“The Cap’m” is the second most popular They Might Be Giants song from “The Else” according to TMBW, coming in at #40 on the overall song rating chart. Why is this? Well, I can’t speak for all of the fans who rated it. What I can tell you is why I like it though. That is probably what you expect, as that is what I have done for every song on my iPod since February.
What is probably the most interesting aspect of the song is the incongruous relationship between the lyrics and everything about the music. The music itself sounds very uplifting, from the chord progressions to the vocals. But the lyrics are from the point of view of a pretentious and egoistic narrator. Almost like “And Your Bird Can Sing” by The Beatles…. That’s another song I like. Maybe, more bands should go with that formula, because the two songs I know of that use it have done no wrong.
“Canajoharie” was one of the first songs from “Join Us” to be performed live by the band. The first time being in September 2010, months before the album was actually released.
This performance at the Kennedy Center in Washington was the first time I’d ever heard the song. Not because I was there, but because it was the first option that came up when I searched “They Might Be Giants – Canajoharie” on YouTube. Thinking about it now, I remember not being to overwhelmed by it. The verses were carried along by a steady boom-boom-clap back-beat and Linnell started blaring out the song title in the chorus. But back then, the lyrics had still not been deciphered yet. So I didn’t know what else to make of the song.
That all changed when the album actually came out in 2011. I was on holiday in the US after finishing my GCSEs, and listened to the album in full. There was just something about the studio version of “Canajoharie” that made me like it a lot more. Now I could understand what Linnell was singing about, and everything just sounded a lot tighter. “Canajoharie” is a real place too, which surprised me a bit. The band have a tendency to sing about weird things so I just thought it would be a made up word. It’s not.
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 workinthestudio, 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.
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.
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.