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Ana Ng

From This Might Be A Wiki
Screenshot
Screenshot
Screenshot
Screenshot
1988 Handbill Advert
1988 Handbill Advert
song nameAna Ng
artistThey Might Be Giants
albumLincoln, Ana Ng (Single), Then: The Earlier Years, Direct From Brooklyn, Best Of The Early Years, Severe Tire Damage, Dial-A-Song: 20 Years Of They Might Be Giants, A User's Guide to They Might Be Giants: Melody, Fidelity, Quantity
year1988
first playedSep. 28, 1988 (393 known performances)
run time3:23
sung byJohn Linnell

[edit] Trivia/Info

  • The video was directed by Adam Bernstein and the exterior shots were filmed at the FDNY Training Academy, Randall's Island, New York City. Throughout the music video, portraits of John and John's grandfathers can be spotted. The video also includes a shot of cards from "Mille Bornes" [One Thousand Milestones], a French game popular in the United States during the early 1960s. (For more information on the making of the video, see Myke Weiskopf Interviews Adam Bernstein).
  • The title of the track came from an experience the Johns had when they found a huge number of "Ana Ng"s in the phone book.
  • Flans has referred to the guitar sound in the song as one of the coolest the band had created, and he has said that the song has a "Latin feel."
  • Ng is a common Cantonese family name, and it is correctly pronounced like the last sound in 'Dong.'
  • The line, "I don't want the world; I just want your half," is said by Lisa Klapp, a friend of John and John's, and recorded through a telephone. TMBG likes to mess around with the delivery of the line in concert:
    • On Severe Tire Damage, Flans can be heard screaming it into his guitar pickups in the manner of a racetrack announcer.
    • On Live!! New York City, Linnell sings no words and imitates the sound of radio static. (Note: The Live!! New York City version and the Severe Tire Damage version are the same recording; on STD, the radio static was replaced with the pickup screams in studio)
    • Linnell sometimes sings "It's a small girl after all" during the bridge instead of the part about the bridge when played live.
    • In 1996, Linnell would occasionally open the song with the chant of "OVERSIZED LOAD," and this line would, in the bridge, replace "I don't want the world; I just want your half."
    • Most often, he has also been known to sing the aforementioned line in a trembly falsetto to a melody similar to "Love people are there / The smell of love is everywhere" from "I've Got A Match."
  • The line "Eighty dolls yelling 'Small Girl After All'" is a reference to the ride "It's A Small World", created for the 1964 World's Fair and now residing at several Disney theme parks.
  • Linnell habitually sings "human hair" instead of "humid air" when played live.
  • In the early 90s show Clarissa Explains It All, Clarissa says that she likes John Linnell and a bit of "Ana Ng" plays. A picture of TMBG from the "(She Was A) Hotel Detective" video follows.
  • The song appeared briefly in the film Yes Man.

[edit] Song Themes

1964 World's Fair, Backwards, Cities, Geography, In Back, Kingdom Of Loathing Reference, Loneliness, Love, Me, Oxymorons, Paradoxes, And Contradictory Statements, People (Imaginary), Non-John Vocals, Questions, Real Estate, Recursion, References To Other Songs Or Musicians, Size, Talking, Not Singing, Telephony, Tongue-Twisters, Trade Names, Transportation, Upside Down, Water, Weather

[edit] Videos

 
Current Rating
Ana Ng is currently ranked #1 out of 813. (1678 wikians have given it an average rating of 9.12)
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