The Flaming Lips – All We Have Is Now

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  General Comment:I think it's quite clearly a "seize the day" kind of idea. Don't leave things for tomorrow, because you're going to lose them sometime, and that day is not far from today.
  
  All you have is now. Make the most of it.

  Flag papernickon April 02, 2012   Link

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  General Comment:This song really is brilliant because he is really saying subsequently that we have no affect on our future or our past. We have no affect on our future because it hasn't happened yet. Even if the man trys to alter what his future self has told him he must have thte same fate. We have no affect on our past because even though the future version is giving a warning, he basically implies that it can't help, or change anything, "We're not gonna make it, you and me were never meant to be part of the future." All you (the listner) has is this moment right now to live in and you should take advantage of that.

  Flag lingeronon February 07, 2012   Link

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  General Comment:In any relationship, even the relationship we have within our own mind, we tend to dwell on the past, or transmit our happiness into the future. We cannot let go of the past and we cling tightly to a future that does not actually exist, a future where we can be "happy". We neglect the NOW. This moment of our Being. Instead of sharing the Being within ourselves with the Being of the one we love completely, we project our "happiness" into some other dimension, the future. You can only find inner peace in the NOW.
  This man from the future is his own ego telling his mind that this relationship can never make it, sabotaging any chance of happiness he has in the NOW, by telling him that his future is already written.

  Flag khaininon January 04, 2012   Link

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  General Comment:This song, in my opinion, is about life. We are present beings, the future is unwritten, the past is only a memory somewhere in your mind, all we have is this infinitesimally small point in-between the two which we know as "now", a period of 0 duration in which we exist and refer to as the present.
  
  What you know as the past may or may not have really happened the way you believe it did, and not just the past, but everything you know, every experience you ever had. The present is written to your memory as you see and experience it, but who is to say it is an accurate representation of reality. Well, it is your reality, whatever reality is.
  
  Blew my mind thinking about this while watching them play it live.

  Flag Watdobatmanon December 22, 2011   Link

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  General Comment:One of the most heartbreaking songs by the Flaming Lips.
  You and me were never meant to be part of the future is one of the saddest lyrics Ive heard in a Flaming Lips song. I also feel sad when I hear in Waiting for a Superman, the line Its just too heavy for Superman to lift.

  Flag sydbarrett5on September 16, 2011   Link

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  General Comment:Most people seem to be on the right track, though I never thought it was about a relationship until others brought it up. Originally, I imagined it was a man talking to the entire world; the song doesn't really say that. But I had this picture in my head of a crowd, standing around a man who appeared out of nowhere in a time machine, telling everyone, "how the end will come."
  
  So when he says "you and me were never meant to be part of the future," he's not talking directly to past-him, or to his lover, or to anyone. He's saying that we shouldn't worry about the future, because its only a matter of time before all things end. Nothing lasts forever, so "all we have is now." It's quite an interesting philosophical statement, and it was put quite beautifully.
  
  This song ties in really well to the song "Evil" in the Embryonic album. In this one, he's listening to himself from the future, talking about something bad that will happen. In "Evil" he wants to go back in time and tell someone (himself? his lover? the world in general?) about something bad that has happened. They both have slower, calmer moods to them; they're almost sister songs.

  Flag CNobahon October 25, 2010   Link

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  My Interpretation: 'massofclouds' and 'ripelivejam' seem to be on the right track. The narrative isn't as important as the impression made by the repetitive chorus: "We must live in the moment". The song uses a science fiction story as a platform to approach existential problems and universal concerns facing everybody. What can I say, The Flaming Lips love to do that kind of stuff.
  This song expands on the theme of mortality from "It's Summertime" and "Do You Realize??". "It's Summertime" tells us to embrace the world around us and asks us to leave the past/inner turmoil behind. "Do You Realize??" confronts the listener with the inevitability of death looming in the future and tells us go with the natural rhythm of the world; to love the people in our lives while we can.
  Considering these other songs, "All We Have Is Now" acts as a summation. Without the worries of the past and future, THAT is what we are left with. Perhaps we are supposed to empathize with this character who is told that they can't wait for a future to live out their aspirations. That would make sense. D.Y.R. tells the listener we can't live forever the same way that the 'stranger from the future' confronts himself.
  I'm not rejecting the other points of view. People are supposed to interject themselves into the music they listen to, however, several of the interpretation listed seem to be sparked by the dejected tone of the song. Ignoring the verses and focusing on the phrase, "We're not going to make it", makes it easy to believe the song is discussing a relationship reaching a dead-end.

  Flag BH4NE5on July 08, 2010   Link

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    Didn't read all the way to the comments left by 'nebulousnearnesses' and 'bt88' until now. Amazing to see them nail the point with such shorter posts. I'm jealous

    Flag BH4NE5on July 08, 2010  
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  My Interpretation:I also see it as a way of recognizing his own doubts and trepidation. His "future self" is telling him whatever he's in is not going to work. Thats really just him recognizing what he already knows but was a little scared to admit. He knows soon it will be over, hence the title. I do think its a little more introspective that previously mentioned

  Flag bt88on February 10, 2010   Link

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  General Comment:When I hear this song I am reminded of the book "The Power of Now" by Eckhart Tolle. The song is pretty straightforward in saying that "now" is all we've ever had and all that we ever will have. In his book, Tolle explains how the future and the past don't exist, yet they often cause us pain, whether we're worrying about something we think is going to happen or we're sad about something in the past that's gone. If we live in this one moment, now, which is the only moment there is, because "all we have is now," we can really be here, alive and aware of the world around us.
  
  :)

  Flag nebulousnearnesseson September 08, 2009   Link

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  My Interpretation:When I first read through the lyrics to this wonderful song, I immediately thought that he was talking to a girl about having to end their relationship.
  
  "We're not gonna make it" He explained how
  the end will come - you and me were never meant
  to be part of the future -
  
  We, as in, the relationship.
  You and me were never meant to be part of the future, as in "I've" already predicted what will happen, and it doesn't involve the two of us being together.
  
  All We Have is Now would be the time before you walk out that door and never see her again.
  
  But still, that was only on my first read through. But still, for a second, I thought I really connected with the analogy.

  Flag WolfieDon December 17, 2008   Link

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