Since David Bowie’s death in January, everyone from Prince to Beck backed by former members of Nirvana have performed tributes to Bowie. The Flaming Lips, something of a space oddity themselves, participated in a tribute concert to Bowie earlier this month in New York that featured the band’s singer performing on top of Chewbacca’s shoulders. Because it’s the Flaming Lips and, buddy, that’s what the Flaming Lips do. What? You thought they wouldn’t do something like that? You obviously don’t know the Flaming Lips.
Now the band has released an official music video for another tribute to Ziggy Stardust, a cover of the Bowie classic “Space Oddity.” And it’s surprisingly subdued and not surprisingly a little weird. There are two nuns understandably broken up about what we can assume is Bowie’s death, delivering flowers to a graveyard then numbing their pain by taking drugs and getting a little funky. Meanwhile, the band is performing their ethereal/prog rock version of the tune in an empty church, complete with gray balloons tied to the pews.
Also Wayne Coyne kind of looks like he’s in the Olympics, while showered in a light show. Not sure what all that means, but still, it’s a pretty neat tribute.
(Via Pitchfork)
