Take Your Vitamins Before Fighting Pink Giant Robots

"Yoshimi Battles Pink Robots Pt. 1" by The Flaming Lips, is a song from their conceptual album, Yoshimi Battles Pink  Robots. This spectacular song, in my opinion is a perfect song for this assignment. The song is an extend metaphor for a girl  battling with cancer. The story is told from the unusual narrative of a loved one, who is watching helplessly as the girl that he loves goes through the traumatizing battle against cancer. Unable to rationalize that he might lose Yoshimi, to the devastating disease he creates a comical fiction, where Yoshimi has super powers, and is uses them to protect him from pink giant robots.

This alternative reality is shown through the use of metaphors like, "discipline her body" and "So she's taking lots of vitamins". The metaphors are used to disguise the destruction of the body and chemo therapy and hide from the disastrous tole cancer takes on the body.

Cause she knows that 

Its demanding 

To defeat those evil machines 

I know she can beat them

Oh Yoshimi 

They don't believe me 

But you wont let those robots defeat me 

The repeating of the main chorus gives the impression of desperation, an attempt to hide the pain and suffering the author is feeling. It brings reassurance of hope and  to a dire situation.

"Yoshimi Battles Pink Robots Pt. 1"  takes a comical approach to a harsh reality of dealing with terminal cancer. Instead of choosing to express pain and suffering through sad or depressing verses, the story of Yoshimi is expressed through an upbeat almost childish universe that brings hope to a hopeless situation. This tool of imagination and expression through a ridiculous story, that brings a smile to any face.