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They Might Be Giants threw the indie crib door wide for this twisting tertiary tiny toon torrent and folks just liked it better that way. After two celebrated albums ('They Might Be Giants' and 'Lincoln') on Bar/None and Restless, the duo of Johns Flansburgh and Linnell made the move to major label Elektra Records.
'Flood' was produced by They Might Be Giants with Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley and features John Flansburgh watching over songwriting, vocals, guitar, programming, and kitchen utensils; John Linnell making songwriting, vocals, accordion, keyboards, saxophones, and programming; with Alan Bezozi on drum programming; Mark Feldman on violin on "Birdhouse in Your Soul", "Istanbul", and "We Want a Rock"; Rick McRae on trombone on "Theme from Flood" and "Whistling in the Dark"; Frank London on trumpet on "Birdhouse in Your Soul", "Whistling in the Dark", and "They Might Be Giants"; Charlie Sepulveda on trumpet on "Istanbul" and "Your Racist Friend"; Marion Beckenstein and Joel Mitchell on vocals on "Theme From Flood"; The Skyline Staff on handclaps on "Particle Man"; Arto Lindsay on guitar on "Hearing Aid"; and Roger Moutenot handling the whip on "Minimum Wage". The sessions at Skyline Studios in New York were engineered by Paul Angelli with assistance from Patrick Dillett and Katherine Miller; with Roger Moutenot on recording and mixing; and Alex Noyes as MIDI coordinator.
'Flood' seeped to seventy-five in the US and fourteen in the UK. Flansburgh figures: "We were in a very singular place entering into the Flood situation, because we had been a successful as an independent act, on a commercial level. I think we felt like we had earned our place at the table ... We had never been in an actual, real, multitrack studio before. We had been in an 8-track studio run by a friend of ours that was essentially a demo place. But I didn't know anything about how to make a real record...[Langer and Winstanley] approach production the way that we approach songwriting. That is, we let the song take us in whatever direction it seems to want to go."
Linnell looks back: "There was a thing about the year 1990, when Flood came out. Our manager was getting much more excited and saying 'We're blowing up, this is kind of a big deal.' But artistically, we felt like we had already got a grip on where we were at in relation to the rest of the world."
http://www.theymightbegiants.com/
"Birdhouse in Your Soul" became their biggest hit, going to number six in the UK and number three on the US alternative chart.
Linnell: ""Birdhouse In Your Soul" is a song about a nightlight. That's it. It's written from the perspective of a nightlight serenading the occupant of its room. The thing is, there are so many syllables in the songs that we have to come up with something to fill the spaces. So it ends up being kind of Gilbert and Sullivany ... The melody and chords were cooked up years earlier, and the lyrics had to be shoehorned in to match the melody, which explains why the words are so oblique. I mean beautiful. I didn't find out what the Longines Symphonette was until after the song was released. It rhymed with 'infinite' (sort of)."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhjSzjoU7OQ
I'm your only friend
I'm not your only friend
But I'm a little
Glowing friend
But really I'm not
Actually your friend
But I am
Blue canary in the outlet by the light switch
Who watches over you
Make a little birdhouse in your soul
Not to put too fine a point on it
Say I'm the only bee in your bonnet
Make a little birdhouse in your soul
I have a secret to tell
From my electrical well
It's a simple message and I'm
Leaving out the whistles and bells
So the room must listen to me
Filibuster vigilantly
My name is blue canary
One note spelled l-i-t-e
My story's infinite
Like the Longines Symphonette
It doesn't rest
Blue canary in the outlet by the light switch
Who watches over you
Make a little birdhouse in your soul
Not to put too fine a point on it
Say I'm the only bee in your bonnet
Make a little birdhouse in your soul
I'm your only friend
I'm not your only friend
But I'm a little
Glowing friend
But really I'm not
Actually your friend
But I am
There's a picture opposite me
Of my primitive ancestry
Which stood on rocky shores
And kept the beaches ship wreck free
Though I respect that a lot
I'd be fired if that were my job
After killing Jason off
And countless screaming Argonauts
Blue bird of friendliness
Like guardian angels it's always near
Blue canary in the outlet by the light switch
Who watches over you
Make a little birdhouse in your soul
Not to put too fine a point on it
Say I'm the only bee in your bonnet
Make a little birdhouse in your soul
And while you're at it
Keep the nightlight on inside
The birdhouse in your soul
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81YU3Ck4AMg
"Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" is a cover of the hit single by the Four Lads in 1953.
Flansburgh: "This song I knew from my childhood, and we learned it simply to have more songs in our repertoire. It was in the show for a couple of years, and John and I would perform without the drum machine. It had a very spaced out middle section where we would basically yodel into an echo effect and it all went very, very trippy. It always got a good response, and when we got our fancy Casio FZ-1 samplers, this track was one of the things we put together to test it out."
Istanbul was Constantinople
Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Now it's Turkish delight on a moonlit night
Every gal in Constantinople
Lives in Istanbul, not Constantinople
So if you've a date in Constantinople
She'll be waiting in Istanbul
Even old New York was once New Amsterdam
Why they changed it I can't say
People just liked it better that way
So take me back to Constantinople
No, you can't go back to Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Why did Constantinople get the works?
That's nobody's business but the Turks
Istanbul, Istanbul
Istanbul, Istanbul
Even old New York was once New Amsterdam
Why they changed it I can't say
People just liked it better that way
Istanbul was Constantinople
Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Why did Constantinople get the works?
That's nobody's business but the Turks
So take me back to Constantinople
No, you can't go back to Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Why did Constantinople get the works?
That's nobody's business but the Turks
Istanbul
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgc3F1XZTAw
"Particle Man"
'Flood'
full album:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwqLWGibwDY
All songs written and composed by John Flansburgh and John Linnell, except where noted.
Side one
1. "Theme From Flood" 0:28
2. "Birdhouse in Your Soul" 3:20
3. "Lucky Ball & Chain" 2:46
4. "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" (Jimmy Kennedy, Nat Simon) 2:38
5. "Dead" 2:58
6. "Your Racist Friend" 2:54
7. "Particle Man" 1:59
8. "Twisting" 1:56
9. "We Want a Rock" 2:47
Side two
10. "Someone Keeps Moving My Chair" 2:23
11. "Hearing Aid" 3:26
12. "Minimum Wage" 0:47
13. "Letterbox" 1:25
14. "Whistling in the Dark" 3:25
15. "Hot Cha" 1:34
16. "Women & Men" 1:46
17. "Sapphire Bullets of Pure Love" 1:36
18. "They Might Be Giants" 2:46
19. "Road Movie To Berlin" 2:22
Total length: 43:24
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