The Race Is On!

Bunny and Fishy, of the Flaming Lips.

Few acts convey quite so much joy onstage as the Flaming Lips, though lead singer Wayne Coyne is, quite simply, completely unable to sing. But never a man to let reality deny him his dreams, sing Coyne does, finding something close to the note he's looking for in his quavering tenor just as he finds joy amidst the sadness.

"Race for the Prize" covers dubious territory for a pop song—the battle to discover a cure for cancer—but those are just words. The real meaning of this tune lies in those soaring keyboard figures, the bashing, propulsive drums and Coyne's tattered but ever keening voice.  Judging by the crowd's reaction, the Lips' found a cure—a momentary, but valuable one, for any sense of nihilism the dread "c" word evokes.