Tag Archives: they might be giants

My iPod #161: They Might Be Giants – Can’t Keep Johnny Down

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Last post for today.

It was my sixteenth birthday when the details of They Might Be Giants’ forthcoming fifteenth album “Join Us” were released to the public on Pitchfork. I was so excited. A new They Might Be Giants album? What could be better? Only a link to the brand new single!

Yes, “Can’t Keep Johnny Down” was probably the first song in full that They Might Be Giants fans heard from “Join Us”. The band had been releasing ‘teaser’ videos of work in the studio, but this was the the moment that they had all been waiting for in 2011.

Although it did take a few listens for me to get into the swing of things, “Can’t Keep Johnny Down” was an appropriate choice of song for people to hear. Some may have been worried how the band would sound after they had released children’s albums in 2008 and 2009 with “The Else” being their last ‘adult’ album in 2007. This song proved that there was no need to be worried at all.

I did assume that it was autobiographical, probably just because it has the name “Johnny” in the title. As in “Johnny” Linnell or “Johnny” Flansburgh. But that was until they said that it was from the point of view of an ‘asshole’. Those are Linnell’s words, not mine.

The band then commenced the biggest fan contest to have ever existed. That was to create their own video for the song, and whoever won it received a cash prize. The winner was the entry above.

Jamie.

My iPod #136: They Might Be Giants – Broke in Two

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Afternoon everyone.

I thought that preparing for university would be more of a strenuous task, but it appears that already I have most of the stuff I need. I have bought a few things here and there, just now I’ve chosen two pairs of new shoes and new socks, but it hasn’t been as tiresome as I thought it would be. Life is good.

That was an unrelated introduction. I just wanted to tell you how things are going.

… I’ve never had an account on last.fm but without one four years ago, somehow, I was able to listen to “The Spine” by They Might Be Giants in full without any adverts. I’m very sure that I can’t do that now, so it was surprising that I was able to pull it off. “Broke in Two” is the third from last track about a relationship which comes to an end. You have that situation in so many other songs; the list is endless, I know. The narrator also wants to make things better, but is very forgetful and a bit dim too. “I’m gonna run you down” does not sound like “I’m an orangutan” does it? The narrator takes this into account and admits that even though he would try to fix everything, the breakup would still happen just because of his behaviour. It’s quite tragic. But it’s so upbeat.

The instrumentation in the music is really good too. The opening riff was a bit of an ear-piercer, that really high note sounds like it’s played wrong. But it’s fine. It works. I don’t know whether it’s a keyboard or a guitar or both played simultaneously during the break, but how it ascends from low notes and finishes at the top is mesmerising. The song also glitches and disintegrates into silence at the end, which is intentional. It is one of my favourite songs on “The Spine”, I hope you listen and like it too.

Until tomorrow.

Jamie.

My iPod #119: They Might Be Giants – Boat of Car

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Probably not the most popular TMBG song, but it just has something that attracts me to it. I honestly can’t say much about it – it’s only 1 minute and a few seconds long. That’s not a bad thing, but it’s more of a transitional thing that sets you up for the next track.

It’s very easy to memorise, the Johnny Cash sample fits in very well (however oddly placed it may sound). It sends off a very mysterious vibe. What is the ‘boat of car’? Why is the narrator following the ‘traces of the fingernails’?

Who am I kidding, it’s nothing to get philosophical about. It probably doesn’t mean anything at all.

Vocals are done by John Flansburgh’s old girlfriend by the way.

Until tomorrow.

Jamie.

My iPod #99: They Might Be Giants – Birds Fly

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“Birds Fly” is another They Might Be Giants song, penned by John Flansburgh, which is also found on the “Miscellaneous T” compilation – something I talked about only three days ago. For me, it has the same back story as “The Biggest One”. I began to listen to their discography in 2011, found “Miscellaneous T” and downloaded the tracks.

“Birds Fly” is a jazzy number with a walking bassline, background vocals akin to a barbeshop quartet and blocks as the percussion. It makes the song sound very pleasant, light and very easy to listen to. It sounds like it’s about someone who’s arrested by the police for driving recklessly though. I guess you can say it’s got that “Maxwell Silver Hammer” thing going on, with the happy music and the… more serious lyrics.

The song was originally going to be released as a B-side to the “Purple Toupee” single. That was never released though. But it does show that it recorded during the sessions for “Lincoln”. It is very similar to “Lie Still, Little Bottle”, in so many ways in fact that I think it would have been a shoe in on the album if the band thought “Lie Still” wasn’t good enough.

Enjoy it.

Until tomorrow.

Jamie.

My iPod #98: They Might Be Giants – Birdhouse in Your Soul

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Here it is, They Might Be Giant’s biggest song. Commercially anyway. This, “Istanbul” and “Boss of Me” were their only songs to chart in the UK. Shows how much we know about music. I’m only joking, we know quite a bit about music. It’s a shame we just never appreciated this band as much.

I’ve just woken up from a nap so please excuse any spelling mistakes, or anything that clearly doesn’t make any sense.

They Might Be Giants released “Birdhouse in Your Soul” as the first single from their major label debut, “Flood”. The song, from the perspective a ‘blue canary’ night-light who ‘watches over you’ in your sleep. Not in any strange kind of way, but to guard you from the demons and monsters of the night. Like a guardian angel, it’s always near.

Now I don’t know what affect the song had on people when it was initially released in 1990. I still had another five years to go until I was born, but judging from the stats I see on Wikipedia and TMBW it helped the band gain a bigger following of fans after reaching top ten positions in the UK and in the US Modern Rock chart in the US.

When I was younger and started listening to They Might Be Giants, I knew that I’d heard the song from somewhere. Perhaps in an advert, or it played in the background of a TV show or something. But I didn’t know it was the band who sung it. I watched the video on Yahoo’s LAUNCHcast website, and it made me like the song even more. The weird zombie children, the random bike riding around the band, the choreography, it’s nice to see the band in one of their music videos too.

If you want to listen to the demo from Dial-a-Song, here it is.

Until tomorrow.

Jamie