Tag Archives: be

#1356: They Might Be Giants – They Might Be Giants

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The song ‘They Might Be Giants’ by the band They Might Be Giants is another by the group that I discovered at a very early age, one that stuck with me for the longest while, and then eventually one that I sort of revisited while also going into it with fresh ears years down the line. If you’ve read another They Might Be Giants post on here where I’ve mentioned this website Yahoo! used to run back in the day called Launch.com, the story there is very much the same here. That was the site that introduced me to They Might Be Giants when I was eight years old or something. I frequently used the internet radio service on there, tracks by TMBG would show up at the same kind of rate, and a lot of the time I liked what I was hearing. ‘They Might Be Giants’ was one of ’em. Heard it in 2004. Didn’t get to listening to the album it was on until 2010. I was always asking for TMBG compilations in those six years for gifts with little success. So when I discovered the art of downloading in 2009-10, I went to town.

The band’s self-admitted theme song was written much earlier than 1990 when it was released on the band’s third album Flood, their major-label debut on Elektra Records. John Flansburgh and John Linnell had initially recorded it in 1985 for possible inclusion on what was to be their self-titled debut record, but left it off thinking the theme song on the first album would be ‘too weird’, and thought about recording it for their second album Lincoln too. When it came time to making Flood, the band were now on a major-label, they enlisted seasoned producers to help them, they had the bigger budget, and they had the, I assume, better equipment for the recording process. So it only made sense to revisit ‘They Might Be Giants’ with all this at hand. But even still, Flansburgh recalled it being an incredibly complicated piece to put together again because of the elements contained within the music. Particularly on the vocal front. There’s a lot of ’em.

I think I once watched an interview with the two Johns where one of them explained their band name as a remark someone might say upon looking out of a window and seeing these strange presences in the distance. “Hmm, they might be giants”. Along those lines. So ‘They Might Be Giants’ explores peculiar alternatives that these presences might, ranging from in-jokes like “Dr. Spock’s back-up band” to the nonsensical “rain” or “heat” to the possibly conclusive answer of “big, big, fake, fake lies”. John Flansburgh takes lead vocal. John Linnell provides a lot of the backing. Not sure who between the two delivers the deep “Boy” vocalizations. I’m thinking Linnell. The “Hang on tight” samples are from a self-improvement cassette tape the band acquired for a miniscule amount of money. Everyone’s chanting ‘They Might Be Giants’ by the song’s end, and by the sound of the sudden vocal change, the actual giants might be getting involved too. It’s a triumphant number, and also acts as a bit of a call-out to their fans. You see, with the major-label move, there were those that were worried that the band were gonna change. Sell out, as they would say. Their theme song placement was a tactical move of reassurance that they weren’t. At least not for a while.

#1043: Nick Drake – Place to Be

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Well, well, it’s Nick Drake again. Though this won’t be the last time I write about him on this website, it’ll be the last time you’ll see a track of his in this particular section. Who knew that basically a quarter of the songs on Pink Moon began with the letter ‘P’? Never would have thought about it without this, would you? Not like it’s very useful information anyway. Representing the last of the Ps from Pink Moon today is the album’s second track, ‘Place to Be’. With the preceding title track providing a more surreal, symbolic take on Drake’s outlook on life, ‘Place to Be’ is where he lays the facts down straight.

I believe this track is the last one on the album on which he uses a plectrum to play his acoustic guitar, with the rest all consisting of his intricate fingerpicking. And as a result, just like the ‘Pink Moon’ track, ‘Place to Be’ has a very driving momentum to it with Drake playing the guitar with an air of confidence and striding force. The strings ring out with a rich tone to them, and the music overall lures you in with its warmth. But on top, Drake tells the listener how he is as the man who sings to you compared to the days of yesteryear, and he’s not doing too well. The lyrics are plain to understand. When he was younger, he was ignorant to the cold, hard truth. But now he has himself hardened as a person and can see things for what they are. He used to be vibrant and bright, but now has become darker in his moods. He asks to be given a place to be, and by that I assume he means a place to just exist without any troubles. Maybe somewhere to belong. It’s left up in the air, but it taps into a feeling I’m sure is felt universally.

The third and final verse contains the most telling and hard-hitting revelation out of those listed in the previous two. Referencing his ‘Day Is Done’ track, which bear in mind was only released three years prior, he tells the listener that compared to then he was now the weakest he’s ever felt. So weak in a need for something or someone that isn’t fully disclosed. They’re just referred to as ‘you’. Maybe you is the ‘place to be’ itself. Maybe it’s a loved one. I’ve seen interpretations that suggest that ‘you’ is death. Any way you look at it though, it’s a sad affair. But instead of making it too melodramatic, he transferred his energy into an beautiful earnest acoustic performance. It does make you wonder how things changed so much for the worse for him in that relatively short amount of time.

#732: The Rutles – Let’s Be Natural

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Another great Beatles parody courtesy of musician, comedian, actor and all round nice man Neil Innes as part of the Rutles All You Need Is Cash film project from 1978. Innes sadly and quite suddenly passed away last December, but his work under the guise of Ron Nasty lives on. I got to know the music of the Rutles more or less around the same time I was on my Beatles tip of 2009/10. Unlike other parody acts that can make a proper half-assed effort in portraying their sources, Neil Innes and The Rutles were always very respectful in their mimicry while also maintaining humour and making great music in general.

‘Let’s Be Natural’ closes out the soundtrack album that accompanied the Rutles film and was released on both the original LP in 1978, and the 1990 CD reissue which included seven more songs not found on the vinyl release. It’s a clear nod to the Beatles song ‘Dear Prudence’, even taking that track’s bassline for its own during the choruses. There’s a bit from ‘If I Fell’ in there too. Innes sings with John Lennon’s trademark nasal tone among some relaxing arpeggiated chords and ‘aaah’ backing harmonies. Man, it’s a very soothing track. But I guess you could ask why you would want to listen to this if you could listen to The Beatles at any time. Probably because if you got to a place where you got tired of listening to them, this would be the closest you would get to their type of music without it actually being by them. Plus all four Beatles approved their music. Paul McCartney less so, apparently. The point still stands.

So I hope you enjoy it. The song’s message is all in the title. R.I.P. Neil Innes.

#731: N-Dubz – Let Me Be

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OK, let me explain. From about 2008 to 2011, N-Dubz were everywhere in the UK. The trio of Dappy, Tulisa, and Fazer could do no wrong in the eyes of the British youth. Their debut album Uncle B included hits of theirs that had been known since about 2006 but just about missed out on a top ten position in the charts. But then they got their first number one hit as a feature on Tinchy Stryder’s track, coincidentally titled, ‘Number 1‘, a tune that just takes me back to Year 9 every time. I had a friend in high school who downloaded every song by N-Dubz to his tiny Sony Ericsson phone. He pretty much had every lyric of theirs nailed to a T, but he would rap them in a mocking and strange way which I found hysterical at that age of 13. While I didn’t really care for them – I was more the Linkin Park, Eminem type person at that time – you could never really avoid the hype that came when N-Dubz released a new single or collaboration.

The 00s were coming to a close. And N-Dubz blessed the public with a new album, almost a year to the day that they released their first one. Against All Odds was its name, and it was preceded by the first single ‘I Need You’. Not gonna lie, I thought that was song was banging from the day its video showed up on YouTube. The lyrics didn’t have much depth, but the production was great. It actually had me looking forward to their album release. It came. I listened through it. I got great entertainment out of tracks like ‘Playing with Fire’ and ‘Duku Man (Skit)’. The rest I didn’t care that much for. Except ‘Let Me Be’, which I actually think is their best song and no one can tell me otherwise.

The track got no attention in the UK, but somehow got a music video made for it. I’ve come to the assumption that it was a release in Greece because of Greek rapper Nivo’s appearance where he raps only in Greek. I still have no idea what he’s rapping about to this day.* Oh, and because both Dappy and Tulisa are of Greek ancestry too. On the track, Dappy raps about a girl who’s getting a bit too clingy and even if he does like the sex they have, he’s not sticking around. This then leads into the melodic chorus where Dappy then sings about being watched and followed by everyone now that he’s famous, and comes to a conclusion that this girl probably really likes him because he’s on the TV a lot of the time. Fazer and Tulisa get their verses in nearing the end of the track, the latter gets her iconic ‘ha-ha’ ad-libs in too. What actually impressed me the most about this track all those years ago was how the whole vibe of the track shifted beginning with Fazer’s verse. It just sounds a lot sadder somehow, can’t tell whether it’s a change in key or chord progression but it’s a moment in their discography that I don’t think they ever matched. Not saying it’s some huge musical jump, loads of artists do that type of thing, but from N-Dubz it was quite unexpected.

I can’t believe I’ve typed this much out about N-Dubz. This is the only post on them in this whole blog series that I’ll do so I might as well get it all of my chest. If you want to know what happened to the group, they split in 2011 following the release of their third album. Lowkey, a lot of people want a reunion.

#729: The Chemical Brothers – Let Forever Be

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‘Let Forever Be’ was released as the second single from The Chemical Brothers’ 1999 album Surrender. After taking inspiration from the Beatles’ track ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’ and collaborating with Oasis guitarist and songwriter Noel Gallagher on their previous track ‘Setting Sun’, a song that got to number one in the UK in ’96, the ‘brothers’ decided to do the same thing again here. It didn’t gained the same amount of commercial success but I believe it’s still one of the duo’s best singles.

While ‘Setting Sun’ relies on its pummeling drums to drive the track’s momentum ‘Let Forever Be’ relies on its bassline which mirrors Paul McCartney’s original bass from the aforementioned Beatles song, starting on the lower strings before reaching for those higher notes and carrying out some licks. Noel Gallagher continues his ‘faux-philosophical/actual nonsense’ lyricism style which, in that period of the 90s, was in its prime and worked tremendously well. His voice sounds great on here and, mixed with the psychedelic backdrop from Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons (The Chemical Brothers), it makes from some very easygoing listening.

Its music video (above), directed by Michel Gondry, gained a lot of media attention. I don’t think it’s too bad myself. I did see it a lot back in the day on the television screen though you can’t go wrong by listening to the song on its own.