Do You Realize??

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"Do You Realize??" is a song by The Flaming Lips, released as the first single taken from their 2002 album Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, and reaching #32 in the UK singles charts. It has been remixed multiple times and released on the DVD for the album. It is widely considered to be one of the group's more accessible (and popular) songs.

Like many of their songs at the time, its lyrics describe the preciousness of life and the need to realize that we are all mortal.

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"Do You Realize??" is based around a melodic soundscape that focuses more on synthesizers than guitars, which is very common on Yoshimi..., and follows a chorus-verse-chorus-verse-chorus structure. It was featured in television commercials for VH1 and Mitsubishi, where the song was edited to downplay the lyric "Everyone you know someday will die". It was also featured in a Hewlett-Packard advertisement in 2002, featuring lead singer Wayne Coyne in a plain white suit with the two other band members wearing pink bunny suits.

In the British music magazine Mojo there was an interview with Wayne, where he revealed that during the recording of Yoshimi, band member Steven Drozd was trying to kick a heroin addiction. Whenever they took breaks from playing Drozd would have a really tough time with his withdrawal. Listening to him cry and with the death of his father in mind inspired Wayne to write "Do You Realize??". Coyne states that "Do You Realize??" is the song everyone thinks of when they hear people talking about "The Flaming Lips". He also stated that if that's the shadow the band will have to live under, he couldn't be happier.

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Song review from Allmusic

Discography
The Flaming Lips
Wayne Coyne \| Michael Ivins \| Steven Drozd \| Kliph Scurlock
Mark Coyne \| Dave Kostka \| Richard English \| Jonathan Donahue \| Nathan Roberts \| Ronald Jones
Studio albums: Hear It Is \| Oh My Gawd!!! \| Telepathic Surgery \| In a Priest Driven Ambulance \| Hit to Death in the Future Head \| Transmissions from the Satellite Heart \| Clouds Taste Metallic \| Zaireeka \| The Soft Bulletin \| Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots \| At War with the Mystics
Extended plays: The Flaming Lips \| Due to High Expectations... \| Fight Test \| Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell \| It Overtakes Me
Compilations: A Collection of Songs... \| Punk Rockers \| Jesus Egg \| Shambolic Birth \| Late Night Tales \| 20 Years of Weird
Songs: "She Don't Use Jelly" \| "Do You Realize??" \| "Approaching Pavonis Mons by Balloon (Utopia Planitia)" \| "The W.A.N.D." \| "The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song"
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