"Do You Realize??" is a song by
the Flaming Lips, released as the first single from their 2002 album ''
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots''. It is widely considered to be one of the group's most accessible and popular songs. It reached No. 32 in the
UK Singles Chart and was adopted as the
Official Rock Song of Oklahoma from 2009 to April 2013. The song was ranked No. 31 on Rolling Stone's ''100 Best Songs of the 2000s''. It is also the band's most popular live song, and has rarely been excluded from setlists since its inception into their live shows in 2002. Wayne Coyne also considers it to be the best song they've ever written.
Structure and recording
In an interview with ''
Mojo'', Coyne revealed that during the recording of ''Yoshimi...'', band member
Steven Drozd was trying to
kick a heroin addiction. When they took breaks from playing, Drozd would have a really tough time with his withdrawal. Listening to him cry, and with the death of his father in mind, Coyne wrote: "Do You Realize??".
Wayne Coyne, commenting on "Do You Realize??" said, "Whenever I analyze the scientific realities of what it means to be living here on Earth – in this galaxy – spinning around the sun – flying through space – a terror shock seizes me!!! I'm reminded once again of how precarious our whole existence is..."
UK track listing
*7"
#"Do You Realize??"
#"Up Above the Daily Hum"
*CD1
#"Do You Realize??"
#"If I Go Mad/Funeral in My Head"
#"Syrtis Major"
*CD2
#"Do You Realize??"
#"Up Above the Daily Hum"
#"Xanthe Terra"
*DVD single
# "Do You Realize??" (video)
# "Do You Realize??" (audio)
# "The Southern Oklahoma Trigger Contest"
# "Noodling Theme (Epic Sunset Mix #5)"
"Syrtis Major" and "Xanthe Terra" are instrumental pieces intended to be taken from the forthcoming ''
Christmas on Mars'' soundtrack.
Video
The music video was recorded on
Fremont Street in
Las Vegas and features Wayne Coyne, people dressed as bunnies and pigs, four female dancers in
negligee and a live elephant. No other members of the band are seen.
Oklahoma state song
In March 2009 "Do You Realize??" was announced as the
official state rock song of Oklahoma, after winning an online vote among ten finalists as authorized by the Oklahoma state legislature: out of 21,000 votes cast, nearly 51% were for "Do You Realize??" The
Oklahoma Senate
The Oklahoma Senate is the upper house of the two houses of the Legislature of Oklahoma, the other being the Oklahoma House of Representatives. The total number of senators is set at 48 by the Oklahoma Constitution.[Oklahoma House of Representatives
The Oklahoma House of Representatives is the lower house of the legislature of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Its members introduce and vote on bills and resolutions, provide legislative oversight for state agencies, and help to craft the state's b ...]
fell three votes short of the 51 votes necessary to ratify the resolution: one
Republican state legislator attacked the band for its use of offensive language, while another said he opposed the song because band member
Michael Ivins had worn a red T-shirt with a yellow
sickle and hammer during a previous appearance by the band.
Democratic
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
Governor
Brad Henry
Charles Bradford Henry (born July 10, 1963) is an American lawyer and politician who was the 26th governor of Oklahoma from 2003 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected governor in 2002. Henry won re-election for a second term ...
subsequently announced that he would issue an
executive order in lieu of the resolution rejected by the Oklahoma House.
[Michael McNutt]
"Oklahoma House votes down Flaming Lips' state rock song 'Do You Realize??'"
, '' The Oklahoman'', 23 April 2009. However, it was revealed in 2013 that
Republican Governor
Mary Fallin removed the song's designation as the Official Rock Song of Oklahoma by not renewing Brad Henry's executive order upon taking office in 2011.
Commercial appearances
Hewlett-Packard
The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company headquartered in Palo Alto, California. HP developed and provided a wide variety of hardware components ...
featured the band alongside
Penn and Teller Penn may refer to:
Places
England
* Penn, Buckinghamshire
* Penn, West Midlands
United States
* Penn, North Dakota
* Penn, Oregon
* Pennsylvania
** Penn, Pennsylvania
* Penn Lake Park, Pennsylvania
* Penn Township (disambiguation), several munic ...
in its 2002 commercial for its HP Media Center PC, which included a clip of the music video. In a review of the ad, music journalist
Jim DeRogatis said, "It was a commercial for the Flaming Lips," as much as it was for HP's computer.
In 2003,
VH1
VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Commun ...
featured the song in spot that promoted its network. In 2004,
Mitsubishi
The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries.
Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group historically descended from the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company which existed from 1870 ...
used the song in a television ad for one of its cars, as did
Land Rover in 2007 with voice-over by
Charles Shaughnessy.
A cover version was used in the teaser trailer of ''
Transformers: The Last Knight'' in late 2016.
The song was used in the trailer for ''
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
''Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3'' (stylized as ''Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3'') is an upcoming American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics superhero team Guardians of the Galaxy (2008 team), Guardians of the Galaxy, produced by Ma ...
'' shown at
San Diego Comic-Con in July 2022.
Covers
The song was covered by
The Reign of Kindo on their eponymous debut album. It was also covered in 2012 by
Ball Park Music for Australian radio station
Triple J's
Like a Version
''Like a Version'' is a weekly segment on Australian youth radio station Triple J. It involves Australian and international artists playing two songs live in the Triple J studio, one of their own songs (an "original") and then a cover version, h ...
.
Father John Misty, American
folk singer-songwriter and former member of
indie rock bands
Saxon Shore
The Saxon Shore ( la, litus Saxonicum) was a military command of the late Roman Empire, consisting of a series of fortifications on both sides of the Channel. It was established in the late 3rd century and was led by the "Count of the Saxon Shor ...
and
Fleet Foxes, performed a version of the song in July 2012 for ''
The A.V. Club'' A.V. Undercover series.
Father John Misty's version is featured in the 2022 film ''
Press Play''.
American
Jewish rock band
Blue Fringe
Blue Fringe was an American Jewish rock band from New York City. Formed in 2001 by lead singer Dov Rosenblatt, the band's debut album, '' My Awakening'' (2003), sold more than 14,000 copies, an uncommon feat in the limited Jewish market, and bec ...
covered the song on their 2007 album ''
The Whole World Lit Up
''The Whole World Lit Up'' is the third studio album by Jewish rock band Blue Fringe. It was produced by C Lanzbom of Soulfarm, and was released by Rendezvous Music and Craig Taubman's Craig 'N' Co. label on February 1, 2007. The album combines t ...
''.
In 2015, the song was covered by British singer/composer Ursine Vulpine (aka
Frederick Lloyd). This version was used for the first theatrical trailer of ''
Transformers: The Last Knight'' as well as the trailer for the third season of the television series
Penny Dreadful)
In 2016,
Sharon Van Etten covered the song for Amazon's ''
Gortimer Gibbon's Life on Normal Street'' soundtrack.
Chart positions
Certifications
References
External links
*
Song reviewfrom
Allmusic
{{authority control
2002 singles
The Flaming Lips songs
Oklahoma
Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...
Songs about death
Symbols of Oklahoma
Warner Records singles
Music videos directed by Mark Pellington
Music of Oklahoma
Songs written by Wayne Coyne
Songs written by Michael Ivins
Songs written by Steven Drozd
2002 songs