The 333 Best Pop Songs of the 2000s: #219

#219: "It Overtakes Me (Single Version)" (2006) - The Flaming Lips

The American alt-rock/pop trio The Flaming Lips are renowned (in some circles, for they've never had massive mainstream success) for two recordings: their mid-'90s song "She Don't Use Jelly," and their 2002 album, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots. Of course, this list concerns records released this decade, so the aforementioned single doesn't qualify. The latter LP, though....no. I think it's a dandy of an album, as not since the Beatles had any band created a pop concept album of any critical (or monetary) significance. It's an important piece of pop, but it's a true album, not just a long-playing collection of randomly-sequenced songs; being an album that works best as a whole, the individual songs that comprise that album don't stand alone very strongly, and I'm not including any in this list for that reason.

The best single song--maybe the only single song--The Flaming Lips have recorded this decade has been the single version of "It Overtakes Me." The album version--from the Lips' At War with the Mystics--logs in at over six minutes, so this mix is a true single in the old-fashioned sense, meaning that (here) the Lips reconfigured an album track for use on the radio (or for other commercial use). By reducing the length of the album track by half, the Lips move the focus of the record from the noodling sound effects at the end to the noodling sound effects within the song proper.

This compression truly enhances the sonic impact of the song, giving the record more bounce, more punch. The effects--and part of the Lips' acclaim come from their use of effects--used are jaw-dropping in their variety: theramin, dive-bombing synths, extreme fuzz, a Darth-Vader-lowering background vocal, a Chipmunk-raising background vocal, a mix-and-scratch turntable, handclaps, and some of which I'm stil not sure the origin, and rarely do any two drop at the same time. The production is--in the best sense of the word--Beatlesque. The insanely catchy, follow-the-bouncing-ball melody's worthy of one McCartney might have composed forty years ago, and the chorus...well, the song's almost all chorus, and it's repeated ad infinitum, but the chunky guitar lines keep the song from being too airy, so--if it doesn't drive you up a wall--you'll be wanting to hear the record again and again and again. And even if it does drive you batsnit crazy, you'll still find the song in your head.