After seven years away, The Claypool Lennon Delirium has returned with its first new release, “WAP”. The standalone single marks the duo of Primus’ Les Claypool and John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s son Sean Ono Lennon‘s first new music since 2019’s South of Reality.
The song is not a Cardi B cover but instead stands for the song’s chorus, “What a predicament.” Like recent Claypool releases Conspiranoid (Primus, 2022) and his collaborative single “Zelensky: The Man With The Iron Balls” with Gogol Bordello’s Eugene Hütz, Stewart Copeland, Billy Strings, and Sean Lennon, “WAP” carries overtly political overtones, but is a little less heavy-handed than previous tracks.
Yes, the song opens with the line, “Like a president caught in shenanigans with a beauty queen / I’m guessing they may not be so innocent as they’d have us believe.” But between Claypool’s cartoonish bounce, the lyrics are layered with Lennon’s symmetrical and instantly familiar Beatles vocal melodies. The result is a commentary that is a little more obfuscated than Les’ recent brand of musical activism. Rather than closing with a call to action, Lennon shares in our communal nihilism, “I’m not sure if history repeats but I’m certain that it rhymes / And it makes me wanna die sometimes.”
Sean Lennon recently previewed The Claypool Lennon Delirium’s return in an interview with CBS Sunday Morning. He said the band will release its third album, The Great Parrot Ox and The Golden Egg of Empathy, early this year and tour behind it in the summer. The 2LP concept album will feature Claypool and Lennon’s literal interpretation of the paperclip problem, a theory that superintelligent AI could run amok and turn the entire Earth into paperclips if it were given the vague instruction “create as many paperclips as possible.”
“You have to be careful how we program these devices,” Lennon said wryly.
Check out the new Claypool Lennon Delirium single, “WAP”, via the player below. The video features animation by Les’ son Cage Claypool. Along with the single, Les announced the Claypool Gold ’26 tour, featuring collaborative performances by Primus, The Claypool Lennon Delirium, and The Fearless Flying Frog Brigade all onstage at once. Tickets for the tour go on sale to the general public Friday, January 23rd at 10 a.m. local time via his website.
The Claypool Lennon Delirium — “WAP”
“WAP” Lyrics
Like a president caught in shenanigans with the beauty queen
I’m guessing they may not be so innocent as they’d have us believe
Everyday I’ve got so much to say but I’ve been biting my tongue
Trying to navigate through the internet is like swallowing poison
And it makes me wanna hide sometimes
It’s official that we’re in a virtual universe I’m told
Even just to believe that you’re physical is getting kind of old
I’m not trying to abide by conspiracies or listen to the polls
There never was any head on this chicken no matter what we’re sold
And it makes me wanna cry sometimes
(Chorus)
What a predicament
What a predicament
What a predicament that we find ourselves in
All the kids in the streets they remind me of much darker times
I’m not sure if history repeats but I’m certain that it rhymes
And it makes me wanna die sometimes
(Chorus)
