Tag Archives: me

#1016: They Might Be Giants – Part of You Wants to Believe Me

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Just another They Might Be Giants song. There’s still a lot more to come in this thing. Maybe I might have said that they’re one of my favourite musical groups ever. If I haven’t, which I’m sure isn’t the case, I’m saying it again. ‘Part of You…’ was initially released as the fifth and final promotional track in advance of the band’s then-upcoming album BOOK in 2021. Slightly over a year has passed since the record’s release, and I’ve come to feel that it’s probably their best since Join Us arrived in 2011. Though it’s all subjective. You can’t go wrong with all the other releases that came in between.

What ‘Part of You…’ is is a delightful three-minute power pop ditty, primarily composed by John Linnell out of the two Johns. The opening descending/ascending melody of the keyboard in the introduction drew me right away, and that it’s also the same melody that Linnell sings in the opening verse really buried it in the brain. There’s no real discernible chorus, but more three sections that each have their own distinct melody. There’s the opening verse, the “Tiny voices” section, and the “Somewhere else” section which goes over the chord progression of the introductory verse. They make up the first half of the song in that order and are then switched around to make up its second. You’ll understand what I’m blabbering on about when you actually listen to the thing. What really matters is Linnell – Flansburgh too, but he’s not the song’s writer – is a master of melody and good hooks in a song and that’s all on display yet again in this one.

I haven’t been able to wrap my head around what the track is about, though. Like a few other Linnell songs, the lyrics are framed in this circular, elliptical manner that you have to take some time to think about. Not in the “Oh, you really have to think about this, man.” way, but more in the “That’s a funny way of wording a simple thing.” manner. There are double-negatives, maybe even a triple, so it kind of adds a bit more for the brain to process. But, from my general understanding of themes that can show up in TMBG songs, I think Linnell is writing from the perspective of a narrator who has either lied or said something straight up wrong to another person, and that person – who has to take medication for unknown reasons – is having an internal struggle on whether this person is telling the truth. Then I think the rest of the track is about what is happening in this person’s body as they try to process this potential lie the narrator’s telling them. Just my two cents, though. It’s known that TMBG just want you to enjoy their songs and not analyse them so much. But it’s hard not to have the urge when the lyrics are written in such a unique manner.

#941: John Lennon – Nobody Told Me

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Yeah, it’s another John Lennon song. I’m sorry if that bothers you, I don’t know why it would, but there’s no song I have beginning with ‘Nobody’ that came between this and the last one. This track has much less of a “woe is me” energy to it than ‘Nobody Loves You’, but possesses more of a “What the hell is going on around here?” tone. It’s a sentiment that Lennon felt being out of the music business, devoting his time as a father to his newborn son and seeing things on the news and in the street that freaked him out.

‘Nobody Told Me’ was one of the many tracks Lennon laid down to tape, having decided to get back into the music business after a five-year retirement that began in 1975, a year which coincided with the birth of his second son Sean. Yoko Ono stated that she thought that Lennon felt the world has “lost its direction”, but was also starting to realise that life in general was always going to move in mysterious ways. The lyrics list these situations and play-on-words that depict a sense of stasis and passivity. And for a guy who was a face of the peace movement a decade earlier, the lack of people taking a stand against injustice, or just anything to stand for in general, might just have weirded him out a bit.

The track’s carried by this great swinging rhythm, which Lennon and his 80s backing band put a fantastic weight behind. The timing is played with a little during those piano/guitar ascending/descending melody sections that occur for the pre-chorus. But it all comes crashing back into motion when the actual chorus hits in which Lennon belts out the “Nobody told me there’d be days like these” refrain amidst the rising, rolling guitar fills and swooping bass licks. Some sweet bass going on in this song by the way, played by Tony Levin. Personal highlight for me. What you may not know, is that the track was originally going to be given to Ringo Starr to sing. He and Lennon were to work together in the studio in 1981 for Starr’s upcoming album, but Lennon’s murder brought a tragic end to any plans that were to happen. I have a feeling that the song would have to be changed somewhat to fit Starr’s style. Maybe a key change to suit his voice. It probably wouldn’t have had the same effect. So although things didn’t quite turn out the way they were meant to, I quite glad we still have this.

#904: Kanye West ft. Jay-Z & J.Ivy – Never Let Me Down

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Early memories I have of this track are hearing it play from my old computer’s speakers loudly as my sister ran through The College Dropout album. Would have been back in 2004 when the album was fresh and new, I think she got it for a birthday or something. But while she was watching MTV Base and into hip-hop and R&B, I was into bands and watching MTV2 and other channels of the like. As a result, ‘Never Let Me Down’ was never on my radar. It was always cool when Kanye came out with a new music video or something though.

Nah, it wasn’t until years later that I sat down and properly gave it a listen. I once had a YouTube channel where I would upload albums, back when copyright on there was a lot less strict. The College Dropout was one I put on there, and that allowed to revisit the tracks with new ears. I was 13 at that point, and when it came to ‘Never Let Me Down’ its hook came back to me straight away from those times I heard my sister singing it. Taking ‘Maybe It’s the Power of Love’ by 80s rock band Blackjack and pitch-shifting it to that iconic chipmunk tone that he was all over at the time, Kanye alongside Jay-Z and J.Ivy shift that song’s general message of ‘love conquers all’ to focus on their own respective personal perspectives on things they are thankful for and that have never let them down.

Now I could go all Genius on you and break down every line or whatever. But that’s what Genius is for. I’ll just make known some personal highlights for me from the track. I believe it’s said that when it comes to Kanye, he likes to use vocals as instruments. This isn’t just a new thing that’s arrived. He’s been doing it from the start. It’s clear on here yet again. There’s autotuned vocals, church choir vocals, ‘ooh’ backing vocals that follow the chord progression. It’s a vocal showcase. Then there’s spoken-word poet J.Ivy’s verse that he apparently got on the second take. Quite possibly the emotional centerpiece of the whole track. And although it was recorded for The Blueprint 2, the track was released after Jay-Z had “retired” from the music business, so I think people got excited when he appeared on here with not just one, but two verses. Years have gone on and I’ve seen that fans don’t really rates Hov’s verses ’cause they don’t match the overall tone of the track. I think they’re fine. The way he closes out the track with the sample looping fading out is cold stuff. And Kanye… well, he has a pretty heavy verse too. Pharrell Williams thought so too, judging by his reaction from the video below.

#874: They Might Be Giants – Mr. Me

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‘Mr. Me’ from TMBG’s Lincoln is a whole ball of fun. It has quite a cartoon-ey feel about it in its delivery. I read a comment somewhere that likened it to the music you’ll hear in a Mario Kart game; just from the knowledge I’ve gained from playing Mario Kart DS, the comparison isn’t too far off. Those high whistle-like noises and trumpet sounds are very reminiscent of the sounds from those games. And in general, the track is just propelled onwards by these crazy drum-machine rhythms which give an odd, but strangely addictive bounce to everything that’s going on.

But then you see the lyrics, and it’s clear that it’s about the titular character who may just be suffering from severe depression. Mr. Me’s been feeling this way for a while, depression is the track is symbolised as a ‘misty sea’ that ‘Me’ has been lost in for some time, and the track is something like a cry or a call for someone to help ‘Me’, but to also be careful that they don’t become depressed as well. So, you know… very polarising elements of a song are present here. Have to say though, a song about a really sad man never sounded so upbeat and cheerful before. It wouldn’t be the last time the band did something to this effect too. They always seem to do it so well.

To sum up, I enjoy it. This is a track that is over in under two minutes, so there’s not much else that I can think of to say. John Linnell sings it, he does a good job, John Flansburgh provides the catchy ‘yo yo-yo’ backing vocals which are very hard to forget. Just a short sweet burst of happy/sad music. And to close out, here’s a live performance of the song from 1987.

#832: Alkaline Trio – Mercy Me

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This’ll be the one and only Alkaline Trio track you’ll find on this whole thing. I’ve got no problem with them; I’ve never taken the time to listen to more of the band’s music. Maybe there’ll be another song on here one day. For now though, this is it. I can kinda remember seeing the video for ‘Time to Waste‘ back in 2005. Actually, it was played quite a bit on MTV2. And I thought that was a cool song. Then the video for ‘Mercy Me’ started showing some time later, and I thought it was much better.

Taking it in as the ten-year-old I was at the time, I liked that the track was less heavy and had what I thought was more of an accessible melody to the voice. There’s a nursery rhyme, child-song like quality to it that makes it very easy to remember. I think the lyrics concern being bored with life and loneliness, which makes it one of those downer songs with an upbeat rhythm and tempo. Those types of songs always get to me, especially when they’re done well. This one is no exception. It may also be about life on the road. I don’t really know, I’m just guessing here.

The bass player takes the lead vocal for part of the chorus, and I think I remember reading that this was something of a big deal around the time. Maybe it was the first one he had done apart from doing backing vocals. He does have a good voice for the music, I have to say. I also think that my mum liked this one too just for a while, but that’s neither here nor there. Just because I’ve linked to all the singles so far from Crimson, I’ll throw in a shout-out to ‘Burn’ which was the album’s last single. Didn’t get into that as much. But someone out there will feel different.