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I have loved Do You Realize? since I discovered it a year or so ago. I fell in love with it not
just for the intense beauty and quality of the music but the deep significance of the
lyrics (below). It is my favorite song from one of my favorite groups, The Flaming Lips.
"Do You Realize?" lyrics
(If you'd like to listen to the song while you read the lyrics and the rest of the article, click here.)
Do You Realize - that you have the most beautiful face
Do You Realize - we're floating in space -
Do You Realize - that happiness makes you cry
Do You Realize - that everyone you know someday will die
And instead of saying all of your goodbyes - let them know
You realize that life goes fast
It's hard to make the good things last
You realize the sun doesn't go down
It's just an illusion caused by the world spinning round
Do You Realize - Oh - Oh - Oh
Do You Realize - that everyone you know
Someday will die -
And instead of saying all of your goodbyes - let them know
You realize that life goes fast
It's hard to make the good things last
You realize the sun doesn't go down
It's just an illusion caused by the world spinning round
Do You Realize - that you have the most beautiful face
Do You Realize
Writer(s): Wayne Coyne, Dave Fridmann, Michael Ivins, Steven Drozd
Copyright: Emi Blackwood Music Inc., Lovely Sorts Of Death Music
Wayne Coyne, who wrote the song, 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..."
CD single
photo by Styrous®
In 1977, while in high school, Coyne began working as a fry cook for a Long John Silver's restaurant in Oklahoma City. During his second year of employment, the restaurant was robbed and Coyne and other employees were held at gunpoint and forced to lie on the ground. Coyne was certain he was going to die. The assistant manager couldn't open the restaurant's safe, however, and the robbers eventually fled the scene. Coyne believes "this is really how you die...one minute you're just cooking up someone's order of french fries and the next minute you're laying on the floor and they blow your brains out. There's no music, there's no significance, it's just random."
Coyne says "I wish I did believe in God. It would be a great relief to
think, 'God'll take care of it. God'll put gas in the car tomorrow.'"
CD case end
photo by Styrous®
Wayne Michael Coyne was born on January 13, 1961, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His family moved from Pittsburgh to Oklahoma in early 1961.
Coyne formed the Flaming Lips in 1983 with his brother Mark singing lead and Michael Ivins on bass guitar. In 1996 and 1997, Coyne developed "The Parking Lot Experiments" (see Zaireeka link below).
Do You Realize? was issued on 2 CD singles, each with songs that were not included on the full-length CD album, Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots.
CD singles
photo by Styrous®
CD 1
- "Do You Realize??" - From Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots
- "If I Go Mad/Funeral in My Head" - Unreleased
- "Syrtis Major" - From the Christmas On Mars Soundtrack
CD 1
photo by Styrous®
CD 2
- "Do You Realize??" - From Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots
- "Up Above the Daily Hum" - Unreleased
- "Xanthe Terra" - From the Christmas On Mars Soundtrack
CD 2
photo by Styrous®
The two CD singles came in a a bundled pack and is an import from the
UK, which I had the fortune of finding at one of my favorite shops in
Alameda, Rocket Reuse.
CD single
photo by Styrous®
Do You Realize? was released as the first single from their 2002 album Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots. It reached #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 #31 on Rolling Stone's 100 Best Songs of the 2000s.
Viewfinder link:
Flaming Lips ~ Zaireeka
YouTube links:
Christmas On Mars Deluxe Edition (promo)
It's a beautiful song!
Styrous® ~ Tuesday, February 2, 2016
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