Anderson of Jethro TullSongwriter Interviews

The flautist frontman talks about touring with Led Zeppelin, his contribution to "Hotel California", and how he may have done the first MTV Unplugged.

Songs in Famous Movie Scenes: Tarantino Edition

Songs in Famous Movie Scenes: Tarantino EditionMusic Quiz

Whether he's splitting ears or burning Nazis, Quentin Tarantino uses memorable music in his films. See if you can match the song to the scene.

Artis the Spoonman

Artis the SpoonmanSong Writing

Even before Soundgarden wrote a song about him, Artis was the most famous spoon player of all time. So why has he always been broke?

Jesus Christ Superstar: Ted Neeley Tells the Inside Story

Jesus Christ Superstar: Ted Neeley Tells the Inside StorySong Writing

The in-depth discussion about the making of Jesus Christ Superstar with Ted Neeley, who played Jesus in the 1973 film.

Dean Friedman - "Ariel"

Dean Friedman - "Ariel"They're Playing My Song

Dean's saga began with "Ariel," a song about falling in love with a Jewish girl from New Jersey.

Roger McGuinn of The Byrds

Roger McGuinn of The ByrdsSongwriter Interviews

Roger reveals the songwriting formula Clive Davis told him, and if "Eight Miles High" is really about drugs.