On the podcast “Song Exploder”, Hrishikesh Hirway asks artists to break down their songs and discuss how they’re made. The latest episode features MGMT talking about their Oracular Spectacular track “Time to Pretend.” In it, they discuss getting courted by Columbia Records, being inspired by the Flaming Lips, the song’s unexpected popularity, playing “David Letterman,” and more. Listen above.
“We were really into like super naive, child-like melody in college,” Andrew VanWyngarden said of the song’s inspiration, before playing the opening synthesizer line. “It’s not a pleasing sound. It’s like the wings of an insect we’re making, but it’s definitely the hook.”
“We decided to wear druid capes, and it’s one of those moments where it’s all funny and silly and inside jokes, and then—oh yeah, you’re on national TV, looking like fucking idiots in your druid cape,” he said of playing “Time to Pretend” on “Letterman” in 2008. “If you watch that video you can see me kind of like: ‘Ohhh God, what is happening?”
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