Tag Archives: mink car

#891: They Might Be Giants – My Man

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Mink Car, the album by They Might Be Giants, gets a bit of an unfair wrap among the band’s following. It’s seen by some to be the not so best one by a fair few. It hurts to say ‘worst’ just ’cause I don’t think the band have a bad album. There were a lot of songs the band had recorded during its making that probably should have ended up on the final tracklist, and quite a few songs that appeared on the final tracklist that probably shouldn’t have been there at all. Looking at you in particular, ‘Mr. Xcitement’. But there are some external factors about the album that kind of overshadowed its release. The major one being that it was released on September 11, 2001. No one was really thinking about the music that came out that day. And Pitchfork gave it a 2.8/10 on their website, which is just silly.

But for me, there’s a reasonable amount of tracks I enjoy on there that make it a worthy listen. ‘My Man’ is most probably my favourite one on there. Though its story is a bit depressing, told from the point of a man speaking to his body after he’s been paralyzed, the bubbly keyboards, engaging melody, and general sort of cheeriness to its delivery give it that usual TMBG mark. The track seems to never have been performed live. That may say something about how the band feels about it, I don’t know, but because the track’s located on what’s considered to be their least greatest moment I’m very sure that it doesn’t get the appreciation it’s supposed to.

The lyrics are pretty self explanatory. The first verses describe a man who’s trying to move his leg but finds that he can’t, coming to the conclusion that he’s “fallen out with his head”. Then these strident sections come in where the band falls in with these chugging violins, with another narrative voice comparing our bodies to ocean coasts with submarine cables that need to connect to other shores in order to work properly. There’s more from the man trying to come to terms with what’s happening to him, and then the doctor comes in with the wham line “There is no way to repair the break”. He won’t walk again. To be honest, it’s a sad damn song.

My iPod #546: They Might Be Giants – Hovering Sombrero

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“Hovering Sombrero” is a song about the saddening reminder that time flies; before you know it, the things you had grown accustomed to when growing up will all be replaced and you will only have the memories to remember them by. John Linnell sings of a sombrero that continues to ‘hover on’ as the seconds, years, and minutes roll by. Obviously it’s not a literal wide-brimmed hat of Mexico; that would have to float back down to the ground some time. I do have the idea that the ‘hovering sombrero’ is actually the Solar System. It looks a bit like a sombrero if you really think about it, and in line of the song I think it makes a bit of sense.

The seventh offering on the band’s eighth album contains standard rock instrumentation consisting of acoustic and electric guitars, the rhythm section, and a keyboard that makes an appearance here and there. Linnell’s single-tracked vocal guides you through the track; he also provides an overlapping ‘no/don’t’ backing vocal that stretches throughout various lines. It is quite beautiful in its simplicity, but you think things are just about to get started it is already the end of the song. Another great gem within their discography.

My iPod #542: They Might Be Giants – Hopeless Bleak Despair

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“Hopeless Bleak Despair” is another They Might Be Giants song that takes on the depressing/saddening subject matter with upbeat/happy sounding music. Appearing on the group’s eighth album Mink Car in 2001, John Linnell sings from the perspective of a person burdened by this ‘hopeless bleak despair’.

Placed between “Yeh Yeh” and “Drink!“, two tracks where John Flansburgh sings about the joys of having a good time with a girlfriend and drinking respectively, “Hopeless Bleak Despair”, sung by John Linnell, is something of a sobering listen. The narrator’s life falls apart because of this despair. His family leave him, and he is fired from his job. It isn’t until the final verse where it is revealed, amongst angelic background choir vocals, that the narrator is dead – how he died is not said but we can assume it’s suicide – and was finally separated from it. However, the narrator goes to hell while the despair ‘ascends to heaven’ so even then it gains the upper hand.

The song’s quite funny that way. After everything that has happened to him whilst alive, the narrator can’t catch a break even in the afterlife. You want to feel sorry for him but Linnell’s enthusiastic vocals and the forceful performance by the band pushes those feelings aside, and instead will have you singing along to this poor person’s problems.

My iPod #369: They Might Be Giants – Finished with Lies

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A person decides that they will never tell a lie again in They Might Be Giants track “Finished with Lies”, the reason being that if no one believes anything they say now they never will in the future. Somehow though in the last verse when the narrator is being checked on by an examiner, telepathy is used to rig the results…. so it looks like it is another one of those unreliable narrator type tracks that TMBG usually do. Seems like this narrator has problems – which is something that is said right at the end of the track that comes before it… I see what they did there.

“Finished with Lies” is a very standard rock tune. Standard band ensemble of guitars, bass and drums with a few erratic synthesizers here and there and backing vocals in the chorus. It is a very simple track, and I like that. Originally the track was going to be something of a slow march which you can listen to on YouTube; it’s an interesting version and makes the lyrics sound a lot more serious. But I do prefer the one on the album.

My iPod #230: They Might Be Giants – Cyclops Rock

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This is the end… for now. I’ve come to the last of the ‘Cs’, and starting from tomorrow there won’t be posts for a while. I enjoy typing these; I hope you like reading them. I may come across as a bit repetitive or just silly in general, telling you how I feel about songs and trying to ‘review’ them without having technical music knowledge is quite challenging, but it gives me something to do everyday… so it’s all good.

“Cyclops Rock” is a tune from They Might Be Giants’ album “Mink Car” from 2001. After John Linnell’s track about a mesmerizing hair cut comes John Flansburgh’s about….. I’m not so sure. I don’t want to say the lyrics are nonsensical or random because there probably is a clear meaning behind them…. I can’t tell. What does “cyclops rocking” entail? How is it different from plain rocking? I’m only joking.

It doesn’t really matter when it comes TMBG. All of their songs have that sort of thing about them. Who cares what the song is trying to say when it rocks as hard as this. Starting with three chimes of tubular bells, “Cyclops” launches into life with Flansburgh shouting the chorus at you along with some great guitar playing and sliding saxophone notes by Linnell on the side. Full of energy, very quick, a cameo by Cerys Matthews in the bridge (which was actually meant for the late Joe Strummer at one point). Three things you can expect from this song.

Well, that’s it. Cs are done. Bring on the Ds.

See ya.