Thursday 12 November 2009

The Flaming Lips: Watching the Planets


If you’re wondering why that screenshot above is so blurry, there’s a simple explanation: It’s one of the few moments of the Flaming Lips’ “Watching the Planets” music video that doesn’t feature a penis.

As this six-minute clip makes abundantly clear, Flaming Lips fans come in all shapes and sizes. If there’s one thing that unites them though, it may be a universal lack of desire to see hairy Lips frontman Wayne Coyne naked. Unfortunately for them – and us – that’s just what happened in September when Coyne decided to shoot a Hair-inspired naked bike ride.

“There’s a difference between pornography and just freaks who are naked,” Coyne told BikePortland.com at the time. “This is about unrestricted freedom and a good lawlessness that’s always sort of implied at our shows.”

“Freaks who are naked” does aptly describe the resulting video. Anyone still holding on to the Renaissance notion that the human body is a beautiful thing may be disillusioned watching a bunch of average Joes and Jills riding around the woods or engaging in tribal-like jumping.

“Maybe I’ll even get naked for the video, too,” Coyne said. “I don’t even know how it ends — maybe it ends with them all getting clothed and making me get naked and shoving me back into the giant fur egg. I just came up with that right now.”

The bad news Coyne predicted: he does get naked. The bad news he didn’t: no one gets clothed. Instead the whole band of nude merrymakers hoist Coyne aloft in what looks like the beginnings of the most nauseating orgy ever.

“Watching the Planets” is the second video promoting the Lips’ double-album Embryonic, and watching the entire thing is an exercise in endurance like a Tour de Uncomfortable. Did I mention the enormous fur-covered vagina Wayne gets shoved into at the end? I better not. I just ate.

Verdict: 1/5 stars

Watch The Flaming Lips' "Watching the Planets" here.

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