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They Might Be Giants (First Album)

by They Might Be Giants

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1.
Everything right is wrong again Just like in The Long, Long Trailer All the dishes got broken and the car kept driving And nobody would stop to save her Wake me when it's over, touch my face Tell me every word has been erased Don't you want to know the reason Why the cupboard's not appealing Don't you get the feeling that Everything that's right is wrong again You're a weasel overcome with dinge Weasel overcome but not before the damage done The healing doesn't stop the feeling Everything right is wrong again Just like in The Long, Long Trailer All the dishes got broken and the car kept driving And nobody would stop to save her And now the song is over now And now the song is over now And now the song is over now The song is over now Everything right is wrong again Every movement false, every four is waltz again Every five and dime's been gained and spent Tell me that you like my float upstream Draw the line dividing laugh and scream You know everything that I know so I know You've heard the voice that makes the silent noise That says that Everything that's right is wrong again You're a weasel overcome with dinge Weasel overcome but not before the damage done The healing doesn't stop the feeling Everything right is wrong again Just like in The Long, Long Trailer All the dishes got broken and the car kept driving And nobody would stop to save her And now the song is over now And now the song is over now And now the song is over now The song is over now
2.
As your body floats down Third Street With the burn-smell factory closing up Yes it's sad to say you will romanticize All the things you've known before It was not not not so great It was not not not so great And as you take a bath in that beaten path There's a pounding at the door Well it's a mighty zombie talking of some love and posterity He says "The good old days never say good-bye If you keep this in your mind: You need some lo-lo-loving arms You need some lo-lo-loving arms" And as you fall from grace the only words you say are: Put your hand inside the puppet head Put your hand inside the puppet head Put your hand inside Put your hand inside Put your hand inside the puppet head Ads up in the subway are the work of someone Trying to please their boss And though the guy's a pig we all know what he wants Is just to please somebody else If the pu-pu-puppet head Was only bu-bu-busted in It'd be a better thing for everyone involved And we wouldn't have to cry Put your hand inside the puppet head Put your hand inside the puppet head Put your hand inside Put your hand inside Put your hand inside the puppet head Memo to myself: Do the dumb things I gotta do Touch the puppet head Quit my job down at the carwash Didn't have to write no one a goodbye note That said, "The check's in the mail, and I'll see you in church, and don't you ever change" If the pu-pu-puppet head Was only bu-bu-busted in I'll see you after school Put your hand inside the puppet head Put your hand inside the puppet head Put your hand inside Put your hand inside Put your hand inside the puppet head Put your hand inside the puppet head Put your hand inside the puppet head Put your hand inside Put your hand inside Put your hand inside the puppet head
3.
Number Three 01:27
There's only two songs in me and I just wrote the third Don't know where I got the inspiration or how I wrote the words Spent my whole life just digging up my music's shallow grave For the two songs in me and the third one I just made A rich man once told me, "Hey, life's a funny thing" A poor man once told me that he can't afford to speak Now I'm in the middle like a bird without a beak 'Cause there's just two songs in me and I just wrote the third Don't know where I got the inspiration or how I wrote the words Spent my whole life just digging up my music's shallow grave For the two songs in me and the third one I just made So I went to the President, and I asked old what's-his-name Has he ever gotten writer's block, or something like the same He just started talking like he was on TV "If there's just two songs in ya, boy, whaddaya want from me?" So I bought myself some denim pants and a silver guitar But I politely told the ladies, "You'll still have to call me Sir Because I have to keep my self-respect - I'll never be a star Since there's just two songs in me, and this is Number Three"
4.
Don't, don't, don't let's start This is the worst part Could believe for all the world That you're my precious little girl But don't, don't, don't let's start I've got a weak heart And I don't get around how you get around When you are alone You are the cat, you are the phone You are an animal The words I'm singing now Mean nothing more than "meow" To an animal Wake up and smell the cat food In your bank account Don't try to stop the tail That wags the hound D, world destruction O-ver an overture N, do I need Apostrophe T, need this torture? Don't, don't, don't let's start This is the worst part Could believe for all the world That you're my precious little girl But don't, don't, don't let's start I've got a weak heart And I don't get around how you get around No one in the world Ever gets what they want And that is beautiful Everybody dies Frustrated and sad And that is beautiful They want what they're not And I wish they would stop Saying Deputy Dawg dog a ding dang depadepa Deputy Dawg dog a ding dang depadepa D, world destruction O-ver an overture N, do I need Apostrophe T, need this torture? Don't, don't, don't let's start This is the worst part Could believe for all the world That you're my precious little girl But don't, don't, don't let's start I've got a weak heart And I don't get around how you get around I don't want to live in this world anymore I don't want to live in this world Don't, don't, don't let's start This is the worst part Could believe for all the world That you're my precious little girl But don't, don't, don't let's start I've got a weak heart And I don't get around how you get around
5.
Hide away, folk family Or else someone's gonna get ya (someone's gonna get ya) Someone's gonna get ya Hide away, folk family Better hide away Better hide away Tippy toe to the front door, Mother 'Cause there's a guy with a long, long fuse And the one thing you can't hide Is all the fear you feel inside As the fuse is spelling out these words Hide away, folk family Or else someone's gonna get ya (someone's gonna get ya) Someone's gonna get ya Hide away, folk family Better hide away Better hide away Tippy toe to the flatbed, Father Because they're pouring out our gasoline And sadly the cross-eyed bear's Been put to sleep behind the stairs (sadly) And his shoes are laced with irony Hide away, folk family Or else someone's gonna get ya (someone's gonna get ya) Someone's gonna get ya Hide away, folk family Better hide away Better hide away "Hello, this is Lesley Down with the Daily Home Astrology Report: Taurus, contemplate domestic turmoil Aquarius, abandon hope for future plans..." Hide away, folk family Or else someone's gonna get ya (someone's gonna get ya) Someone's gonna get ya Hide away, folk family Better hide away Better hide away (Hide away) Hide away (Folk family) Folk family (Or else someone's gonna get ya) Someone's gonna get ya Hide away Hide away [fake backwards singing]
6.
32 Footsteps 01:36
32 footsteps leading to the room where the paint doesn't want to dry 32 footsteps running down the road where the dirt reaches the sky 32 feathers in my brand new Indian headdress 32 new moons shining in 32 skies What's the reason? Why'd she go? Where's my baby? I don't know 32 footsteps, counted them myself, 32 footsteps Bing bang bingalong cing cang cingalong Ding dang dingalong day Fing fang fingalong ging gang gingalong Hing hang hingalong hay Jing jang jingalong king kang kingalong Ling lang lingalong lay Ming mang mingalong ning nang ningalong Ping pang pingalong pay What's the reason? Why'd she go? Where's my baby? I don't know 32 footsteps, counted them myself, 32 footsteps 32 lies my ears never saw when the floorboards gave way 32 walls come tumbling down and the night turns to day 32 infantrymen running in place 32 boxcars, all of them have your face What's the reason? Why'd she leave? Don't you know we're on the eve of 32 footsteps? Counted them myself, 32 footsteps (no) 28 (no) 29 30 (no) 31
7.
In the mornin' sun 'round seven o'clock The parking lot fills around Toys-Я-Us And my little girl, she will get away Ride her bike down Toddler Hiway Take your Close'n'Play Toddler Hiway
8.
Rabid Child 01:31
(Lord, please don't take me away.) Rabid child stays at home, talks on a CB Truckers pass calling out their handles to the kid Chess Piece Face and The Big Duluth call her every day "Hammer down" and "rabbit ears" are the only words they know (Hammer down) (Hammer down, rabbit ears) (Hammer down, rabbit ears) (Hammer down, rabbit ears, hammer down) If you pass the rabid child say "hammer down" for me The rabid child The rabid child The rabid child
9.
All the people are so happy now Their heads are cavin' in I'm glad they are a snowman with Protective rubber skin But every little thing's a domino That falls on different dots And crashes into everything That tries to make it stop And the mirror, it reflects A tiny dancin' skeleton Surrounded by a fleshy overcoat And swaddled in A furry hat, elastic mask A pair of shiny marble dice Some people call them snake eyes But to me they look like mice And nothing's smellin' like a rose But I don't care if no one's coming up for air 'Cause I know nothing's gonna change my clothes Ever anymore All the people are so happy now Their heads are cavin' in I'm glad they are a snowman with Protective rubber skin But every little thing's a domino That falls on different dots And crashes into everything That tries to make it stop And nothing's smelling like a rose But I don't care if no one's coming up for air I know nothing's gonna change my clothes Ever anymore No no no no Nothing's smelling like a rose But I don't care if no one's coming up for air I know that nothing's gonna change my clothes Ever anymore
10.
Nighttime lady, she says maybe In the all-night laundromat Wait one minute, I have seen her She's a billionaire She was a hotel detective But now she's gotten promoted I don't think it was the money She didn't care about expensive things No furs or pearls or fancy cars or diamond rings She was a hotel detective But now she's better connected She didn't have to change anything, just the stencil on her window She used to be quite a lady She drove the underworld crazy But now she goes insane in her way when it suits her occupation She read that motel directive It told her she was defective I guess she found an easier way up the ladder and she took it Now that lady is running the world Is she lonely? She's the only girl in this back alleyway Will she shoot you? She won't have to You're already dead She was a hotel detective But now she's gotten promoted I don't think it was the money She didn't care about expensive things No furs or pearls or fancy cars or diamond rings She was a hotel detective But now she's better connected She didn't have to change anything, just the stencil on her window She used to be quite a lady She drove the underworld crazy But now she goes insane in her way when it suits her occupation She read that motel directive It told her she was defective I guess she found an easier way up the ladder and she took it Now that lady is running the world
11.
I met someone at the dog show She was holding my left arm But everyone was acting normal So I tried to look nonchalant We both said, "I really love you" The Shriners loaned us cars We raced up and down the sidewalk Twenty thousand million times Why did they send her over anyone else? How should I react? These things happen to other people They don't happen at all, in fact When you're following an angel Does it mean you have to throw your body off a building? Somewhere they're meeting on a pinhead Calling you an angel, calling you the nicest things I heard they had a space program When they sing you can't hear, there's no air Sometimes I think I kind of like that and Other times I think I'm already there Gonna ask for my admission Gonna speak to the man in charge The secretary says he's on another line Can I hold for a long, long time? I found out she's an angel I don't think she knows I know I'm worried that something might happen to me If anyone ever finds out Why? Why did they send her over anyone else? How should I react? These things happen to other people They don't happen at all When you're following an angel Does it mean you have to throw your body off a building? Somewhere they're meeting on a pinhead Calling you an angel, calling you the nicest things I heard they had a space program When they sing you can't hear, there's no air Sometimes I think I kind of like that and Other times I think I'm already there When you're following an angel Does it mean you have to throw your body off a building? Somewhere they're meeting on a pinhead Calling you an angel, calling you the nicest thing
12.
Youth culture (youth culture) Youth culture (youth culture) Youth culture (youth culture) Youth culture (youth culture) Youth culture killed my dog And I don't think it's fair (I don't think it's fair) And his suicide can be justified By the tastemakers, how they cried and cried and so Bacharach and David used to write his favorite songs Never would he worry, he'd just run and fetch the ball But the night lights and my dog's life aren't exactly one and the same Youth culture killed my dog And I don't think it's fair (I don't think it's fair) And the judgement made in the city of hate Just broke his spirit so Bacharach and David used to write his favorite songs Never, never, never would he worry, he'd just run and fetch the ball But the hiphop and the white funk just blew away my puppy's mind I don't understand what you did to my dog And I don't understand what you did to my dog I don't understand what you did to my dog I don't understand what you did to my dog Youth culture killed my dog (Youth culture killed my dog) And I don't think it's fair (I don't think it's fair) And his suicide can be justified By the tastemakers, how they cried and cried and so Youth culture (youth culture) Youth culture (youth culture) Broke his spirit so (broke his spirit so) Broke his spirit so Youth culture (youth culture) (youth culture) Youth culture (youth culture) (youth culture) Broke his spirit so (broke his spirit so) Broke his spirit so
13.
Boat Of Car 01:15
"Daddy'll sing bass" "Daddy'll sing bass" "Daddy'll sing bass" "Daddy'll sing bass" I took my boat for a car I took that car for a ride I was trying to get somewhere But now I'm following The traces of your fingernails That run along the windshield On the boat of car "Daddy'll sing bass" Traces of your fingernails That run along the windshield On the boat of car On the boat of car On the boat of car On the boat of car
14.
I was born in a lighthouse, my mother was the sea I crawled to school each morning, when it occurred to me That life's just a mood ring we're not allowed to see And this is what it said to me My room is comfortably small With rubber lining the walls And there's someone always calling my name He calls when I'm alone And he calls when I'm not home And he calls when I'm stuck out in the rain I'm insane I'm insane I'm insane I'm insane Now listen all you swingers, don't you try to tag along I know monkey see, but monkey's dead, for you it would be wrong Put a dime in my jukebox, you'll only hear this song And it won't be fun for long Because my room is comfortably small With rubber lining the walls And there's someone always calling my name He calls when I'm alone And he calls when I'm not home And he calls when I'm stuck out in the rain I'm insane I'm insane I'm insane I'm insane Thank you Thank you My room is comfortably small With rubber lining the walls And there's someone always calling my name He calls when I'm alone And he calls when I'm not home And he calls when I'm stuck out in the rain I'm insane I'm insane I'm insane I'm insane
15.
What's gonna happen to Chess Piece Face? There go I but for my face All I know could be defaced By the facts in the life of Chess Piece Face I don't know where he lives Or if he knows to sail Or if little schemes like this one Ever cross his trail But I don't believe he's dreaming Or if he cares to know So I shudder in my lampshade So what's gonna happen to Chess Piece Face? There go I but for my face All I know could be defaced By the facts in the life of Chess Piece Face Chess Piece Face Chess Piece Face Chess Piece Face
16.
Sometimes I feel like being wispy And once in a while I feel like being dry But we're doomed and we're drowned By this feeling we surround So I hope that I get old before I die Ohhhhh It's a long, long rope they use to hang you soon I hope And I wonder why this hasn't happened Why, why, why And I think about the dirt that I'll be wearing for a shirt And I hope that I get old before I die Clear off the kitchen table darling For on the kitchen table I must lie I'm just tired for my wife Served the banquet of my life And I hope that I get old before I die Ohhhhh It's a long, long rope they use to hang you soon I hope And I wonder why this hasn't happened Why, why, why And I think about the dirt that I'll be wearing for a shirt And I hope that I get old before I die Ohhhhh It's a long, long rope they use to hang you soon I hope And I wonder why this hasn't happened Why, why, why And I think about the dirt that I'll be wearing for a shirt And I hope that I get old before I die
17.
This song is dedicated to all you modern day troubadours out there And I think I know who you are I gotta get a job I got to get some pay My son's gotta go to art school He's leavin' in three days And the TV is in Esperanto You know that that's a bitch But alienation's for the rich And I'm feelin' a-poorer every day A-hey hey hey Well I ain't feelin' happy About the state of things in my life But I'm workin' to make it better With a six of Miller High Life Just drinkin' and a-drivin' A-makin' sure my dues get paid Because alienation's for the rich And I'm feelin' a-poorer every day A-hey hey hey Ah hahahaha! Well I ain't feelin' happy About the state of things in my life But I'm workin' to make it better With a six of Miller High Life Just drinkin' and a-drivin' A-makin' sure my dues get paid Because alienation's for the rich And I'm feelin' a-poorer every day A-hey hey hey A-hey hey hey A-hey hey hey Ah hahahahahahaha!
18.
The Day 01:27
The day Marvin Gaye And Phil Ochs got married The trees all waved Their giant arms And happiness bled From every street corner And biplanes bombed With fluffy pillows The day Marvin Gaye And Phil Ochs got married The trees all waved Their giant arms And happiness bled From every street corner And biplanes bombed With fluffy pillows
19.
In a world we call our home there's lots of room to roam Plenty of time to turn mistakes into rhyme There's a place for those who love their poetry It's just across from the sign that says, "Pros Only" So if you like a band with a chick singer, Say your cup of tea is a wall of trombones If you dig Menudo, or MDC we salute you the way we know For every one with dollar signs in his eyes There must be hundreds that look at you as if you're some kind of Rhythm section want ad No others need apply to the rhythm section want ad I'll tell you why Hats off to the new age hairstyle made of bones Hats off to the use of hats as megaphones Speak softly, drive a Sherman tank Laugh hard, it's a long way to the bank Do you sing like Olive Oyl on purpose You guys must be into the Eurythmics For every one with dollar signs in his eyes There must be hundreds that look at you as if you're some kind of Rhythm section want ad No others need apply to the rhythm section want ad And here's the reason why Hats off to the new age hairstyle made of bones Hats off to the use of hats as megaphones Speak softly, drive a Sherman tank Laugh hard, it's a long way to the bank Do you sing like Olive Oyl on purpose You guys must be into the Eurythmics For every one with dollar signs in his eyes There must be hundreds that look at you as if you're some kind of Rhythm section want ad No others need apply to the rhythm section want ad And here's the reason why Rhythm section want ad No others need apply to the rhythm section want ad And here's the reason why Why Why

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Newly remastered!

They Might Be Giants’ eponymous first album is celebrating it’s 33 1/3 birthday and Idlewild Recordings is marking the occasion with a re-issue sensitively remastered at Sterling Sound by UE Nastasi. This is a project we know many of you have been waiting for and it has been a labor of love for us.

Nineteen unforgettable tracks of what fans would dub “the pink album" portended the lo-fi movement that would come to define much of the alternative music scene. Upon its release in late 1986, these are the songs that started it all. Fueled by a series of unforgettable MTV videos, this album would ship over 150,000 units in its first year. Recorded by the band in their apartments on 4-track, as well as 8-track at Studio PASS, and working after hours through the benevolence of producer Bill Krauss and engineer Alex Noyes, the disc was finally completed at Al Houghton’s Dubway Studios in the legendary (and hellish) Music Building off of Times Square. Originally released on the Hoboken label Bar/None, this album is TMBG's musical mission statement, packed with unforgettable songs and sounds. “Put Your Hand Inside the Puppet Head,” “Don’t Let’s Start,” “Number Three,” “32 Footsteps,” “Youth Culture Killed My Dog,” and many, many more.

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released May 1, 2020

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