Usenet 1994 January/usenetsourcesnewsgroupsinfomagicjanuary1994.iso/answers/tmbg-faq

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Path: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!nic.hookup.net!europa.eng.gtefsd.com!uunet!biosci!banana.ig.com!relph
From: [e-mail] (John M. Relph)
Newsgroups: alt.music.tmbg,rec.music.info,alt.answers,news.answers
Subject: FAQ: alt.music.tmbg
Followup-To: poster
Date: 14 Dec 1993 23:27:06 GMT
Organization: BIOSCI International Newsgroups for Molecular Biology
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Summary: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions about They Might Be Giants
Xref: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu alt.music.tmbg:3083 rec.music.info:2732 alt.answers:1424 news.answers:15811

Archive-name: tmbg-faq
Last-modified: 30 November 1993
Subject: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
From: John Relph <[e-mail]>

This message contain the answers to some Frequently Asked Questions
(FAQ) often seen in postings to the They Might Be Giants mailing list
and the "alt.music.tmbg" newsgroup.  It is posted to help reduce
volume in the mailing list and newsgroup and to provide hard-to-find
information of general interest.

This message includes answers to the following questions.  Ones marked
with a `+' indicate questions new to this issue; those with changes of
content since the last issue are marked by `*'.

Questions:

  1) How can I find out more about They Might Be Giants?
  2) How do I get off the mailing list?
  3) Is Dial-A-Song for real?
  4) Are there TMBG lyrics and/or archives of the list available?
  5) Where does the name "They Might Be Giants" come from?
  6) What is the "long long trailer"?
  7) Where can I get the latest TMBG discography?
  8) What does the morse code spell in "The Pencil Rain"?
  9) What are the lyrics to the bridge section in "Letterbox"?
 10) What is the dialogue in "Snowball in Hell"?
 11) Why does "Where Your Eyes Don't Go" sound so familiar?
 12) What does "Ana Ng" mean?
 13) What is the backwards message in "Which Describes How You're Feeling"?
 14) Whose face is in the video for "Put Your Hand Inside the Puppet Head"?
 15) Who are the two guys on the cover of "Lincoln"?
 16) How do I join the TMBG fan club?
 17) How did TMBG get where they are today?
 18) Who originally performed "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)"?
*19) Did TMBG write that kid's song about the sun that they sing live?
 20) Who is speaking in the song with no name? (track 13 on Miscellaneous T)
 21) What is the backwards voice saying on "I'll Sink Manhattan"?
 22) What are they wearing on their heads in the "Don't Let's Start" video?
 23) What is "Particle Man" about?
 24) I like TMBG, what other bands might I like?
 25) What is the sample at the beginning of "Boat of Car"?
 26) What are the palindromes in "I Palindrome I"?
 27) What's the backwards message at the end of "Hide Away, Folk Family"?
 28) Who is "dead uncle allotheria"?
 29) What are the lyrics of "James K. Polk"?
*30) What is "The Statue Got Me High" about?
 31) What are the missing lyrics to "Someone Keeps Moving My Chair"?
 32) What is "Purple Toupee" all about?
 33) Where did the cover of "Flood" come from?
 34) What is the Hello Recording Club and how do I join?
 35) Did you know that "Nightgown of the Sullen Moon" is a book?
 36) What is the song "Birdhouse in Your Soul" all about?
 37) Can someone tell me who Marvin Gaye and Phil Ochs are?
+38) Who originally did the song "Frankenstein" that They play at live shows?

----------------------------

Answers:

-------
1) How can I find out more about They Might Be Giants?

First, listen to all of their music.

Secondly, for tour dates, newsletters and catalogs, send $3 to:

    TMBG Information Club
    PO Box 110535
    Williamsburgh Station
    Brooklyn, NY 11211

Thirdly, read this file.

Fourthly, you can join the They Might Be Giants mailing list.  The
mailing list is for the discussion of the music and recordings of They
Might Be Giants (the band and the cereal).  The mailing list is
distributed as both a "bounce" list, in which every message posted to
the list gets sent out individually, and a "digest" list, in which all
the messages that day are compiled into one large "digest" message.

To join the list, send a message to

    <[e-mail]>

This is an automated server, called MajorDomo.  You will probably
receive a message back within a few minutes instructing you on how to
use the service.  Please be patient with the response time.  Although
it may say that you have been subscribed, the database sometimes takes
a couple of days to get updated.

DO NOT SEND YOUR MESSAGE TO <[e-mail]>.  Also
don't send to <[e-mail]> as the
administrator will just tell you to send mail to the super.org
address.

And lastly, you can read the Alternative Newsgroup "alt.music.tmbg".
If your site carries the Alternative USENET News groups ("alt" groups)
then you can read this newsgroup.  Check with your local system
administrator or consultant for details.

-------
2) How do I get off the mailing list?

Send a message to <[e-mail]> to have your
name removed from the They Might Be Giants mailing list.

Once again, this is the automated server so you have to send the
appropriate commands to it.  For example if you wanted to unsubscribe
from the digest list, mail to the above address with the following in
the body:

    UNSUBSCRIBE they-might-be [e-mail]

DO NOT SEND YOUR MESSAGE TO <[e-mail]>.

Thank you for your mind.

-------
3) Is Dial-A-Song for real?

Yes, it is.  You can get all sorts of neat-o information and music by
calling Dial-A-Song at 718/387.6962 (in the good ole U.S. of A.), and
remember, it's free when you call from work!

-------
4) Are there TMBG lyrics and/or archives of the list available?

Yes, TMBG lyrics, pictures, discography, and other items of interest
are available for anonymous ftp at insti.physics.sunysb.edu
[129.49.21.110], in the "/pub/tmbg" directory.

Lyrics to TMBG songs are also available for anonymous ftp at Dave
Datta's ftp site at ftp.uwp.edu.  They are in the directory
"/pub/music/lyrics/files/they.might.be.giants".

-------
5) Where does the name "They Might Be Giants" come from?

"They Might Be Giants" is the name of a film starring George C. Scott,
as a classic paranoiac who thinks he's Sherlock Holmes, and Joanne
Woodward, as his psychiatrist Dr. Watson.

John Linnell explains: "It's the name of a movie made in the early
seventies.  We wanted a name that was outward-looking and paranoid."

-------
6) What is the "long long trailer"?

"The Long Long Trailer" is a film starring Lucille Ball and Desi
Arnaz.  They take a trip towing their trailer behind them.  The dishes
get broken.  The car keeps driving.  Nobody tries to save her because
Desi can't hear her in the trailer.

-------
7) Where can I get the latest TMBG discography?

Send e-mail to John Relph <[e-mail]> and he'll send you the
latest version.  It is also available in the TMBG archives (see above)
and in Dave Datta's music ftp archives at cs.uwp.edu.

-------
8) What does the Morse code spell in "The Pencil Rain"?

Ben Nicholson <[e-mail]> writes:

    Anyway, my girlfriend got all the letters, but she couldn't make
    out what it said.  She then read me the sequence and I recognized
    it from my high school Spanish class.  The message:

    Ay, Ay, Ay, Ay, canta y no llores

    It is a Spanish folk song translated the first line means "Ay, Ay,
    Ay, Ay, sing and don't cry."

Dave Zobel <[e-mail]> adds that the song is "'Cielito
Lindo,' which some folks may recognize as the song once sung by the
Frito Bandito."

Sadiye Guler <[e-mail]> adds:

    "Cielito Lindo" translates to "Pretty Little Sky"

    and i say, there we go!

    . the spanish song is saying "don't cry pretty little sky"
    . our song is "pencil rain", and the rain is how skies cry, right?
      i mean as a commonly used metaphor
    . so, the bullet/pencil rain is the sky's tears, and the morse
      code says "sing and don't cry" to the sky.

    i take it as an antiwar message, ironically morse-coded by gun
    shot noises.

HEY!!! <[e-mail]> responds:

    Gunshots?  sorry to bring it up again but it sounds NOTHING like
    gunshots...

-------
9) What are the lyrics to the bridge section in "Letterbox"?

Jimmymeister <[e-mail]> writes:

I posted a question about the Letterbox bridge several months ago. Here's
the compiled response I got:

    To late or soon to make lots of bad love and there's no time for sorrow.
    Run around in the rain with a hole in the brain till tomo-rrooooow.

-------
10) What is the dialogue in "Snowball in Hell"?

Ted Rathkopf <[e-mail]> writes:

    Paul: I didn't expect to find a salesman drinking coffee this
      late in the morning.  How long you been here, Joe?

    Joe:  I don't know.  I guess 30, 45 minutes maybe.  Why do you
      ask?

    Paul: You must be making a lot of sales.  Piling up a good
      income.

    Joe:  Ohhhhaaaa I'm doing alright.  I could do better, but....
      Ohhhahaha I get it Paul.  Back on that old Time Is Money
      kick, right?

    Paul: Not back on it Joe, still on it.

-------
11) Why does "Where Your Eyes Don't Go" sound so familiar?

The bridge part is the melody to "Someone's in the Kitchen with Dinah", and
the final section seems to be a twisted mixture of the theme to "Perry
Mason" and the theme to "Mayberry R.F.D."

-------
12) What does "Ana Ng" mean?

Derek Thomas interviews John Flansburgh in the 8/90 THROTTLE magazine:

    JF: Ng is a Vietnamese name.  The song is about someone who's
    thinking about a person on the exact opposite side of the
    world.  John looked at a globe and figured out that if Ana Ng
    is in Vietnam and the person is on the other side of the
    world, then it must be written by someone in Peru.

Jon McIntyre <[e-mail]> says, "John F is wrong;
it's a Chinese name.  `Nguyen' and `Ngoc' are examples of similar
Vietnamese names."

-------
13) What is the backwards message in "Which Describes How You're Feeling"?

Andrew Weiskopf <[e-mail]> writes:

    In the song "Which Describes How You're Feeling," there is a
    passage which has been cleverly recorded backwards. Our
    research staff has decoded the secret message in the song: and
    now, you will be the first to know these all-too-powerful
    words of wisdom....

    It is as follows:

    THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS WANTED TO INCLUDE A VERSE ABOUT THE
    SUFFERING PEOPLE OF THE WORLD, BUT WE COULDN'T FIGURE OUT
    WHERE TO PUT IT INTO THE SONG.

Note: This message only appears on the DEMO version of "Which Describes How
You're Feeling".

-------
14) Whose face is in the video for "Put Your Hand Inside the Puppet Head"?

William Allen White.  His face was also used for props at TMBG concerts,
appears on the CD single of "Don't Let's Start", appears in the "Don't
Let's Start" video, and otherwise can be found associated with TMBG.

WHITE, William Allen, American writer and journalist: b. Emporia, Kans.,
Feb. 10, 1868; d. there, Jan. 29, 1944.  He grew up in El Dorado, Kans., 60
miles south of Emporia, studied at the University of Kansas (1886-1890) but
did not graduate, quitting instead to become business manager of the El
Dorado _Republican_; he was editorial manager on the Kansas City _Star_
from 1892 to 1895.  In 1895 he bought the Emporia _Gazette_, which he
edited and published during the rest of his life; through its columns he
became famous throughout the United States as "the sage of Emporia," a
genial and warmly human person who epitomized the middle-class Midwest; a
Republican and a liberal who endeared himself to all, including those who
differed with him, because of his integrity, tolerance, and understanding;
a writer of great versatility and appeal.  His editorial, "What's the
Matter with Kansas?" (Aug. 15, 1896), attacking the People's Party
(Populists), attracted nationwide attention and helped the Republicans
elect William McKinley to the presidency.  His essay, "Mary White," on the
death of his daughter, aged 17, in 1921, in a riding accident is considered
a classic.  For his editorial, "To an Anxious Friend" (July 27, 1922) he
received a 1923 Pulitzer Prize.  His books include collected short stories
and sketches, such as _The Real Issue and Other Stories_ (1896), _The Court
of Boyville_ (1899), and _In Our Town_ (1906); novels -- _A Certain Rich
Man_ (1909), _The Martial Adventures of Henry and Me_ (1918), and _In the
Heart of a Fool_ (1918); a biography of Woodrow Wilson (1924) and two of
Calvin Coolidge (1925, 1938); collected newspaper writings -- _The Editor
and His People_, selected by Helen O. Mahin (1924) and _Forty Years on Main
Street_, compiled by Russell H. Fitzgibbon (1937); and other works such as
_Masks in a Pageant_, political sketches (1928), and _The Changing Midwest_
(1939).  His autobiography was published in 1946 and reissued in 1951.

[Consult Hinshaw, David, _The Man from Kansas_ (New York 1945); Johnson,
Walter, ed., _Selected Letters, 1899-1943_ (New York 1947); id., _William
Allen White's America_ (New York 1947).]

Thanks to John Iacoletti <[e-mail]>.

-------
15) Who are the two guys on the cover of "Lincoln"?

John and John's grandfathers: Louis T. Linnell and (ahem) General Hospital.

According to the Fall, 1991 issue of "They".

Thanks to John Iacoletti <[e-mail]>.

-------
16) How do I join the TMBG fan club?

The TMBG Information Club publishes a printed newsletter (which usually
comes out twice a year), mails out post cards announcing tour dates, new
releases, etc. and distributes the TMBG mail order catalog (from which you
can order t-shirts, posters, discs, tapes & even vinyl records and other
neat stuff with the words "They Might Be Giants" printed on it).  To
receive the newsletter, catalog & post card mailings for a year, send your
name & address plus a check or money order for $3 (U.S. funds only) made
payable to They Might Be Giants to cover postage & handling to:

    TMBG Information Club
    PO Box 110535
    Williamsburgh Station
    Brooklyn, NY 11211
    U.S.A.

PLEASE DON'T SEND CASH!  If you prefer you may substitute $3 worth of U.S.
postage stamps or International Postal Reply Coupons.  You don't need to
send self-addressed stamped envelopes, just print or type your name and
address on a piece of paper.  College students and others who move around a
lot please not: please give us a permanent address if possible and keep us
up to date on address changes.  Please be patient -- it may take a month or
two for us to send material, but we will send it.

-------
17) How did TMBG get where they are today?

The following message appears courtesy of Smokin' Bo Orloff and the TMBG
Information Club.

Following is the text of the APOLLO 18 TMBG band bio:

      A BRIEF HISTORY OF THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS

John Linnell and John Flansburgh have known each other since grammar
school. They became friends in high school in Sudbury, Massachusetts, where
they worked on the school paper and recorded some songs together. After
high school they moved to different states. Linnell played in the Rhode
Island band, the Mundanes.  While in college in Ohio, Flansburgh played in
a couple of hobby bands. Both moved to Brooklyn in 1981, converging on an
apartment building in Park Slope.

Flansburgh: "We arrived as most of the New York bands we were interested in
were going national or breaking up. We kind of missed the scene." They
started working together on home recordings pooling instruments and
equipment and playing on each other's songs. By the mid-eighties the Lower
East Side club scene was heating up again, but the focus was on acts very
different to punk rock. "We were on bills with a lot of avant-garde
musicians and performance artists, which was challenging and exciting - and
it definitely influenced us. But we always seemed very much like a rock
band by comparison, and that's why it seems so inaccurate tag us with the
same kinds of labels."

As for the band's name, John Linnell explains: "It's the name of a movie
made in the early seventies. We wanted a name that was outward-looking and
paranoid."

While the band was getting noticed on the downtown scene for their live
performances, many people in and outside the New York area discovered They
Might Be Giants through their Dial-A-Song service. Years before any other
fan line, They Might Be Giants' service offered songs recorded especially
for their phone line, and the only charge is that of a regular call to
Brooklyn.  Linnell says, "It's a difficult medium of expression. A lot of
sounds just can't be heard over the phone, and of course if you hit that
sustained note which sounds like a beep, the machine ends the song right
there."

After their 1985 demo tape was reviewed in People magazine, Hoboken's
Bar/None label approached the band about releasing an album, and a quick
succession of events vaulted the band into the national spotlight. Their
self-titled first album was widely praised and a solid commercial success,
selling over 100,000 copies in its first year of release. Through a series
of striking and creative videos the Giants became MTV regulars - a rare
feat for a band on an independent label.

They Might Be Giants began touring nationally with their two-man show, and
started to gain an enthusiastic national following.  Flansburgh: "Most rock
shows are very schematic - they're about bigness. By comparison, our show
probably seems very stripped down. We wear our street clothes on stage, and
we talk to the audience. We play a few different instruments to keep things
moving along, but we try to keep it simple. We'd rather people notice the
words than a laser show." After the release of their second album, LINCOLN,
the band signed with Elektra records and in 1990 put out their enormously
successful FLOOD lp.

1990 saw They Might Be Giants' first major label single, "Birdhouse In Your
Soul," become a top ten hit in the UK. They toured around the world and
performed over 160 shows in North America, Europe, Australia and Japan. The
band made numerous television and radio appearances, including The Tonight
Show, where they played with Doc Severinsen, Today, and Late Night With
David Letterman.

They Might Be Giants still rehearse in John Flansburgh's apartment in
Brooklyn.

-------
18) Who originally performed "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)"?

The expert at Sounds Enjoyable, a record store in Sacramento,
California, informs us that The Four Lads were the first group to
record this song, the record having been released in 1951.

Joe Koenen <[e-mail]> writes:

'Istanbul' [Not Constantinople] Was ... performed, and recorded by the
Ames Brothers, circa 1953.

-------
19) Did TMBG write that kid's song about the sun that they sing live?

No, it's from a 1959 educational record.  They Might Be Giants' studio
record of the song is now available on a single, called "Sun Song".

Chip Olson <[e-mail]> writes:

     "The sun is a mass of incandescent gas,
      A gigantic nuclear furnace,
      Where hydrogen is built into helium
      At a temperature of millions of degrees."

This is verbatim from a record I had when I was a kid called "Space Songs"..
essentially a bunch of cutesy kiddie songs teaching basic stuff about space.
Other titles on that record included "Beep-beep...beep-beep... here comes
a satellite..." and "Zoom-away zoom in our rocket ship..."

Samantha Lee Miller <[e-mail]> writes:

I found a copy of the original "Space Songs" LP, famed for the song
"Why does the sun shine" covered by TMBG. The album is amazingly
TMBG-ish, and not only for WDTSS, which TMBG covered almost verbatim.
No date on the album, but I assume it's post-Sputnik 1950s.  It is
truly a fascinating piece of our musical heritage.

Interesting facts:
Singers: Tom Glazer and Dottie Evans
Lyricists: Hy Zaret and Lou Singer
Label: Motivation Records
Series: Singing Science Records (proud publishers of Energy and Motion
Songs, Experiment Songs, Nature Songs, and Weather Songs)

-------
20) Who is speaking in the song with no name? (track 13 on Miscellaneous T)

This song was originally released as one of the B-sides to "(She Was
a) Hotel Detective".

Tess <[e-mail]> writes:

Dial-a-Song was and still is Flans' answering machine.  In the old days,
before they might have been giants, people would leave messages after
listening to a song.  That is where the woman from Misc T comes from.  I
guess she is just some random message that was left on John's answering
machine.  Once, the 94th precinct of the police called in to say how great
they thought the guys were.  and left a message.

[And that's where the message in "I'll Sink Manhattan" comes from as well.]

-------
21) What is the backwards voice saying on "I'll Sink Manhattan"?

"Cat." <[e-mail]> "had the enormous good fortune
to interview John F. for The Cornell Daily", and John says:

    It's actually a New York Cop who left a message on
    Dial-A-Song, saying [thick New Yawk accent] "John and
    John... the NYPD love you!"  It was so strange because...
    it's really weird having, like, POLICEMEN telling you
    things like this...

Eric Peterson <[e-mail]> writes:

The message is: "Thanks a lot guys."  "From the N.Y.P.D."  "We love ya."
It's actually three separate messages; the first is at normal speed
and the other two are slowed down a bit.

-------
22) What are they wearing on their heads in the "Don't Let's Start" video?

Dylan Wilbanks <[e-mail]> writes:

Rolled up carpets.  The place they're at is the site of the 1964
World's Fair in Queens, which would later be immortalized in "Ana Ng".

-------
23) What is "Particle Man" about?

"Particle Man" concerns the nature of the life, the universe and
everything.  Triangle man has been construed to represent the Holy
Trinity.  Triangle Man has also been interpreted to represent change,
religion, the homosexual community, and is a reference to a quantum
physics phenomenon as well.

Actually, "Particle Man" is a song.  Any meaning gleaned from its
lyrics are completely in the mind of the listener.  All meanings are
correct.  All meanings are bunk.

Jens Alfke <[e-mail]> writes:

    More quantum-mechanical theorizing on "Particle Man". The song
    says "What's he like? It's not important" which makes sense
    for a particle; QM asserts that subatomic particles have only
    a few constant properties (mass, charge, spin...) and beyond
    that are completely featureless and indistinguishable.  I.e.
    any two electrons are identical.

-------
24) I like TMBG, what other bands might I like?

At least one reader suggested Barenaked Ladies.

I might suggest (E).  He (E) has one album out, entitled "A Man Called
(E)", which is mostly straightforward pop music, but it has some funny
bits, notably the short "Concerto for Toy Piano and Orchestra".  The
album has interesting instrumentation, good production, and humorous
lyrics, and is quite enjoyable to listen to.

The lyrics of "Twisting" suggest The dBs and the Young Fresh Fellows, and
the latter band opened for some recent TMBG live shows.

Darwin Grosse <[e-mail]> writes:

    Brave Combo started out as a party band in the North Texas State
    University area.  Rockin' polka versions pop and classic rock
    tunes, as well as incredible original tunes.  For those who are
    into the "hot polka" genre, the early albums/tapes are the best
    bet.

    While I'd agree that Brave Combo would be interesting to the
    general TMBG fan, I'd tend to push their earliest albums and
    tapes as the most appropriate.

WretchAwry <[e-mail]> writes:

    Oh oh! Another group that belongs there is Boston's Hypnotic
    Clambake, which is somewhat of a cross between TMBG, Camper Van
    Beethoven, Boiled in Lead, and 3 Mustaphas 3.  The CD I bought at
    the BiL show is called Square Dance Messiah and is very aptly
    described as "It's like a bar mitzvah on acid" and "...take their
    tradition with a grain of salt -- quite likely some lemon and
    tequila, too."  An address for info is:

    Hypnotic Clambake
    P.O Box 121
    Roslindale, MA  02131

Deanna Rubin <[e-mail]> writes:

    I did buy the Drink Me tape, and thought it was pretty cool.
    They're not as wacky or zany as TMBG, but I still think they have
    a nice folksy-gone-nuts sound to them.

Steven Collins <[e-mail]> writes:

    Speaking of other cool groups TMBG fans might like, I recommend
    King Missile.  They can be a little harder-rockin, but I muchly
    enjoy their strange and wonderful lyrics.

Thomas Wallace Colthurst <[e-mail]> writes:

    TMBG fans might also enjoy Color Blind James Experience, a band
    loosely affiliated with the Church of the SubGenius.  Their
    newest album is entitled "Noises in the Basement."

An unnamed contributer <[e-mail]> writes:

    If I can add to the list of "if you like TMBG" things, try:
    King Missile (buy everything they've ever made NOW!)
    Too Much Joy (not musically weird, but funny lyrics)
    Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention (weird weird weird)
    Half Japanese (short, often bizarre songs)
    Daniel Johnston (insane man who's hilarious to listen to)
    Robyn Hitchcock (surreal lyrics, with nice folky music)
    The Soft Boys (Robyn's old band, with a more rock/blues sound)
    Primus (lyrics like children's stories, with a strong bass/funk sound)

    Please, no flames, becos I realize that most of these groups don't
    sound exactly like They Might Be Giants... but all of them are fun
    to listen to.

Richard C Miske <[e-mail]> writes:

    The TWO members [of Ween] have similar names (Dean and Gene Ween),
    and they have lots of short songs on the album and bizarre lyrics
    (Flies on my Dick?!?), so in that way they're pretty similar.  If
    They [Might Be Giants] had an Evil Twin, my vote would be for Ween.

Jason Proctor <[e-mail]> writes:

    another group i like and recommend is Too Much Joy.  they have 3
    albums that i've found: "Son of Sam I Am", "Cereal Killers", and a
    new one "Mutiny".

Jeffrey P. Adams <[e-mail]> adds:

    So, along the lines of related groups, may I recommend Eggplant.
    I particularly like their album "Sad Astrology".  They certainly
    have the same sort of fresh & humorous approach as the Johns, but
    as has been mentioned, everyone is unique.

Andrew Raphael <[e-mail]> adds:

Tlot Tlot, from Melbourne Australia.  John & John stole their album
from a radio station in the USA last month, I hear.  Their album?
"pistolbuttsa'twinkle".

And John Relph <[e-mail]> opines:

    The Pooh Sticks are wonderfully cheesy and inane, you gotta love
    the way they take bubblegum pop and twist it into an erotic ear
    feast.  Check out their latest albums "Million Seller" and "The
    Great White Wonder".  The former has some wonderful music on it.
    Very silly, and very very good.

Keep your ears and mind open.

-------
25) What is the sample at the beginning of "Boat of Car"?

Johnny Cash, sampled from the chorus of the song "Daddy Sang Bass" (not the
fish).  We think he was sampled from the first line of the chorus, but
others are not so sure.

Andrew Russell Mutchler <[e-mail]> writes:

    The name of the song is "Daddy Sang Bass" (words & music by Carl
    Perkins), which is also the first line of the chorus.  Yes, I know
    that's not "Daddy'll sing bass," but the entire chorus is as follows:

    Daddy sang bass, Mama sang tenor,
    Me and little brother would join right in there.
    Singin' seems to help a troubled soul.
    One of these days and it won't be long,
    I'll rejoin them in a song.
    I'm gonna join the fam'ly circle at the throne.
    No, the circle won't be broken
    Bye and bye, Lord, bye and bye.
    Daddy'll sing bass, Mama'll sing tenor,
    Me and little brother will join right in there
    In the sky, Lord, in the sky.

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26) What are the palindromes in "I Palindrome I"?

In the bridge section of the song, the lyrics are a WORD palindrome
(rather than the usual LETTER palindromes):

    "Son I am able", she said "though you scare me."
    "Watch", said I
    "beloved," I said "watch me scare you though",said she
    "able and I, Son"

After "see the spring on the grandfather clock unwinding" the
background lyrics are a well-known palindrome: "Egad, a base tone
denotes a bad age!"

john <[e-mail]> writes:

    one you all missed is the background chorus of
    "man o nam"
    or
    "man oh man"

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27) What's the backwards message at the end of "Hide Away, Folk Family"?

Thanks to Joshua John Buergel <[e-mail]> for this answer:

The secret message is total gibberish.  John and John just babbled into the
mic while recording it backwards.

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28) Who is "dead uncle allotheria"?

Jennie Larkin <[e-mail]> writes:

OK, I now know who dead uncle allotheria is.

Class Mammalia is broken up into 2 subclasses: Prototheria and Theria.

Subclass Prototheria is broken up into 2 Infraclasses: ALLOTHERIA and
Eotheria.  Infraclass ALLOTHERIA has 2 orders:
 1) Order Monotremata- The duckbill and spiny anteaters of
    Australia & New Zealand.
 2) Order Multitubercalata (extinct)- Jurassic to Eocene forms
    (think dinosaurs) perhaps comparable in habits to the later
    rodents.

The definition for Infraclass ALLOTHERIA is "Forms with widened braincases
and no Jugals".

The definition for subclass Prototheria is "Primitive mammals defined by
certain technical characters, such as the small alisphenoid bone and no
tritubercular teeth."

Subclass Theria ("Normal mammals with well-developed alisphenoids") is
subdivided into 3 Infraclasses:
 1) Patriotheria- small, primitive ancestral forms
 2) Infraclass Metatheria, which is inclusive of Order MARSUPIALIA
 3) Infraclass Eutheria- the higher mammals, with an efficient
    placenta.

Any more questions?

To which Andrew Raphael <[e-mail]> adds:

> 1) Order Monotremata- The duckbill and spiny anteaters of
>    Australia & New Zealand.

That should be the platypus and echidnas of Australia & Papua New Guinea.
No monotremes in New Zealand.  Their only native mammals are bats,
which are placental mammals.

> 2) Order Multitubercalata (extinct)- Jurassic to Eocene forms
>    (think dinosaurs) perhaps comparable in habits to the later
>    rodents.

Nothing to do with dinosaurs.  Multitubercalata were mammals living at
the same time as dinosaurs.  Theria means beast, but sauria means lizard.
The mammals & dinosaurs evolved at about the same time.

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29) What are the lyrics of "James K. Polk"?

Richard (Rick) Yanco <[e-mail]> writes authoritatively:

    In 1844, the Democrats were split
    The three nominees for the presidential candidate
    Were Martin Van Buren, a former president and an abolitionist
    James Buchanan, a moderate
    Louis Cass, a general and expansionist
    From Nashville came a dark horse riding up
    He was James K. Polk, Napoleon of the Stump

    Austere, severe, he held few people dear
    His oratory filled his foes with fear
    The factions soon agreed
    He's just the man we need
    To bring about victory
    Fulfill our manifest destiny
    And annex the land the Mexicans command
    And when the votes were cast the winner was
    Mister James K. Polk, Napoleon of the Stump

    In four short years he met his every goal
    He seized the whole southwest from Mexico
    Made sure the tarriffs fell
    And made the English sell the Oregon territory
    He built an independent treasury
    Having done all this he sought no second term
    But precious few have mourned the passing of
    Mister James K. Polk, our eleventh president
    Young Hickory, Napoleon of the Stump

"Napoleon of the Stump" was one of his nicknames, according to
Joseph Nathan Kane's _Facts About the Presidents_.

I validated most of the song, and there's very little poetic licence
employed.  The only major "error," as it were, was that the top
nominees on the first ballot were Martin VAN BUREN (146 votes),
Lewis CASS (83), Cave Johnson (24), John Caldwell Calhoun (6), James
BUCHANAN (4), Levi Woodbury (2), John Stewart (1), John Knox POLK
(0).  That is, there were *seven* nominees, not three, and Buchanan
was fifth.

On the eighth ballot it went CASS (114), VAN BUREN (104), POLK (4),
Calhoun and BUCHANAN (2 each).

On the ninth, Polk was nominated unanimously.

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30) What is "The Statue Got Me High" about?

Andrew Weiskopf <[e-mail]> writes:

    Our French Literature specialist has brought to our attention the
    Moliere work called "Don Juan." The relationships between this work
    and the TMBG song are too numerous to ignore:
    "And though I once preferred a human being's company,
     They pale before the monolith that towers over me..."
    Don Juan, the king of all lovers, sees a statue one day, when
    suddenly, the statue strikes up a conversation with him. The two
    have a good rapport, and so Don INVITES THE STATUE OVER FOR DINNER,
    as opposed to one of his many LADY FRIENDS.

    "The statue got me high..."
    During dinner, our hero suddenly realizes that his dinner guest is
    not the kind person he originally met. But before Don can run away,
    the statue HYPNOTIZES him, and makes him sit back down at the
    dinner table.

    "...it killed me..."
    The statue KILLED Don Juan. 'Nuff said.

    "The statue made me fry..."
    Then, the statue sent him down to HELL, to FRY for all eternity.

    "And what they'll find is just a statue standing where..."
    Had angry villagers busted down the door, I suppose all they would
    have seen was A STATUE STANDING WHERE the statue got Don Juan
    hypnotized...

    Pretty incredible, huh? All you TMBG/Moliere fans- is there any
    truth to this?!?! Did all of this really happen in the same book?
    If so, one cannot deny that there must be some creedence to this
    theory.

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31) What are the missing lyrics to "Someone Keeps Moving My Chair"?

    Mr. Horrible / Mr. Horrible / We're not done with you yet Mr.
    Horrible / You have to try on these pants so the Ugliness Men /
    can decide if they're just as embarrassing as we think. / We
    have to be sure about this.

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32) What is "Purple Toupee" all about?

As interpreted by:
    Jens Alfke <[e-mail]>
    Justin <[e-mail]>
    Sadiye Guler <[e-mail]>
    Melinda M Hale <[e-mail]>
    Guy Jacobson <[e-mail]>
    Tracy Kimbrel <[e-mail]>
    John Relph <[e-mail]>
    William J. Schmidt <[e-mail]>

I remember, the year I went to camp,
I heard about some lady named Selma and some blacks

    Civil rights demonstrations in Selma, Alabama, and the fact
    that Rosa Parks, who would not move to the back of the bus,
    is a black woman.

somebody put their finger in the president's ears
it wasn't too much later they came out with Johnson's Wax

    During the Johnson administration, and perhaps before, the
    following were a popular type of stupid riddle:

        Q: How do you make a Venetian blind?
        A: Poke his eyes out!

        Q: How do you make Johnson's wax?
        A: Put your finger in the president's ear!

    Johnson's Wax is a polishing product made by Johnson and Johnson.
    There was specifically a famous photgraph that was published at
    the time, showing Johnson holding this hound dog by the ears.
    I think it made a stir because it made the president look like
    a buffoon (the strange pose plus LBJ's own sizable ears).

    Could be a reference to "finger on the trigger" and the
    assassination of President John F. Kennedy.  Also could refer
    to Johnson's implacable attitude towards continuing the Vietnam
    War, despite the mood of the country, advice of aides, etc.

I remember the book depository where they crowned the King of Cuba

    The book depository where Lee Harvey Oswald, JFK's assassin,
    hid, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and of course the Cuban
    missile crisis (with JFK in office).  Also since Oswald was
    supposedly involved in a CIA plan to overthrow Castro (the King
    of Cuba).

That's all I can think of, but I'm sure there's something else,
way down inside me I can hear it coming back

Purple toupee will show the way when summer brings you down
Purple toupee and gold lame will turn your brain around

    "Purple Toupee" could be a play on both the title and the
    music of Prince's song "Raspberry Beret".

    Purple is widely regarded as the color of psychadelia.  Jimi
    Hendrix' biggest smash hit was, of course, Purple Haze.  Jimi
    didn't wear a toupee, but had a wild hairstyle, and wore gold
    lame (at the same time as every color of the rainbow; He
    certainly had a unique sense of fashion).  Purple Haze and
    some of the rest of Jimi's debut album are definitely about
    drugs.  There was a variety of LSD known as Purple Haze,
    though I don't know whether it was named after the song or
    vice versa.  Another possible (drug-free) interpretation of
    "turn your brain around": Jimi was and still is considered one
    of the most (if not the most) influential rock musicians in
    history.  He turned the music world upside-down.

Chinese people were fighting in the park
we tried to help them fight, no one appreciated that

    But it seems to me that one of the leading Asian generals on
    one side of either the Vietnam or Korean War was named General
    Park.  I've always thought that's what the "park" here was
    referring to.  This may also be a reference to the fact that
    the USA "interfered" in the Vietnam War.

Martin X was mad when they outlawed bell bottoms
ten years later they were sharing the same cell

    Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. again, and Malcolm X (ten years
    later they were both dead).

I shouted out "Free the expo '67" 'till they stomped on my hair,

    Abby Hoffman and the Chicago 7 were widely regarded as
    political prisoners following their arrest for disrupting the
    Republican National Convention in 1968.  This probably is a
    confused reference to "Free the Chicago 7".  Also a possible
    reference to the De Gaulle's "Libre Quebec" speech at Expo '67,
    in Montreal, Quebec.

and they told me I was fat

    When the Beatles first arrived in the US during the British
    Invasion, John was just a trifle porky.  The newspapers
    immediately dubbed him "the fat Beatle".

Now I'm very big, I'm a big important man
and the only thing that's different is underneath my hat.

Purple toupee is here to stay
after the hair has gone away
the purple brigade is marching from the grave

    "Hair" was a popular and influential Broadway musical, from which
    came the songs "Aquarius" (the dawning of the age of aquarius / the
    spawning of the cage and aquarium), "Let the Sun Shine In", and of
    course, "Hair" (give me a head with hair / long beautiful hair).

Louise <[e-mail]> writes:

People who saw John&John in the new york area prior to 1988 may remember
that Purple Toupee was ALWAYS dedicated to Joe Franklin, a local TV
personality whose very-late-night show was a celebration of local. rather
Times-Square of the '50s talent...comics, singers, minor celebs etc.

Joe, who just retired last year, would be very generous with his air time,
and it was on "The Joe Franklin Show" that John & John first met the
etherealized waves.--back in '83-84, I beleive.

Anyway, if you ever saw Joe, you'd know that "Purple Toupee" and "gold
lame" are both appropriate to the show's dress code.

The show had been on in the NYC area since forever, and by the '80s was the
site of a lot of cultural nostalgia for those of us who were little kids in
the real early 60s, as the Johns were. "Lady named Selma and some blacks"
and the President's ear joke are about the way that Big Current Events
sound to a first grader in 1964.  And The Joe Franklin Show always seemed
stuck right about there.

For those of you who caught the 7-night extravaganza in NYC last year, you
may remember that Joe Franklin introduced TMBG on the final night, and
briefly reminisced about their early days. This was the night when the show
that consisted of the exact replication of the first album (the Bar-None/
Rodney Alan album). The show brought back extremely fond memories of
crowded nights at Darinka. (Anyone else remember Darinka?)

-------
33) Where did the cover of "Flood" come from?

Susan Comninel <[e-mail]> contributed this:

The cover of "Flood" is from a photograph by Margaret Bourke-White
(1904-1971) from _LIFE Photographers: Their Careers and Favorite
Pictures_ by Stanley Rayfield (Doubleday, 1957):

  "An original LIFE staff photographer, Margaret Bourke-White made the
cover picture for LIFE's first issue.  She was the first woman
photographer in World War II to be accredited to the U.S. Armed
Forces, the first authorized to fly on a combat mission.  She was
torpedoed in the Mediterranean and was the only non-Russian
photographer on the Russian front.  Margaret Bourke-White was the last
person to interview Gandhi, six hours before he was assassinated.
Because she was a dangerous woman to have in Korea with a camera, the
Communists put a price on her head.  Margaret Bourke-White's quarter
of a million pictures are a major contribution to the revolution in
photography which has taken place in LIFE's first 20 years.  Margaret
Bourke-White has written several books and received many major
photographic and civic awards."

-------
34) What is the Hello Recording Club and how do I join?

The HELLO Recording Club is a new record company run by John
Flansburgh.  The Hello Recording Club releases ten CD singles by
different bands per year.  Some current releases include CD singles by
The Nelories, Brian Dewan, and Flat Old World.  Some forthcoming
releases may include singles by Frank Black and Joshua Fried.

To join mail $41 (check or money order) to:

    Hello Recording Club,
    PO Box 551,
    Palisades, New York 10964

or call 1-800-HELLO-41 to order using your credit card.

For an additional $5 you receive the 1985 They Might Be Giants demo
tape.  The $5 is donated to the People with AIDS coalition.

NY residents add 8.25% sales tax

-------
35) Did you know that "Nightgown of the Sullen Moon" is a book?

Martin Holger Peters <[e-mail]> writes:

Thanks to my handy-dandy Books in Print computer at work (the general
bookstore on campus, if you must know), I found this out:

Nightgown of the Sullen Moon; author Nancy Willard, illus. David McPhail

32 pages Paperback copyright 9/87 $4.95 Hardcover copyright 9/83 $14.95

Publisher: Harcourt Brace & Company     phone orders: 1-800-346-8648

paper ISBN 0152574301   hard ISBN 0152574298

-------
36) What is the song "Birdhouse in Your Soul" all about?

Jens Alfke <[e-mail]> writes:

    The narrator of "Birdhouse" is of course a blue canary-shaped
    nightlight.

    I'll quote:

    "...but I'm a little glowing friend..."
    "...bluecanary in the outlet by the light switch..."
    "...my name is bluecanary, one word, spelled L-I-T-E..."
    "...there's a picture opposite me, of my primitive ancestry..."
    "...so keep the nightlight on inside the birdhouse in your soul..."

    All this describes a blue canary-shaped nightlight plugged into an
    electrical outlet, on the wall of a (bed)room, opposite which is a
    picture of a lighthouse.  [The lighthouse is a type of nightlight.]

    The whole metaphor makes sense: a glowing nightlight [in the shape of a]
    bird in the birdhouse in your soul, making you feel safe from danger.

David Levine <[e-mail]> adds:

    There's a picture opposite me of my primitive ancestry
    Which stood on rocky shores and kept our beaches shipwreck free
    Though I respect that a lot, I'd be fired if that were my job
    After killing Jason off and countless screaming Argonauts.

    That is, the canary-shaped nightlight *would be* fired if he
    *were* a lighthouse.  In the lyric, he imagines that if he'd been
    on the job when Jason and the Argonauts came by, they would
    surely have all been smashed on the rocks below, and he would
    have been fired for it.

-------
37) Can someone tell me who Marvin Gaye and Phil Ochs are?

Don Marks <[e-mail]> writes:

Phil Ochs is only one of the best folk singers ever.  His songs are
caustic, sarcastic, touching, hard-hitting, funny, and usually right
on the mark.  If you have an aversion to 60's left-wing politics, you
may want to avoid him, but I'd recommend picking up the CD compilation
"There But For Fortune" which contains some great music.  TMBG covered
Phil's "One More Parade" on the Rubiyaat compilation.

Marvin Gaye is a soul singer from years gone by, but I'll let someone
who knows his stuff better fill in the details.

Both are dead now, sadly.

Bo Orloff <[e-mail]> writes:

Marvin Gaye was a quite famous & successful soul music (Motown)
singer/musician/songwriter. He was shot (and killed) by his father.

Representative works:

I Heard It Through The Grapevine
What's Going On?
Sexual Healing

Phil Ochs was a somewhat less famous & successful folk/protest music
singer/musician/songwriter. He hung himself in his sister's bathroom.

Representative works:

I Ain't Marchin' Anymore
Outside of A Small Circle of Friends
Tape From California

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38) Who originally did the song "Frankenstein" that They play at live shows?

The song "Frankenstein", lately a staple of They Might Be Giants concert
performances, was originally performed by The Edgar Winter Group, from
their album _They Only Come Out At Night_.  Good title.  Positively
prescient.

-------