Her name is Yoshimi
She's a black belt in karate
Working for the city
She has to discipline her body
'Cause she knows that it's demanding
To defeat those evil machines
I know she can beat them
Oh Yoshimi they don't believe me
But you won't let those robots eat me
Yoshimi they don't believe me
But you won't let those robots defeat me
Those evil-natured robots
They're programmed to destroy us
She's gotta be strong to fight them
So she's taking lots of vitamins
'Cause she knows that it'd be tragic
If those evil robots win
I know she can beat them
Oh Yoshimi they don't believe me
But you won't let those robots defeat me
Yoshimi they don't believe me
But you won't let those robots eat me
Yoshimi
'Cause she knows that it'd be tragic
If those evil robots win
I know she can beat them
Oh Yoshimi they don't believe me
But you won't let those robots defeat me
Yoshimi they don't believe me
But you won't let those robots eat me
Yoshimi they don't believe me
But you won't let those robots defeat me
Yoshimi they don't believe me
But you won't let those robots eat
Yoshimi
She's a black belt in karate
Working for the city
She has to discipline her body
'Cause she knows that it's demanding
To defeat those evil machines
I know she can beat them
Oh Yoshimi they don't believe me
But you won't let those robots eat me
Yoshimi they don't believe me
But you won't let those robots defeat me
Those evil-natured robots
They're programmed to destroy us
She's gotta be strong to fight them
So she's taking lots of vitamins
'Cause she knows that it'd be tragic
If those evil robots win
I know she can beat them
Oh Yoshimi they don't believe me
But you won't let those robots defeat me
Yoshimi they don't believe me
But you won't let those robots eat me
Yoshimi
'Cause she knows that it'd be tragic
If those evil robots win
I know she can beat them
Oh Yoshimi they don't believe me
But you won't let those robots defeat me
Yoshimi they don't believe me
But you won't let those robots eat me
Yoshimi they don't believe me
But you won't let those robots defeat me
Yoshimi they don't believe me
But you won't let those robots eat
Yoshimi
Lyrics submitted by SpaceManSpiff
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Pt. 1 Lyrics as written by Michael Ivins Dave Fridmann
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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The pink robots are a metaphor for the ribbons and she has to tackle each cell and harsh moment one by one. Not matter what happens, she should be positive and not stress on life.
Such a gorgeous song. =)
All you die hard fans can rest assured you know the truth.
But I think this website promotes personal response/ meaning through actuality AND subjective internalization.
I don't even listen to the Flaming Lips but the first time I heard this song it brought me to tears - sometimes music just has the words you need/ want to hear.
I don't care if this 'she' is 'really battling robots' because all I know is that there was me in a car battling Maryland.
I had a similar notion to that of the depression idea.. I imagined that the pink robots = bad feelings, the city = the family, me = younger brother and vitamins maybe = anti-depressant pills?
Essentially the older sister is left to protect a broken down family from the scourge of depression. Her little brother is telling the story and he believes in her despite his fear of giving in to the ruinous feelings that would destroy him if he gave in. The problem is that Yoshimi is the most afflicted of the family but she is the only one the little brother can depend on. So the younger sibling creates this fantasy that the plague afflicting his sister are evil pink robots. The boy is also under the assumption that the robots can attack anyone, which is why his hero, his sister, is protecting the city. The narrator believes in his older sibling so much that he knows she will protect him from these robots. He realizes that the "vitamins" she takes are in relation to the robots and so assumes that they will help her defeat them.
The song's about and independent woman's battle with PMS....yeah, I said it. Think about it, it all makes sense. The PINK (suggests feminine) robots are the PMS, and she has to defeat her own PMS by disciplining her body and taking vitamins [midol], for the narrator and everyone's sakes. Because, 'It'd be tragic if those evil robots win'. Everyone knows what women are like when those evil robots win!! Haha, but no seriously, it's not fun....
When they record songs in the studio, they are doing things really fast and just laying down a lot of tracks, and the part two actually came first. They were recording it with a girl named Yoshimi (she's the screaming girl), from a Japenese band The Boredoms. They were giving it a bunch of "silly joke titles", and Wayne just came up with Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots, since she screams a lot and "it sounds like this horrible machine is either trying to kill her or have sex with her or something like that". The Lips had also been working on a "melancholy melody" they hadn't really gotten very far on yet, for about a year. The line "Yoshimi, they don't believe me" popped up from Wayne from the title, and he started coming up with this whole story that didn't have much to do with Part Two. He says that the Yoshimi in the song isn't related to the real one at all, her name was just excellent for rhyming.
He goes on to say how the track version has a very uplifting feel to it, that she will undoubtedly win the battle, and they then play a version of the song where she probably won't win. Its really awesome.
But you won't let those
Robots eat me Yoshimi
They don't believe me
is a haiku. This is probably a coincidence though.
Like most songs it has multiple meanings, each one for each person but I used to imagine Yoshimi was battling schizophrenia, hallucinating that she had to fight these pink robots to save someone she loved while taking anti-psychotics ('vitamins') to help her...
Still one of my favourite songs of all time and makes me cry sometimes...