Today I stumbled upon the brand new They Might Be Giants album, The Else, on eMusic. I pretty instantly decided TMBG are well back on form. The track "The Mesopotanians", for instance, is about as catchy – and, moreover, clever and weird and witty – as anything they've done.
And no one's ever heard of our band
We're the MESO-PO-TA-MI-ANS…
Sargon, Hammurabi, Ashurbanipal, and Gilgamesh…"
But. Then. Oh my. Speaking of catchy.
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Whatever you do, DON'T listen to "Climbing the Walls". (Whoops, too late.) I'm on my twelfth straight listen to it now. In a row. I'm pretty sure I'm going to be listening to this song over and over for the rest of my life. The rest of my life. In any moments when I can't actually be listening to it, it will be playing in my head. Forever. And ever.
And as a special bonus, it's f'ing sad as hell.
No one should write a song that sad and catchy. It's cruel. It's not right.
And using up my teeth
Now I'm done chewing my nails
Hanging my head, chasing my tail
It got so bad I quit my job
Then I got a new job climbing the walls
The deep end, the deep end
People talk a lot, but they don't know
They pretend, they pretend
They don't really know how deep it goes
I got tired of pacing the floor
Sick of it all, I'm done with the floor
Walked away ever since I got a new job climbing the walls
Or perhaps it's a bit close to home.
