We a Famly

Album: Oczy Mlody (2017)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • The Flaming Lips teamed up with frequent collaborator Miley Cyrus for this dreamy track. The "Wrecking Ball" hitmaker features on the chant-along chorus, before taking over from Wayne Coyne to sing the second verse.
  • The Flaming Lips first presented this song to Cyrus back in 2014, when she was on the South American leg of her Bangerz World Tour. "It sounded a little different, a lot slower. It didn't have the little hook that's on it now," Lips frontman Wayne Coyne recalled to Billboard magazine. "She sang a little demo of it. A good bit of the vocal you hear on the track is from that very first take she did the very first time she heard it. Through the marvels of technology now you can speed up and slow down and change things without really damaging the quality of the recording that she'd done."

    "It took us a few times before we knew we were going with it," he added. "We finally took it to (co-producer) Dave Fridmann; He said, 'No wonder nobody likes it. It's too f---ng slow!' so we spend it up and there you go."
  • Cyrus first hooked up with the band when she provided guest vocals on "With A Little Help From My Friends," which was part of the Flaming Lips' track-for-track tribute to the Sgt. Pepper album. In 2015, she teamed up with Wayne Coyne and co for her 23 track album that was released under the name Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz.
  • This song is the closing track of Oczy Mlody and it ends the album on an optimistic note.

    "It's just dorky enough and just simple enough that you can walk away liking it and not worry about the depths of its meaning too much, and that to me is a great triumph," Coyne told ABC Radio. "Sometimes I think music and songs do that, where they wanna tell you something that's so important, eh, you just don't care that much. And sometimes music is not trying to be important at all and it just resonates with you, and you can sing along all day."
  • The song title is not a typo, nor is Wayne Coyne's keyboard missing a few letters. The misspelling is intentional.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

David Gray

David GraySongwriter Interviews

David Gray explains the significance of the word "Babylon," and talks about how songs are a form of active imagination, with lyrics that reveal what's inside us.

"Stairway To Heaven" Lawsuit: A Timeline

"Stairway To Heaven" Lawsuit: A TimelineSong Writing

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

Tom Waits Lyrics Quiz

Tom Waits Lyrics QuizMusic Quiz

Pool balls, magpies and thorns without roses - how well do you know your Tom Waits lyrics?

Jon Anderson

Jon AndersonSongwriter Interviews

Jon Anderson breaks down the Yes classic "Seen All Good People" and talks about his 1000 Hands album, which features Chick Corea, Rick Derringer, Ian Anderson, and many other luminaries.

Lecrae

LecraeSongwriter Interviews

The Christian rapper talks about where his trip to Haiti and his history of addiction fit into his songs.

Spot The Real Red Hot Chili Peppers Song Titles

Spot The Real Red Hot Chili Peppers Song TitlesMusic Quiz

The Red Hot Chili Peppers have some rather unusual song titles - see if you can spot the real ones.