Talk:Elephants

Slight quandary here - 1. I really, really, love this song. It's wonderful. 2. It isn't They Might Be Giants (I mean, at all - they don't even seem to be playing on it either). Not that important, of course, but notable. Not remotely an issue on the LP, but fairly weird in the context of DAS Direct. Odd that, but I can't ignore how strangely it sticks out here.

After how miserable I found Direct got over the summer (and I restrained from reviewing for a while as it wasn't really contributing much when I wasn't enjoying things), it's definitely recovered and I think it's made its value back by now (I definitely didn't expect a fully-fledged, unannounced second rock album to start turning up, but it became apparent in September that that's what was happening). Elephants included, I have thought the last four songs in a row were all A+ and that's the first time that's happened for me this year.

I have a dark fear that releasing songs track-by-track this year has actually been fairly bad for the band - TMBG albums rely on a mixture of instant winners and long-term growers. Isolating those growers under the spotlight for a week at a time has caused them to wilt and die instead of only becoming loved a few months down the line. I also don't think Why? can ever be the wall-to-wall, adult-quality kids album comeback I'd hoped it would be in my mind, and for me its weaknesses have watered the project down a bit too. But we've got more great TMBG songs this year than most other years, that's the defining thing to take away. And given that they seem to have slyly let slip in the last email that this year appears to be a low-key farewell tour/victory lap of sorts, and that the band clearly has less time in front of it than behind it, maybe it's uncharitable to overanalyze the stuff that didn't work. ~SirDarrell

Great commentary SirDarrell and a little announcement of my own

Interesting stuff. It's a proper kids song, not really Giants, so I won't comment anymore. I agree with you 100% on the downsides of releasing it week by week. I also think that this might be the end of the mid part of the career. I've wondered how long they'd keep touring incessantly and given their ages I can see why they want to slow down. I was debating seeing them in the UK next year (I've found the new stuff patchy and not much A1 material) but because this could be the last time for a while and also because recent set lists look good I'm going, probably to the Cambridge one. (Mr Tuck)

Not TMBG

This song is annoying. I love Danny, I think he's a fantastic bass player and a great fit for the band. I also think he's a shameless 1960s-phile in his writing and I think this song is a pointless and irritating genre exercise. There's absolutely nothing interesting about this song and it ought to have left to one of his generic solo records.

This is worse than his Balloons song, again, because at least that one had some wacky elements to it and sounded like John and John were at least tangentially involved. And, by the way, I *love* Number Two and *like* Paleontologist (which of course could be better without the annoying kids voices, which to me are a Disney kids album thing and NOT an independent kids album thing, so WHY include any of that on WHY???.)

I'll save any more criticism for Why? for when the album is released. I just hate that this kind of track is going to be included side-by-side with such brilliant, dark, left-of-center children's pieces... with this and the absolute garbage that is And Mom and Kid, I now have two songs to skip... seriously, Velvet Ape, It Said Something, Another Weirdo --- these would have sent this record over the top as one of the greatest children's records of all time!!! Even What Did I Do to You? -- just be totally bold and include it as well!! Why not? Kids gotta learn about false-bottom suitcases sooner or later... -Deysian

I guess the Johns view Danny as part of the band and don't mind giving him a song. The band according to the Johns are definitely more than side men to the Johns but not in the equal. Flans has written the odd song with the band I think but Linnell I don't think has? I remember McCartney has one Wings album where he let everyone write a song and it didn't go down well. I guess a lot of people prefer the Giants only. I personally could have a lot more Robin Goldwasser on their stuff, Mrs Flansburgh in a wonderful singer and I enjoyed the People are Wrong CD she did a few years ago. I'm kind of with Deysian on his take of things with Danny though. (Mr Tuck)

Yeah, I know Danny gets really good reviews for his kids songs, and, like I said above, I actually like his others. Number Two is one of the most touching songs in TMBG's catalog.

There's some great Wings talk at Stevehoffman.tv forums right now, concerning the other band members, been reading through it, even though, it's true, I am not really a Macca fan!

I agree with Robin, by the way. She's as offbeat as the Johns, and a great fit when she sings. Love when they get her involved with three-part harmonies and such. But let's be fair, Elephants is a masterpiece compared to Ten Mississippi (which obviously doesn't count).

Sorry for being grouchy about this song, it just really irks me. To the best of my knowledge, the only collaborations with the backing band are AKA Driver (the music) and Damn Good Times (the outro music)... both Flans songs... I'm sure there are a few others that I'm missing. -Deysian

Those are two great songs. (Mr Tuck)

I actually really like this song. After my first listen to the album, it's actually the one I went back to first. I agree that it's a rather obvious '60s pop pastiche, but I think it has a surprisingly really solid melody. It's very catchy in spite of the not particularly engaging lyrics. In any case, I think Danny has a really good voice, and it'd be cool to see him get a song on an "adult" album. As far as this song being "Not TMBG"... well, I'm not trying to snarky about this so don't take it the wrong way, but I think the Johns have a bigger say in what is, and isn't TMBG, than we do. - Thunderbird32

Better than most recent DAS stuff

In my opinion, this song is (musically) far better than any of the Johns' recent stuff. Seriously. It's a shame they don't let Danny get more involved in the writing process. I bet he could write some great adult songs, too. He's like the band's George Harrison (I think I read that in the Youtube comments section, and it's true.) Lyrically, this is a silly kids' song, nothing more; but musically, it reminds me of Paul McCartney plus a bit of Ben Folds. Great! --Freakiosis (talk) 03:39, 4 November 2015 (EST)

Disagree 100%. Danny is a stylist. Songs like this show no evidence of him possessing a voice of his own. This could be TV commercial music, soundtrack music, tribute music, etc, but any way you listen to it, it's banal, derivative, vanilla crap. The worst of the year, musically (simple lyrics always get a pass on a children's album). This is a total bait-and-switch - it's not TMBG, and it's not something I would ever want to listen to left to my own devices (personally, I can't stand Ben Folds and I'm indifferent towards Paul McCartney, and if I wanted to hear that kind of music, I'd just listen to the real thing anyway). -Deysian

No one can be indifferent to Macca! Yep he's had lapses but how many tunes has he writes! Come on!!! (Mr Tuck)

Nostalgia

This song and Definition of Good just give off that nostalgic vibe for me. Does anyone else feel this way?MidoFS (talk) 07:17, 5 October 2016 (EDT)