Peace Sword (Open Your Heart) (feat. Tobacco)

This kaleidoscopic song was penned by The Flaming Lips for Ender's Game and plays during the movie's end credits. When the band originally received the commission, frontman Wayne Coyne had not heard of the 1985 hit novel, which was the film's source. "People described it to me a bit like 'Harry Potter in outer space,'" he explained to Spin magazine. However, attracted by the flick's "video game philosophy" and subject matter of a youngster who is sent to an advanced military academy in outer space to prepare for a future alien invasion that threatens the future of humanity, the band was up for the challenge. Coyne and his bandmates penned the song using some clips from the film and a thematic sketch as their source material. The frontman told Spin that at first, the filmmakers thought the song was "too sad," but after some alterations came up with the swooning, psychedelic finished product.

The Flaming Lips' creative juices were so inspired by the process that they recorded five further songs inspired by Ender's Game. Though the additional tunes were all rejected by the filmmakers, the band collected them all together on a disc, Peace Sword EP. Coyne told Rolling Stone that the experience confirmed his belief that writing to a narrative aids his band's writing process citing two of their best-known albums as evidence -The Soft Bulletin and Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots. "Our most satisfying records to listen to... at the end you kind of stumble upon a character and a theme and a story," he said. "The more you do it, the more you're compelled by your own creation."