UPDATE: A Perfect Circle have launched a visualizer clip for "So Long, And Thanks for All the Fish," which you can view above, and singer Maynard James Keenan has commented on the song. "We all cope with the absurd in our own manner," Keenan says in reference to the track. "The Italian side of me produces and shares wine with friends in order to feel grounded and connected in the midst of all the madness. But once the wine is gone, the drunk and sarcastic Irish side of me goes straight for the unreasonable jugular. #comedyfirstandalways"
A Perfect Circle have premiered a new song, "So Long, And Thanks for All the Fish," which takes its name from the satirical sci-fi series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The band rolled the cut out on BBC Radio 1's Rock Show as host Daniel P. Carter's "Rockest Record." Hear it below at the 5:15 mark.
In keeping with the source of its title, the song strikes a whimsically sardonic tone; musically, it's one of the more upbeat cuts on APC's new album, Eat the Elephant (due out April 20th), while its lyrics poke fun at the absurdity of modern existence.
According to the group's main songwriter Billy Howerdel, the song was inspired in part by the death of so many of his heroes, including David Bowie, over recent years. "It just feels like we lost so many important influential people in such a short period of time," Howerdel says in Revolver's new APC cover story. "Bowie's death hit me particularly hard and, yeah, it shakes you up and it's what we do. We're emotional and try to get that on paper or on the guitar. I didn't have words for it."
Below, see A Perfect Circle's Maynard James Keenan train in Brazilian jujitsu and discuss how fighting dovetails with his philosophy of life and creativity:
