Snap Judgment: The Flaming Lips and Sean Lennon Perform “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds” on Letterman
Feb 072014
I need your snap judgment on the following Letterman performance of “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds,” by The Flaming Lips and Sean Lennon.
I forget the name of the Flaming Lips singer but he seems to have turned the annoying knob up to 11 for this.
I agree with you, misterioso. Wayne Coyne is his name. I also think the performance of the song blows. The singing if horrible. If the Beatles could go back in time and watch this they would have aborted Sgt. Pepper’s.
What really bugs me is that I want to look out for John’s “beautiful boy,” Sean, but man, that kid seems to have grown up to be Hipster Douchebag #1.
Maybe Sean’s just affecting a Hey Jude cover look as to include both songs inspired by his half-brother.
That was awful upon awful. Never mind the performance. Even the arrangement itself was lacking in the soft parts of the song, and forgot to switch to the powerful parts.
I didn’t think it was awful, but I admit I did miss the three big drum hits right before the chorus. Forgoing those was a bold move.
I’ve never been that crazy about that song but it is iconic. I thought they did a decent job of putting their own spin on it, which is not an easy thing to do with Beatles’ songs. Steve Earle did a great version of I’m Looking Through You (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTxC5XrDc3E), and Al Green’s version of I Want To Hold Your Hand is fantastic (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWuCgPu0Njo), but other than that, I’m drawing a blank on good Beatles covers that don’t just imitate the original arrangement.
Terrible…
The “Lips Schtick” of throwing [insert your dazzling stage prop of choice here] on a song or in this case a cover song to dress it up and make it seem more exciting is getting tiresome.
I have to admit I like the Broken Bells cover of “And I Lover Her” they did on Letterman. (though admittedly I am not really a fan of Broken Bells)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2tPkSbcvhQ