The Sound of Failure

Album: At War With The Mystics (2006)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This song is about a young girl whose best friend is dying of cancer. She is annoyed and frustrated at the fake enthusiasm of well-meaning friends and the barrage of cheery music from what she feels are empty artists like Britney Spears and Gwen Stefani that seemed to follow her everywhere.
  • This was inspired by friends of the band whose father was dying of cancer. Like the girl in the song, they were irritated by the inauthentic positivity of hyped-up pop. "To them this cheerleader-type assault was really only effective if you didn't actually have any real psychic stress," Wayne explained in the album notes. "And they felt that it was, surprisingly, helpful to them to try to understand their fears and their sadness - as opposed to pretending that it's 'all good.' And, you see, this is true insight... finally we know it's okay to have a troubled mind, it's okay to fail."
  • Wayne Coyne wrote this in the car with bandmate Steven Drozd while they were driving from Oklahoma to New York. >>>
    Suggestion credit:
    Jake - Stillwater, OK, for all above

Comments: 1

  • Karl from Ingatestone, United Kingdomi love the lyrics about Britney Spears and Gwen Stefani in the song. even though they did reference Cher in their 1994 breakthrough 'She Dont Use Jelly' this makes me feel happy enough rather than biting myself, which i am quitting on Thursday
    next time i do a Flaming Lips tribute album in my pad, this song will be a new one, and what number should it be. lemme say 14
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Gavin Rossdale On Lyric Inspirations and Bush's Album The Kingdom

Gavin Rossdale On Lyric Inspirations and Bush's Album The KingdomSongwriter Interviews

The Bush frontman on where he finds inspiration for lyrics, if his "machine head" is a guitar tuner, and the stories behind songs from the album The Kingdom.

John Kay of Steppenwolf

John Kay of SteppenwolfSongwriter Interviews

Steppenwolf frontman John Kay talks about "Magic Carpet Ride," "Born To Be Wild," and what he values more than awards and accolades.

"Stairway To Heaven" Lawsuit: A Timeline

"Stairway To Heaven" Lawsuit: A TimelineSong Writing

Untangling the events that led to the "Stairway To Heaven" lawsuit.

Song Titles That Inspired Movies

Song Titles That Inspired MoviesSong Writing

Famous songs that lent their titles - and in some cases storylines - to movies.

U2 Lyrics

U2 LyricsMusic Quiz

How well do you know the lyrics of U2?

Pete Anderson

Pete AndersonSongwriter Interviews

Pete produced Dwight Yoakam, Michelle Shocked, Meat Puppets, and a very memorable track for Roy Orbison.