Only one thing has gotten me through the drudgery of studying for my finals this term, and that is The Flaming Lips.

Why?

Because the band members of the Flaming Lips are HAPPY people who make HAPPY music. I'm so sick and tired of all the fucking emo bands out there now and this whole emo obsession that's taken over. It is utterly retarded. Take your groveling self-pity elsewhere. That goes for emo bands like Coldplay, Fall Out Boy, and whatever bullshit band who employs some high-pitched singer who whines about how all the problems he's facing.

The Flaming Lips make HAPPY music and it's so incredibly refreshing that I've almost forgotten what it feels like to be happy.

Now my favorite music critic will exemplify exactly why happiness starved people love the Flaming Lips. Take it away Brad....

"And that leaves my favorite track.  Not about a guy who saves the world, or travelling to outer space, or anything empirically uplifting, “Christmas at the Zoo” is probably the best example in the Lips catalog of why I love Wayne Coyne, and why you should too.  The plot: Wayne and his friends break into the zoo on Christmas eve, hoping to free the animals.  They get in and open up all the cages, but the animals, for some reason, refuse to leave the zoo.  And somehow he can make this utterly captivating and nearly fucking life-affirming.  “All of the animals agree they’re not happy at the zoo!  But they prefer to save themselves, they seem to think they could!  The elephants, orangutans, all the birds and kangaroos all say ‘thanks, but no thanks man, to be concerned is good!’”  And then there are like Santa’s sleigh Christmas bells at the end, right at the “It started to snow on Christmas eve!” line!  And how Wayne whistles the final verse is just the happiest thing ever recorded by anyone.  Ever."

*Goes back to listening with a SMILE on my face*