One Million Billionth Of A Millisecond On A Sunday Morning

Album: Oh My Gawd!!! (1987)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Flamings Lips frontman Wayne Coyne and bassist Michael Ivins told The Bob magazine the story behind this experimental, Pink Floyd-like tune. Said Wayne: "On tape you can't tell how long it is, but you get the record and it's long! Nine and a half minutes. And we like that. We listen to songs and it doesn't matter if they're ten minutes if it's a good song. We had this concept - it's like you sit there, when you did acid and stuff, and you can look at something and get so carried away in it that time just goes on."

    Michael added: "Because then you 'wake up' and no time's gone by at all and you think, I've been sitting here for two days or something!"

    Wayne continued: "And that's why that length of it is put in there. It's a really long song but we're talking about a miniscule part of time and taking it for all it's worth."
  • Richard English, the band's drummer, said this is the quintessential Flaming Lips song because "it's all about this huge universe in this tiny pinhead." (source: Staring At Sound: The True Story of Oklahoma's Fabulous Flaming Lips by Jim DeRogatis.)
  • In the compilation A Collection Of Songs Representing An Enthusiasm For Recording... By Amateurs: The Flaming Lips 1984-1990, Wayne explained that he and Michael were conducting some unorthodox sleep-deprivation experiments on themselves while writing the tune, "comparing the hallucinations to our (very limited) acid experiences."
  • Speaking of the album's '70s-rock-meets-'80s-acid-punk vibe, Wayne told Consequence of Sound in a 2017 interview: "While the sound feels rooted in rock, you must remember I grew up in the late '70s for the most part. I mean, I was born in 1961, so I was meant to be a weirdo in a '70s rock group. Luckily, punk rock came along, and it was the loudest style out there and allowed us to be a group and make this record. We aren't real musicians. We were nothing without punk rock giving us the kind of freedom to do anything without being so embarrassed about it. And then before you know it, we are making strange, arty records, pushing through what should have been a really awkward situation because we didn't really know how to play and record music. We were just figuring it out as we went along, and I think we were just very lucky. During this time, we were starting to do more things that were studio-orientated and not so much about the way we were supposed to be playing in front of people."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Michael W. Smith

Michael W. SmithSongwriter Interviews

Smith breaks down some of his worship tracks as well as his mainstream hits, including "I Will Be Here For You" and "A Place In This World."

Arrested For Your Art - The Story Of 2 Live Crew's "Obscene" Album

Arrested For Your Art - The Story Of 2 Live Crew's "Obscene" AlbumSong Writing

In the summer of 1990, you could get arrested for selling a 2 Live Crew album or performing their songs in Southern Florida. And that's exactly what happened.

Scott Gorham of Thin Lizzy and Black Star Riders

Scott Gorham of Thin Lizzy and Black Star RidersSongwriter Interviews

Writing with Phil Lynott, Scott saw their ill-fated frontman move to a darker place in his life and lyrics.

Ron and Russell Mael of Sparks

Ron and Russell Mael of SparksSongwriter Interviews

The men of Sparks on their album Hippopotamus, and how Morrissey handled it when they suggested he lighten up.

Wherefore Art Thou Romeo Lyric

Wherefore Art Thou Romeo LyricMusic Quiz

In this quiz, spot the artist who put Romeo into a song lyric.

The Girl in That Song

The Girl in That SongFact or Fiction

Billie Jean, Delilah, Sara, Laura and Sharona - do you know who the girls in the songs really are?