Five Ways the Flaming Lips/Ke$ha collaboration rips off the Stooges "1969"
So evidently Wayne Coyne thinks Ke$ha is the new Iggy Pop. Or at least he went out of his way to make the Flaming Lips/Ke$ha collaboration, "2012," a very noticeable homage to the Stooges' infamous "1969." We understand if you think we're kidding, or, alternately, if you have no idea who Iggy Pop or the Stooges are. Trust us: like most of what Coyne sets his mind to, this song is an elaborate joke. And while the resemblance will be obvious to anyone who's heard "1969," let's outline the similarities between "2012" and "1969" real quick:
1. It's named after a year.
2. Sounds like it was recorded inside a tin can.
3. It contains the line "Well a my-my and a boo-hoo"
4. Immediately after that line, jumps into the same drum beat/handclap/downstroke-guitar boogie as "1969"
5. Just like "1969," contains unverifiable Biz Markie cameo.
Fellow Ke$sha fan and Coyne-hater Dan Brockman and I have been recoiling in disgust over this collaboration for several weeks -- out of the now-confirmed suspicion that Wayne is trying to ruin her -- but I'll admit I'm faltering a bit now that we're actually hearing the damn song. This thing is basically daring us not to like it. It's a Stooges ripoff where the guitars, if anything, are more fucked up than the Stooges -- to the point that they actually sound like the guitars from our other favorite guitar band, Shellac. The Ke$ha-as-Iggy metaphor is exactly the kind of brilliantly pretensious, counterintuitive nonsense that we overwrought rock critics would come up with on deadline at three in the morning. And just by sheer coincidence, I'm gonna see Biz Markie in two days, which is either sheer random coincidence or a sign from rock valhalla. Where's Saint Chuck Eddy when you need him?
OK, here's the Ke$ha/Flaming Lips monstrosity. And then, for comparison, the Stooges song.