Tag Archives: museum

#882: They Might Be Giants – Museum of Idiots

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Another gem from They Might Be Giants’ The Spine. I wrote about another track from that album earlier in this ‘M’ section. While I think I came to some sort of conclusion as to what ‘Memo to Human Resources’ was about, to this day I’m still a bit flummoxed when it comes to ‘Museum of Idiots’. I do remember an interpretation saying that it was from the point of view of a tree in a forest, but I was left even more confused after reading that than before. The track is the first on the second half of The Spine, beginning a run of tracks until the album’s end that may just be one of my favourites in the band’s whole catalogue.

In comparison to ‘Memo’, written by John Flansburgh, ‘Museum’ is another of John Linnell’s offerings – a composition in waltz time marked by moments of quiet keyboards juxtaposed with a blaring wall of horns. If there’s a guitar present here, it’s definitely buried in the mix. And there’s nothing wrong with that. There’s a joyous and uplifting feeling I get from those triumphant brass instruments here, like there’s this big parade going through town or something. Linnell arranged all of the horn part Though the lyrics seem to be from the perspective of someone or something that’s a bit of a dimwit. Or an idiot, if you didn’t already get that from the song’s title.

Actually, come to think of it. This song might just be another example of a sad but funny moment in They’s discography. This person holds out hope that their “Honey” will need them at some point, and they’ll be ready waiting for them whenever that happens. But the likelihood of it is very low. Maybe the museum contains all those heartbroken people who would do anything for the person who won’t reciprocate those feelings, and because they can’t get over them they’re left feeling like idiots. I don’t know, it hurts to think about these things. But I ask you to at least listen to this one before making some sort of decision for yourself.

#881: Muse – Muscle Museum

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Muse. Muse, Muse, Muse. I’ve written about a few songs of the band’s in the past. A couple of those that I’ve linked to, I don’t listen to them as enthusiastically as I once did. I’ll let you guess which two they are. Why don’t I listen to them anymore? Just the way Matt Bellamy sings sometimes, I guess. It’s too much for me to listen to now. A bit melodramatic. Doesn’t seem as cool as I thought it was when I was a teenager. I really did like Muse for a while back in those times, and then I think I found the Beatles and went in a totally different direction. Although my interest for Muse may have waned, whenever ‘Muscle Museum’ comes on I can’t help but think that it might just be my favourite song by them. And you’ll probably think, “Well, this song is just as dramatic as any of their other stuff”. And to that I’ll say that’s fair enough, but this one hits harder to me.

It’s likely that the first time I was introduced to this track was back in 2006, when Black Holes and Revelations was about to be released and MTV2 dedicated various slots of their programming to Muse. The track’s music video features a lot of people crying, and not like sobbing or sniffles, I mean ugly crying, sweat glistening on their faces, while they’re brushing teeth, washing the car, or getting a hair cut. The music to ‘Muscle Museum’ is heavy, sounds like something really sad has happened/is going to happen, and its whole minor key, tension-building delivery perfectly accompanied the visuals of its video. It kind of creeped me out, especially back then when I was 11, but I knew then that it was definitely a good song. 15 years on, the music video makes me laugh a bit. And if there was only one Muse song that existed, I would probably want it to be this one. It packs a punch like many others, but there aren’t any crazy guitar riffs or over the top vocalizations. It just seems a lot more subtle. But it’s still so heavy. It rules.

Again, never thought about the meaning of the track that much. I thought it was about the ending of a relationship. It very well could be. But I also read that it’s meant to be a kind of commentary on the band’s lack of success when they were starting out, and how they were giving their all in their live performances to people who frankly didn’t care. The ‘muscle museum’ title comes from the fact that they are the two words that respectively precede and follow the word ‘muse’ in the dictionary. At least, at the time the song was written. And that is meant to signify the past and future of the band. That also may be the case. Whatever it is, it doesn’t matter that much. I just know that I always feel a huge weight when I hear this song. Puts me in that screwing face, head nodding mood.

My iPod #313: They Might Be Giants – The Edison Museum

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“The Edison Museum” is They Might Be Giants’ “endearing” tribute to the Thomas Edison National Historical Park, which is actually in New Jersey. I put endearing in quotation marks because the the track is quite the opposite. The lyrics and music make it out to be one of the creepiest and mysterious places to exist on the face of the Earth. The track even uses a line from the original Charlie and the Chocolate Factory film, which I only just realised and makes this track a bit more comedic than I thought it was.

The use of only horns, a keyboard and a vibraband mimicking the sound of a sped up voice recording give the track a very eerie and spooky atmosphere. That’s also emphasised by radio DJ Nick Hill’s vocal. He sang  “I Hear the Wind Blow” in the “Fingertips” track on “Apollo 18”, if you didn’t know. His low voice guides the listener through the dusty corridors of the haunted building, which is apparently used as a threat to children if they don’t stop arguing and yet is still a wondrous place which amazes the many people that lay their eyes on it.

This track may be hard to talk about. It’s not one that would be regularly requested for the band to play at their shows that’s for sure. But it is still an interesting one to listen to nonetheless. It’s the last song on the band’s album “Long Tall Weekend“. It brings a very abrupt end to it; I can remember listening through the album for the first time when this song finished expecting something to follow it up. The last line is sung, and then it just stops – that is the end of the album. But that’s due to the fact that the track was originally much longer, but was cut down to the final version that was released.

It is unusual. But that’s what They Might Be Giants do occasionally.