From: micah@stein.u.washington.edu (Micah Anderson)
Newsgroups: alt.music.tmbg,news.answers
Subject: alt.music.tmbg Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Summary: This posting contains a list of Frequently Asked Questions
        and their answers pertaining to They Might be Giants, the newsgroup,
        and the mailing list. Please read this before posting
Date: 13 Dec 92 20:50:52 GMT
Article-I.D.: u.1992Dec13.205052.29908
Reply-To: micah@mc.lcs.mit.edu
Followup-To: alt.music.tmbg
Organization: University of Washington

Archive-name: tmbg-faq
Last-Changed: 2 Dec 1992
modifications: relph@presto.ig.com

This message contain the answers to some Frequently Asked Questions
(FAQ) often seen in postings to the They Might Be Giants mailing list.
It is posted to help reduce volume in the mailing list 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 *:

  1) How do I get off this list?
  2) Is Dial-A-Song for real?
  3) Are there TMBG lyrics and/or archives of the list available?
  4) Where does the name "They Might Be Giants" come from?
  5) What is the "long long trailer"?
* 6) Where can I get the latest TMBG discography?
* 7) What does the morse code spell in "The Pencil Rain"?
  8) What are the lyrics to the bridge section in "Letterbox"?
  9) What is the dialogue in "Snowball in Hell"?
 10) Why does "Where Your Eyes Don't Go" sound so familiar?
 11) What does "Ana Ng" mean?
 12) What is the backwards message in "Which Describes How You're Feeling"?
 13) Whose face is in the video for "Put Your Hand Inside the Puppet Head"?
 14) Who are the two guys on the cover of "Lincoln"?
 15) How do I join the TMBG fan club?
 16) How did TMBG get where they are today?
 17) Who originally performed "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)"?
 18) Did TMBG write that kid's song about the sun that they sing live?
*19) Who is speaking in the song with no name? (track 13 on Miscellaneous T)
*20) What is the backwards voice saying on "I'll Sink Manhattan"?
 21) What are they wearing on their heads in the "Don't Let's Start" video?
 22) What is "Particle Man" about?
*23) I like TMBG, what other bands might I like?
 24) What is the sample at the beginning of "Boat of Car"?
 25) What are the palindromes in "I Palindrome I"?

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1) How do I get off this list?

Send a message to <they-might-be-request@gnu.ai.mit.edu> to have your
name removed from the They Might Be Giants mailing list.

DO NOT SEND YOUR MESSAGE TO <they-might-be@gnu.ai.mit.edu>.

Thank you for your mind.

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2) 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, and remember, it's free when you call from work!

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3) 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".

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4) 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."

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5) 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.

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6) Where can I get the latest TMBG discography?

Send e-mail to John Relph <relph@presto.ig.com> 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.

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

Ben Nicholson <NICHOLBP@rosevc.rose-hulman.edu> 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 <dz@mohawk.desktalk.com> adds that the song is "'Cielito
Lindo,' which some folks may recognize as the song once sung by the
Frito Bandito."

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

Jimmymeister <WILLIAJM@rosevc.rose-hulman.edu> 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.

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9) What is the dialogue in "Snowball in Hell"?

Ted Rathkopf <ccasttr@prism.gatech.edu> 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.

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10) 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."

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11) 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.

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

Andrew Weiskopf <ST891425@pip.cc.brandeis.edu> 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".

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13) 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 <johniac@hwperform.austin.ibm.com>.

-------
14) 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 <johniac@hwperform.austin.ibm.com>.

-------
15) 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 $2 (U.S. funds only) made
payable to They Might Be Giants to cover postage & handling to:

    TMBG Information Club
    PO Box 110553
    Williamsburg Station
    Brooklyn, NY 11211-0003 U.S.A.

PLEASE DON'T SEND CASH!  If you prefer you may substitute $2 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.

-------
16) 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.

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

Kenneth.Lang <kalang@cbnewsk.att.com> writes:

It was sung by the Four Lads, around the time when ol' Frank Sinatra was
starting out.  The 40's I believe.

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

Chip Olson <Castell%UMASS.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU> 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..."

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19) 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 <FMP@vax5.cit.cornell.edu> 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.]

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

"Cat." <KP3X@cornella.cit.cornell.edu> "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 <epeterso@encore.com> 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.

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

Dylan Wilbanks <wilbanks@ucsu.colorado.edu> 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".

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22) What is "Particle Man" about?

I don't know.  A reader suggested it's just a kids' song.  However,
you might have noticed that the theme is similar to the "Spider Man"
theme.

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23) 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.

Darwin Grosse <ddg@prosrv.ems.com> 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 <vickie@pilot.njin.net> 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 <drubin@philly.cerf.fred.org> 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.

Keep your ears and mind open.

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

Johnny Cash, singing "Daddy sang bass" (not the fish).  If you know
what song this is from, send in now.

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25) 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 bass tone
denotes a bad age!"

john <rejoyce@ucscb.ucsc.edu> writes:

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

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