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“Race for the Prize (Remix)” – The Flaming Lips
(Words/music: The Flaming Lips, available on The Soft Bulletin, Warner Brothers 1999)

I’m behind on a lot of my reading, so it was only earlier this evening that I read David Peisner’s article on the Flaming Lips in the November issue of Spin Magazine.  Despite an odd personal anecdote to help him frame the piece, I enjoyed reading it.  The one thing that stuck with me the most in the article (with Wayne Coyne’s annual $10,000 duct tape budget coming in a close second) was a quote from Dave Fridmann, the band’s producer.  Fridmann describes his interpretation of the band’s mission.  “The Lips are a beacon of hope for people who want to make a living doing something that is nonprescribed currently in popular music.  What they represent, more than anything else, is freedom.”  Peisner’s piece framed the band as a sort of alternative rock barnstormers who earned fame by building their own circus tent.  In this sense, they have freedom in that they control everything.

In addition to this idea of freedom, and perhaps the more inspiring quality in the band’s music, The Flaming Lips show the power of possibility.  Freedom is terrific, yet too often we feel oppressed by the overwhelming array of choices.  As a band, the Lips pursue every creative whim and, more importantly, follow through on these ideas.  Whether asking a major label to put out a four CD experimental project, starting every show in a giant hamster ball, or tempering dreamy pop music with an absurd streak, the Flaming Lips find success more often than they find failure.

It’s this spirit of adventure and discovery at the heart of “Race for the Prize.”  Wayne Coyne describes a pair of scientists in pursuit of “the good of all mankind.”  Rather than pit these scientists against each other, the way drug companies may speed ahead to patent the next miracle moneymaker, these two men seem on parallel tracks, competing with their own limitations as humans.  Cone depicts these men as the purist examples of competition driving personal excellence – where the competitive spirit motivates them to reach higher and further than the previous day.  Perhaps they fall short, as the chorus reiterates their humanity, yet they never reach rock bottom.  Coyne describes the “prize” as being the “cure” yet doesn’t elaborate on the rationale, whether it’s to find a specific cure, earn a monetary reward, or receive anything tangible at all; instead, the pursuit of good might be the greater prize.  In a way, this connects back to the idea in Peisner’s article – specifically, the notion that the band inspires its crowd.  Perhaps, opening each show with Coyne in his hamster ball, walking on the audience’s hands during “Race for the Prize” is a reminder of the band’s purpose to advance their cause further, in the hopes that one day someone else – perhaps their audience – will walk on their hands and see further than previously possible.

More on The Flaming Lips: Allmusic | Amazon MP3 | Emusic | Last.fm