My living room wall

Lately I've been listening to Certain People I Could Name and LTW in general, a lot more. I've sort of created an alternative view of the song's lyrics and contents. I know the song's meaning has already been confirmed. I'm just sharing my own personal view! :P I welcome debate in the comments.

Okay so, One thing I noticed is the weird reflective nature of this specific song and how the narrator just appears to be an observer to the things that happen around them, sort of passive almost.

The narrator to me just appears somewhat complacent, just comparing things they see to "certain people [I] could name". They don't seem to be concerned by the graphic imagery of the samurai "[counting] the arms, the legs and heads". Although again I know it is already confirmed Linnell said that this song was inspired by noticing a similarity between a friend of his and the Kurosawa film Seven Samurai.

The "Seven Samurai" is just a fictional film. Yet it draws some 21st century relevancy to me. Nowadays, we all watch or play stuff that have such graphic and violent imagery. We've become so desensitised to this sort of content.

The narrator to me expresses the kind of modern numbness I'm hinting at, watching such content doesn't evoke much of a real reaction.

As the song progresses, this dystopian nature is more easy to see than the opening "samurai" verse.

"Halfway through the 30 minutes, halfway 'round the world

Here's the story on the genocidal overlord

In her palace with her epaulettes

Watch her little gestures as she lights her cigarette"

"Halfway through the 30 minutes" hints at the narrator watching some sort of news broadcast and "halfway 'round the world" just creates a sense of detachment. The narrator is kind of just passively consuming whatever they are watching. This genocidal overlord has just become some sort of character halfway around the world. The narrator focuses more on the tiny of details of her appearance and character rather than the place where she's committing some sort of atrocity. They focus on very small details such as her "lighting her cigarette" and her "epaulettes" which to me seem like they require some sort of detail.

Then the narrator probes further,

"Look at her, you must see it too

Is she reminding you of anyone we know?"

Just seems like the narrator is just trying to prove some sort of point. The narrator's frantic urge to prove a point is pushed further towards the end.

"Disembodied and detached, a voice describes the scene

As a lizard stalks a helpless creature on TV

Music underscores the tragedy

Eyes with no expression watch the unsuspecting prey"

Now the song goes to talking about nature, the natural act of predators hunting for prey is reflective of what anyone would see in a typical nature documentary on TV. This verse gives the natural process some sort of relevancy and life with music playing during the "tragedy" though this is just part of nature. I feel like the "eyes with no expression" could on the surface just be describing the lizard catching the creature but is also reflective of the narrator who is overly obsessed with making interpersonal connections that they have lost empathy to the extent of treating a lizard stalking a creature with the same attitude as a story on a genocidal overlord.

"How could anybody miss

The obvious

And the uncanny and the clear resemblance?"

Now as the song comes to a conclusion, the narrator has an almost frantic and urgent voice, condemning everyone who does not see the same things they see with the same exact view. The narrator presents this detached view as "the obvious" and a "clear resemblance" while also simultaneously missing the empathy needed to develop a clear view on the stories and events they see on TV rather than comparing it to their real life.

Overall, the song's 21st century relevancy is clearly evidenced with the shift of topic on every verse; the "few surviving samurai", the "genocidal overlord" and the "lizard [stalking] a helpless creature on TV". It serves a creepy suggestion of the short-paced nature of news and TV alike. Everything is shown as a short story, while people go and move on to the next story that is shown. Kind of creepy to me. :)

Apologies for rambling on, I feel a bit silly now. Oh well.

I was looking through photos from a trip to Italy and wondered why I found this stonework so compelling, then I started counting up the sides.

It's in a little town called Bitetto.

From the new Deathsport episode of the MST3K: Rifftrax Experiments!

Last year it was a mix of half of Mink Car and selections from the World is to Dig.

I've yet to go to a Flood show.

I did manage to enjoy a John Henry show. That was stellar.

I'm tempted to get a ticket for all three nights... except I have to go to work on Monday. 🤔

Thoughts on what they might be.... up to?

Pepe liking Your Mom's Alright and Rowlf liking End of the Tour is so accurate

So four back to back shows have just been announced for Seattle in June. I am excited, but also probably should be responsible and limited myself to two shows. Haha.

Linnell has posted a couple videos recently of him tinkering with the M-Vave FM-1 pocket synthesizer. Ars Technica has a new article all about the device for those who are interested.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/10/from-impulse-purchase-to-pocket-studio-the-m-vave-fm-1/

I don't know, whenever this song comes around this lyric just gets stuck in my head the rest of the day:

"Don't look at me, Look at where I'm pointing - Close your eyes - See what I see"

The whole song is great, one of my favorites, but this moment is the peak. Anyone else feel it?

Last summer I'd floated the idea of making a fan/jam comic inspired by the music of TMBG on here and we're making some progress! The first page of the prologue is completed, in which we are introduced to the Order of the Blue Canary. Artwork by the amazing Nick Palazzo! You can check out the page here: https://smallpressheroes.com/tmbc/tmbc1/

And also if you'd like to see some amazing character designs of characters that will appear in the prologue by my uber-talented buddy Craig Wolden, head on over here: https://smallpressheroes.com/tmbc/

Hopefully more details soon!

I'm curious how many fans still listen to Their podcasts from the aughts?

https://tmbw.net/wiki/They_Might_Be_Giants_Podcast

I love them all, but my favorites are 6A (children's music for adults), 8A (Halloween!), and 9A (bunch of amazing remixes).

What are your favorites and why?

If you haven't listened to these, I highly encourage you to do it right away, they're like mini concerts with rarities and oddities and the Johns doing DJ character voices. So much fun!

Have a few friends in Houston dead-set on keeping their seats in the “Gallery Reserved” section. IF I go, I’d have to be on the floor (which I normally prefer). Anyone have an extra “Gallery Reserved” ticket you’re trying to unload?

Image source: https://www.instagram.com/p/De4xZ4-BAbA/

Flans's quote about the TNAC video: https://tmbw.net/wiki/They%27ll_Need_A_Crane

It's always a pleasure returning to Argentina and find TMBG releases around the many music stores.

They didn't have much in the TMBG section but I was lucky to find this two for my collection (to be truly honest I haven't listen much of Mono Puff yet)

Also the lady in the store said I might be like one of the five people that knows this band in the entire country.

He mentions they're thinking of touring to the West Coast early next year and that they should start work on their next album soon.

New old interview I haven't seen before and neither have you!

Found this today randomly while looking for records. Childhood memories unlocked 🔓

So, I decided to write a list of Phone Calls from the Dead moments from their old live shows from 2007 and one from 2009, if they were geographically accurate. Basically each of the people listed on my list is buried in that state, here's the list from TMBW for a better understanding of these Setlist Search - TMBW: The They Might Be Giants Knowledge Base. I probably should've put the states and the original people that were called but I'm kind of lazy at the moment. Also apologies if some of these are kind of insensitive, i tried my best filter out the obviously insensitive ones since i was going down the list of famous people buried in these states on Find a Grave. And yes I know some of the actual ones they did are absolutely incredible but this is somewhat of a "What If?" sort of thing. So, how would you think these phone calls would go?:

2007-03-10: John Wayne

2007-05-03a: Claude Rains

2007-05-03b: Franklin Pierce

2007-05-04: Charles Bronson

2007-05-05a: Paul Revere

2007-05-05b: John Hancock

2007-05-06: Thomas Edison

2007-05-08b: George Washington

2007-05-09: Betsy Ross

2007-05-11: Walt Whiteman

2007-05-12: Lucille Ball

2007-05-19: Jimmy Stewart

2007-06-16: Theodore Roosevelt

2007-07-18: Babe Ruth

2007-07-19: Frank Earle Schoonover

2007-07-20: Mister Rogers

2007-07-21: Wilbur and Orville Wright

2007-07-23: Robert Urich

2007-07-25: Lou Gehrig

2007-07-26: Luther Vandross

2007-07-27: John Adams

2007-07-28: Katherine Hepburn

2007-08-01: Harry Houdini

2007-08-03: Mark Twain

2007-08-08: Eleanor Roosevelt

2007-09-12: Edgar Allen Poe

2007-09-13: Benjamin Franklin

2007-09-14: Colonel Sanders

2007-09-15: Jesse James

2007-09-17b: Dr William James Mayo

2007-09-18: Herbert Hoover

2007-09-20: Doc Holliday

2007-09-21: John Moses Browning

2007-09-22: Ernest Hemingway

2007-09-25: Raymond Burr

2007-09-26: Jimi Hendrix

2007-09-27: Virgil Earp

2007-09-28: Bob Hope

2007-09-29: Marilyn Monroe

2007-09-30: Clark Gable

2007-10-02: Judy Garland

2007-10-03: George Burns

2007-10-04: Humphrey Bogart

2007-10-05: Gregory Peck

2007-10-06: Waylon Jennings

2007-10-07: Billy the Kid

2007-10-18: Art Carney

2007-10-19: Norman Rockwell

2007-10-20b: Emily Dickinson

2007-10-24: Thomas Jefferson

2007-10-26: Dale Earnhardt Sr.

2007-10-27: Ava Gardner

2007-10-28: Wolfman Jack

2007-10-30: James Brown

2007-10-31: Shoeless Joe Jackson

2007-11-01: Margaret Mitchell

2007-11-02: Martin Luther King Jr.

2007-11-03: Elvis Presley

2007-11-06: Rosemary Clooney

2007-11-07: Annie Oakley

2007-11-08: James Dean

2007-11-13: Henry Ford

2007-11-14: Gerald Ford

2007-11-17: John D. Rockefeller Sr.

2007-11-23: John Phillips Sousa

2009-01-17b: Vince Lombardi

He did a pretty short Instagram livestream that went about 30 or so minutes this past hour. Please take my memory of this with a grain of paprika. Someone had asked in the stream if they would ever plan on re-recording No Answer.

He said he found the demo recently, likely the past month, and had considered releasing it but it's really up in the air with the where and how. I doubt it'll get re-recorded but if it does get an eventual release I'd be stoked!

Immediate post edit: "high quality version" I mean the original demo rip, why do I not proofcheck titles before posting lol