It seems pretty obvious that The Flaming Lips owe a lot to the late legend David Bowie, and in their video for “Space Oddity,” the band pays homage while adding a trippy layer to the 1969 classic. The clip is both a tribute to and a lamentation of Bowie, featuring a nun who mourns the singer’s death, but is consoled by a friend who urges her to “take her protein pills” (or something like that) and, through the power of the Lips’ laser-laden show, overcomes her grief in a fit of laughter.
The Flaming Lips were meant to perform their cover of “Space Oddity” on the March 30 episode of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert—at the time, the band was in New York for the Music of David Bowie tribute, in which Wayne Coyne sang “Life on Mars” from atop Chewbacca’s shoulders. The band’s Late Show performance was bumped to make room for last-minute guest Senator Elizabeth Warren, NewsOK reported. The Lips will instead take the Ed Sullivan Theatre stage on April 19.