"Lucidity" is a song by

Tame Impala Tame Impala is the psychedelic music project of Australian multi-instrumentalist Kevin Parker. In the recording studio, Parker writes, records, performs, and produces all of the project's music. As a touring act, Tame Impala consists of Parke ...

, released as a single in 2010. It was recorded during the sessions for the ''

Innerspeaker ''Innerspeaker'' is the debut studio album by Australian musical project Tame Impala. Recorded at a remote beach shack in Western Australia during the winter of 2009, the album was released on 21 May 2010 by Modular Recordings. ''Innerspeaker'' ...

'' album in 2009, and released as the second single from that album. The single features artwork from Australian artist Leif Podhajsky, who also created the artwork for ''Innerspeaker'' and the follow-up ''

Lonerism ''Lonerism'' is the second studio album by Australian musical project Tame Impala, released on 5 October 2012 by Modular Recordings. Like the band's debut studio album, ''Innerspeaker'' (2010), ''Lonerism'' was written, recorded, performed, and p ...

''. "Lucidity" came in at number 74 in the Triple J Hottest 100 in 2010.

Composition

"Lucidity" was written by Kevin Parker in the key of A major in a 4/4

time signature The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note va ...

. The verses feature heavily

rhythm Rhythm (from Greek , ''rhythmos'', "any regular recurring motion, symmetry") generally means a " movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions". This general meaning of regular re ...

strum In music, strumming is a way of playing a stringed instrument such as a guitar, ukulele, or mandolin. A strum or stroke is a sweeping action where a finger or plectrum brushes over several strings to generate sound. On most stringed instrumen ...

ming of the

chords Chord may refer to: * Chord (music), an aggregate of musical pitches sounded simultaneously ** Guitar chord a chord played on a guitar, which has a particular tuning * Chord (geometry), a line segment joining two points on a curve * Chord ( ...

E7sus4add9 and E major. The

pre-chorus Song structure is the arrangement of a song, and is a part of the songwriting process. It is typically sectional, which uses repeating forms in songs. Common forms include bar form, 32-bar form, verse–chorus form, ternary form, strophic form, and ...

features a variation of the verse vocal melody played on a fuzz

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

in the A major scale four times, before the verse rhythm plays one more time. The chorus then comes in with a

key change In music, modulation is the change from one tonality ( tonic, or tonal center) to another. This may or may not be accompanied by a change in key signature (a key change). Modulations articulate or create the structure or form of many pieces, a ...

to G major, and a B major, Dmaj7, A major, G major

barre Barre or Barré may refer to: * Barre (name) or Barré, a surname and given name Places United States * Barre, Massachusetts, a New England town ** Barre (CDP), Massachusetts, the central village in the town * Barre, New York, a town * Barre (ci ...

chord progression In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression (informally chord changes, used as a plural) is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from the common practice ...

. After the chorus, it switches back to the key of A major and there is a short arpeggio from C major to D major chords to connect to the next verse. The second verse is half the length of the first one, and a short guitar solo in the A major scale comes in on the words "float away". The chorus, connecting

guitar lick The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

, pre-chorus, chorus format comes in at this point and then a

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

occurs. The bridge switches to the key of G major again and features the chords F major, G major, A major and B major played at a slower

tempo In musical terminology, tempo ( Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (ofte ...

. The bridge fizzles out, then it switches back to the A major key, and a scorching fuzz guitar solo over the verse chords and rhythm comes in, with heavy unison bends and

whammy bar A vibrato system on a guitar is a mechanical device used to temporarily change the pitch of the strings. Instruments without a vibrato have other bridge and tailpiece systems. They add vibrato to the sound by changing the tension of the stri ...

vibrato Vibrato ( Italian, from past participle of " vibrare", to vibrate) is a musical effect consisting of a regular, pulsating change of pitch. It is used to add expression to vocal and instrumental music. Vibrato is typically characterised in terms ...

. The song then ends with fuzz

pedal A pedal (from the Latin '' pes'' ''pedis'', "foot") is a lever designed to be operated by foot and may refer to: Computers and other equipment * Footmouse, a foot-operated computer mouse * In medical transcription, a pedal is used to control p ...

noise.

Recording

The instrumentals for "Lucidity" were recorded during the sessions for ''Innerspeaker'' in June to August 2009. The lyrics and vocals weren't recorded until the mixing stage of the album in December 2009, at

Dave Fridmann David Lawrence Fridmann is an American record producer and musician. Career From 1990 onwards he co-produced most releases by Mercury Rev and The Flaming Lips. Other bands he has worked with include Weezer, Saxon Shore, Neon Indian, Wolf Gang, ...

's Tarbox Road Studio in

Cassadaga, New York Cassadaga (a Seneca Indian word meaning ''"Water beneath the rocks"'') is a village in Chautauqua County, New York, United States. The village is located within the northeast corner of the town of Stockton, east of the hamlet of Stockton, south ...

, which Parker later recalled: "I was thinking, 'We're going to be mixing this song in the next six hours'. I hadn't done any vocals and I didn't have any lyrics; I was literally losing my brain. I'd stop, sit outside in the snow and try to think of lyrics."

Music video

The

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

for "Lucidity" was directed by

Robert Hales Sir Robert Hales ( – 14 June 1381) was Grand Prior of the Knights Hospitaller of England, Lord High Treasurer, and Admiral of the West. He was killed in the Peasants' Revolt. Career In 1372 Robert Hales became the Lord/Grand Prior of th ...

. The video was filmed with a camera attached to a weather balloon outside of

Mildura Mildura is a regional city in north-west Victoria, Australia. Located on the Victorian side of the Murray River, Mildura had a population of 34,565 in 2021. When nearby Wentworth, Irymple, Nichols Point and Merbein are included, the area h ...

Victoria, Australia Victoria is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state with a land area of , the second most populated state (after New South Wales) with a population of over 6.5 million, and the most densely populated state in ...

. Parker starts the video by letting go of the camera attached to the weather balloon and letting it float away. The whole video is the same shot of the camera filming down below on a bird's-eye view as it floats up into the sky. The balloon eventually exits the

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

's atmosphere and into space, where you can see the curvature of the Earth and some shots of the

Sun The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...

. The camera then comes crashing down back to Earth during the fuzz guitar solo section of the song. The video ends with an

eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, j ...

coming to inspect the camera. Despite the fact that the band is only seen for a couple of seconds, the director got Tame Impala to mime the whole song. They had practiced the song for two days beforehand. Some shots of them miming the song can be seen in the

behind the scenes In cinema, behind-the-scenes (BTS), also known as the making-of, the set, or on the set, is a type of documentary film that features the production of a film or television program. This is often referred to as the EPK (electronic press kit) vi ...

video.

Live performances

Live, Tame Impala play "Lucidity" two

semitone A semitone, also called a half step or a half tone, is the smallest musical interval commonly used in Western tonal music, and it is considered the most dissonant when sounded harmonically. It is defined as the interval between two adjacent no ...

s lower than the recorded version, switching to the keys of G major and F major, although in 2012 they have returned the song back to its originally recorded keys. "Lucidity" hasn't been a regular song in Tame Impala's

set Set, The Set, SET or SETS may refer to: Science, technology, and mathematics Mathematics *Set (mathematics), a collection of elements *Category of sets, the category whose objects and morphisms are sets and total functions, respectively Electro ...

, but has been played throughout 2010 and 2011, with many experiments with the structure of the song, with it sometimes played in an uptempo danceable fashion and sometimes featuring an almost

drone Drone most commonly refers to: * Drone (bee), a male bee, from an unfertilized egg * Unmanned aerial vehicle * Unmanned surface vehicle, watercraft * Unmanned underwater vehicle or underwater drone Drone, drones or The Drones may also refer to: ...

out ending during the bridge. Parker also experiments with different effects during the outro solo. In 2012 "Lucidity" was again added to Tame Impala's setlist.

Track listing

# "Lucidity" – 4:31 # "Lucidity ( Pilooski Remix) – 5:29

Personnel

* Kevin Parker – all vocals and instrumentation * Tansie Bennetts – hand claps

References

External links

* {{authority control 2010 songs 2010 singles Music videos directed by Robert Hales Tame Impala songs Song recordings produced by Kevin Parker Songs written by Kevin Parker (musician) Modular Recordings singles