This week, for Something Way Worse, I want to talk about They Might Be Giants. This astonishingly prolific band has a place close to my heart, with a discography ranging from alt-rock hits to theme songs for Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Through that variety \u2013 or despite it \u2013 They Might Be Giants have produced quality music that can be enjoyed at any point in your life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve listened to They Might Be Giants since I can remember listening to music, but until a few years ago I\u2019d never stepped deeper into their discography beyond their familiar childhood hits. Once I started listening to They Might Be Giants as something more than a device for cheap nostalgia, I discovered an entire hidden world of music. DIY pioneers, TMBG notoriously do just about anything they want, writing songs on subjects ranging from divorce to the Sun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The band started their career by recording songs on answering machines and posting the number in local papers, under the name \u201cDial-A-Song.\u201d This process garnered the band a lot of awareness and led them to a record deal. You can still call the number, (844) 387-6962, for a song. I\u2019ve checked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This process of spreading awareness for songs through an answering machine should clue you in to the randomness and whimsy of this band. Lincoln, in my opinion, perfectly encapsulates of They Might Be Giants\u2019 discography. The album\u2019s songs and subjects might seem entirely random, but I highly recommend the experience of listening through the record\u2019s 18 songs in order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The nerdy and eclectic music ranges from jazz fusion to sea shanties, while the lyrics range from romantic ballads to political satire. Lincoln does not align with my typical taste in music, as I tend to stay away from purely experimental songs and bands that rely on synthetic bass and drum tracks, but this album brings pure fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Opening with one of my all-time favorite They Might Be Giants songs, \u201cAna Ng,\u201d Lincoln starts off strong and up-beat, with a more-or-less straight forward love song. They immediately move into the surreal with the dreamy \u201cCow Town,\u201d a track about traveling to join a cow that lives under water. But the jaunty music and singing pulls me from being caught up in the nonsense of the lyrics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then the album takes a hiatus into slow loungey jazz with \u201cLie Still, Little Bottle\u201d before jumping back into classic They Might Be Giants accordion rock with \u201cPurple Toupee.\u201d This song epitomizes They Might Be Giants\u2019 sound, starting the album\u2019s zany run of songs that in their whimsy almost unsettle \u2013 in other words, perfect They Might Be Giants form. This classic stands in stark contrast to the next track, \u201cThe World\u2019s Address,\u201d a song with a surprisingly Latin flair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Later in the album, they mock classic Christmas songs with \u201cSanta\u2019s Beard,\u201d where the lyrics plead about Santa, \u201cI wish that he would go\/He\u2019s breaking up my home!\u201d This short and fun song stands as one of my favorites on the album and shows just how unserious They Might Be Giants really are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cKiss Me, Son of God\u201d brings the album to a perfect finish. One of my favorite They Might Be Giants tracks, the upbeat jaunt \u201cKiss Me, Son of God\u201d rhapsodizes alongside amazing string harmonies about exploiting the working class for unlimited power. This freaky little album has sparkling lyrics and totally unique music, and I simply enjoy it.
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This week, for Something Way Worse, I want to talk about They Might Be Giants. This astonishingly prolific band has a place close to my heart, with a discography ranging from alt-rock hits to theme songs for Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Through that variety \u2013 or despite it \u2013 They Might Be Giants have produced quality […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":1104,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[26,19],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/arouseosu.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1067"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/arouseosu.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/arouseosu.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/arouseosu.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/arouseosu.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1067"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/arouseosu.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1067\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1105,"href":"http:\/\/arouseosu.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1067\/revisions\/1105"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/arouseosu.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1104"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/arouseosu.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/arouseosu.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/arouseosu.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}