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#1194: They Might Be Giants – She’s an Angel

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Well, I think I can simply say that I heard ‘She’s an Angel’ for the first time when I downloaded They Might Be Giants’ debut album on the old computer and listened through that, all the way back in the early months of 2011. Or maybe it was the later months of 2010. Either one. I know it was around that time that I decided to really explore TMBG’s discography. Having frequented This Might Be a Wiki for years before then and witnessed ‘She’s an Angel’ being a mainstay in the top five best TMBG songs as rated by users of the site, listening through the first album would finally give me the opportunity to see what the fuss was all about. I could have easily gone onto YouTube or something and just listened to it by itself. But I wanted that whole album experience.

The song is from the told from the perspective of a person who feels they might have fallen for a lady who might just be perfect and is having a bit of an internal crisis about it. The narrator asks questions how this could have happened. They think someone must have sent her. If so, why her over anyone else? “Surely, this doesn’t happen to anyone else.” I don’t want to type out the whole pre-chorus here, but that’s the part of the song where all these questions and feelings happen. And now that this narrator has found this person, does that mean they now have to do anything in order to keep them around? Like that old hypothetical, “If I jumped off a cliff, would you do the same?” But in this song’s case, it’s a building.

You know, before just now, I thought this track was sweet and earnest, but I think I’ve just recognised the hint of paranoia and anxiety behind the lyrics too. John Linnell, the vocalist and song’s writer, refers to a ‘they’ numerous times throughout. But who is ‘they’? The ‘they’ apparently sent this woman to cause the narrator this distress, and now that the narrator has realized the lady’s an angel, ‘they’ might have to do something to the narrator so the word doesn’t get out. A 1984-ish thing going on. But you as a listener wouldn’t think it. As soon as those slide guitars come in on the first pre-chorus, giving a floaty feel that instantly lifts the song’s mood, any sort of questioning you may have goes out of the window. I’ve always enjoyed Linnell’s vocal take on here too. I like the sort of portrayed awkwardness with the trail off the “I’m worried that something might happen to me if anyone ever finds… out” line. I enjoy how he hams up the “Why? Why did they send her” on the second pre-chorus. It’s all very dry and understated, but very impactful. TMBG’s first album is quite off the wall, something that I truly enjoy about it, but it’s nice that ‘She’s an Angel’ exists to reel things in for the few moments it lasts for.

#576: The Beach Boys – I Know There’s an Answer

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Hey everybody. Been a while since the last post…. I dunno… Just been lacking in motivation recently. With all this music you’d think I’d have stuff to say all the time, and at a consistent rate too. Sometimes I have to really be into it to even open WordPress up. It’s all good today though. Also, I graduated this week. Tuesday to be exact. The ceremony was great, but if it wasn’t clear that I had finished university since I moved out in June it definitely is now. And it’s all slowly setting in. Quietly catching up. An existential crisis looms. So that’s what’s up with me.

The last post on here was another song by The Beach Boys, I know. That’s just the way it’s sorted on my phone, can’t to anything about it. ‘Tis a fine one though, to be sure.

‘I Know There’s an Answer’ is the ninth song on the group’s seminal 1966 album Pet Sounds, and again showcases Brian Wilson’s prodigious musicality with a soundscape of woodwind, horns and booming percussion. Originally the track was written as ‘Hang on to Your Ego’, in reaction to the effects that Brian Wilson – and many, many others in those times – would experience when taking LSD. I’ll put that version down below.

Not being one to partake in those activities, Wilson’s bandmate and cousin Mike Love objected to the song’s drug references and suggested that its title and some lyrics be changed. ‘Ego’ became ‘Answer’ and the beat goes on. I do prefer ‘Answer’ all the way. Something about it just sounds a lot fuller. The vocals in particular. Love sings the first line of the song, Al Jardine sings the following lines, and then Wilson takes on the track’s main refrain. It’s a very cool delivery. Not only do all three members sound like the same person, but I particularly dig how the vocals climb from Love’s trademark low voice to Wilson’s higher key. The instrumentation behind them builds and builds to kinda release itself during the chorus too. It’s very well done. Quite cathartic in some ways. Other things to note when listening is that bass harmonica solo and when, during the song’s fade out, things seem to start speeding up – though it’s just someone getting a bit too eager on a tambourine…… Oh, and a chord on a banjo is played earlier than it should be at one point too. That’s enough.

Below is ‘Hang on to Your Ego’, and if you want to observe just how the song was produced there’s a little making of video too.