"Race for the Prize" by the Flaming Lips

What is the theme of the song?
The theme of the song is that sometimes a race doesn't mean competition, people can work together towards a common goal for the good of humanity. In the first stanza it says "Two scientists were racing/For the good of all mankind...For the cure that is their prize..." In this song the race is not a literal one, but a figurative one in which both of them merely want the "prize" not for themselves but for humanity. The race does not mean that they are working against each other, and in the third line it says "Both of them side by side" meaning that really, they are working together and the "race" is how they both want to get the cure (the mentioned "prize") for the good of humankind. Therefore, in this song, the lyrics point toward a resolution to get the prize for their species and not for themselves. The music pushes a somewhat resolute, calming idea, at least at first. But then it gets more rocky, somewhat like turbulence, which shows how the two scientists are working together against whatever danger it is that they are fighting against.