Uploaded November 2014 | Updated September 2026, 3 hours ago

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"I'm pouring my guts out so they can feel like your guts at the same time."
- Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips in 2002

When Jennifer Van Evra picked up the phone to interview Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips, the last thing she expected was a conversation about death. The Oklahoma natives had just released their gleeful album Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots and had become known for their rapturously happy live shows. But as their conversation went on that Saturday morning, Coyne showed a side of a rock star you don't normally get to see. We're bringing you these outtakes as part of Blank on Blank: a series with PBS Digital Studios that transforms lost interviews with cultural icons into animated short films.

In this episode the animated conversation is about the eternal questions of life and death--and how you can use the inevitable fate we all face to enjoy every moment we have. Coyne talks both about how music helped comfort him while his father was dying and the near-death experience he had as a teenager during an armed robbery while working at Long John Silver's. The power of music weaves through it all.

Oh, and we used illustrations from Wayne Coyne's comic book throughout the film. That was cool.

Some more choice quotes from Wayne Coyne:
"Music has the power to transcend your physical being and take you up just a little bit"
"People have all been looking at me in my bare feet, talking existential bullshit "
"Life is worth celebrating... even though we're all headed to the same hole at the end of the day"
"I hate this notion I would ever forget how temporary this whole thing is"

Get the interview backstory, GIFs and more @ blankonblank.org/interviews/wayne-coyne-living-with-death

Subscribe for new episodes every other Tuesday (it's free):
youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=blankonblank

Executive Producer: David Gerlach
Animator: Patrick Smith
Background Illustrations: Wayne Coyne
Audio Producer: Amy Drozdowska

Watch the previous episodes:

Maya Angelou on Con Men
youtube.com/watch?v=VybIJEA41yk

Bette Davis on The Sexes
youtube.com/watch?v=RNnTUyrxzWY

Michael Jackson on Godliness
youtube.com/watch?v=YoCa3Po7M_8

Jimi Hendrix on The Experience
youtube.com/watch?v=nK2lfs_uiwk

Meryl Streep on Beauty
youtube.com/watch?v=OG_T5dwnJuM

Philip Seymour Hoffman on Happiness
youtube.com/watch?v=Osn8rjkPyYM

David Bowie on Stardust
youtu.be/lFIDXXDsxAo

Gene Wilder on The Truth
youtube.com/watch?v=8PUW2POEjX4

John Lennon on Love
youtu.be/DmvmnYEy9NY

Johnny Cash on The Gospel
youtu.be/ALGi0tcFCcw

Heath Ledger on Role Playing
youtu.be/qDRUzbAa6lI

Tupac on Life and Death
youtube.com/watch?v=6x2FqX2YZws

Kurt Cobain on Identity
youtu.be/C1Z2BkZaOQc

Janis Joplin on Rejection
youtube.com/watch?v=VdF4b1_LQnQ

Barry White on Making Love
youtube.com/watch?v=SmJIlqjYGkw

Maurice Sendak on Being a Kid
youtube.com/watch?v=KvtgqJTVVhE

Carol Burnett on Finding Home
youtube.com/watch?v=Aixlc1DJZiE

Grace Kelly on JFK
youtube.com/watch?v=K5EOuppHoTM

Farrah Fawcett on Stiletto Power
youtu.be/8Eskff0RUQ8

Beastie Boys on Being Stupid
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4mx2P...

David Foster Wallace on Ambition
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5R8gd...

Wilt Chamberlain on Tall Tales
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxLiVn...

Larry King on Getting Seduced
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yD8Pz...

Jim Morrison on Why Fat is Beautiful
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhszZ5...

Music
The Flaming Lips
"She Don't Use Jelly"
"A Spoonful Weighs a Ton"
"Do You Realize"

Photo:
George Salisbury

Background Illustrations:
Wayne Coyne

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