Mouth Of The King

Album: King's Mouth (2019)
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Songfacts®:

  • King's Mouth is a concept album about a giant king whose head absorbs the universe. This song is a gentle acoustic rumination on mortality, rebirth and the vastness of the universe.
  • Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne's lyrics are fantastical, and the storyline running through the record makes little literal sense. Speaking with Uncut magazine, he compared his "Mouth Of The King" tale to fantasy movies such as Star Wars.

    "I don't know where these people live. I don't know what dimension their little village is in, but I think you just have to go ahead and accept it," Coyne said. "Like Star Wars, it just puts you in there, you don't really need to answer too many questions. Like, why is Chewbacca one of these characters with these humans in space?"
  • The Clash guitarist Mick Jones provides narration in his cockney tones on several tracks. Wayne Coyne told Uncut: "We all absolutely love him, and when I started to consider that it wasn't going to be one of the Flaming Lips doing this narration, I can't quite explain why but Mick was the only person I had in my mind."

    It was fellow punk legend Don Letts who got Jones on board. Coyne recalled: "I spoke to Don about it and he said, 'Mick won't want to do it but I'll get him to do it.' Ha!"

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