Talk:The Mesopotamians
I love this song! Wonderful Linnell harmonies.. reminds me of the Monkees theme.
In the video, Gilgamesh is gradually decomposing. This is ironic, because in the original Epic, Gilgamesh sought immortality. - ManWithoutABody
This song and its amazing harmonies make me giddy with happiness. One of my new favorites, fo sho. --Valerie 22:04, 9 May 2007 (UTC)
I'm pretty sure this is meant at least in part to be a parody of the Monkees Theme! I love it. And my 2-year-old loves it too. -J
I love this song too. Great on repeat. :) --Raceofdoom 03:04, 12 May 2007 (UTC)
- I would love the song... if it wasn't horribly misproduced. This is one of three songs I knew before I got The Else, for I had heard it on Fair Game on July 16. I love that live version, but on the album something's missing. The instruments sound very robotic and Linnell backing himself up on three layers doesn't sound right to me. Flans' voice is what creates that distinct Monkees atmosphere, and it's not there. - Whirrrlwind (Woosh!) 12:15, 12 August 2007 (UTC)
What the heck, Linnell? There is NO dinosore called a "mohandradon." He can be such a good songwriter, but sometimes he MAKES UP WORDS. /grumble grumble rumble grumble
- Ummm...are you referring to the word "Mohenjo-daron"? If you click that there link, you'll find that it definitely is a word. Akagi 19:55, 13 May 2007 (UTC)
- Making up words...like, say, "dinosore"?? --Duke33 20:42, 13 May 2007 (UTC)
- Oh sorry. DINOSAURE. Beetter now? -- Neill
- Bahaha. --Raceofdoom 01:09, 15 May 2007 (UTC)
- dinosore, adj., 1. the state or condition of dinosaur-size mental pain due to reading internet prose that has both ill-considered indignation and spelling errors. 2. slang; haircut in the style of ancient Indus Valley of Pakistan. ~Christina Miller, Aug 2007
This video makes me way too happy. I don't think the videos can get any better, if they make one for all The Else's songs. Mr. 77
- When I grow up, I want to marry Gilgamesh :D
- I hope he doesn't fall apart at your wedding. :D :D The guy above
- LOL :P
There are other references to the Beatles and Monkees.
Monkees- The opening guitar strum and is very much the same to the Monkees' theme song-Hey Hey We're The Monkees.
Beatles- After the verse about the sun beating down, there is shot of the band, and one member's (Ashsurbanipal) back is turned. That is mimicking the back of the Sgt. Pepper album.
The scalps and headgear on the wig mannequins is a tribute to Beatle wigs that were sold in the mid 1960s.
The "thought that you were dead- Thought you crashed your car" is a parody of the "Paul is Dead" rumor/hoax that came to be in the late 60s. One of the clues of the Paul is dead theory was the line "he blew his mind out in a car" line from A Day In A Life. Also Paul was the bass player and the line at the end of that verse of the song says- I was here the whole time playing bass guitar"
The four heads of the band members singing one of the late choruses is a parody of the Meet The Beatles album cover.
Monkees- When the band is walking with arms around each other swinging there legs,(in a the chorus after the "thought that you were dead" verse), that is a tribute to the opening segment of the Monkees' tv show as the theme song plays (Hey Hey We're The Monkees).
Beatles- In the very next chorus- the band members are leaping in the air. That is a parody of the Beatles during the- Can't Buy Me Love- segment of the -Hard Day's Night- movie. When Sargon barely leaps of the ground, that is exactly what Ringo does in the Hard Day's Night scene. --70.107.59.210
It has a party atmosphere of "The Replacements" but it all feels a little forced - I loathe the high 60s Beach Boy harmonies - I take the song to be a Linnell dig at the band itself. Famous? But no one has really heard of us. Or perhaps its the theme tune to Dr Spock's back up band. A camp song ditty, its another song crying out for the accordion. I agree with the above poster on the production. As an album - The Else is uneven and the least satisfying since John Henry. An odd choice of song choices, given the material available. Both I'm your boyfriend now and When did you grow a beard would have added variety and much missed humour to the album. I also feel that the two Johns would benefit from choosing the best song available first and not agreeing to both having the same number of tracks per album. This might get Flans back into the zone. I also feel that the next adult album should have far less heavy bass and drums and a more organic feeling. The accordion also needs to be taken out of the box and put to the forefront of more songs. (Mr Tuck)
Lyrics[edit]
Ok, so, I was listening to the song, and I swear, they don't say "I thought you were dead." I swear, I swear, I swear, they say "I thought you gay." I know, doesn't seem like something they would say, but that's what I honestly think they say.
- Umm...you're seriously not serious are you? How would that make any sense whatsoever with the rest of the lyrics? He's gay because he crashed his car? (Haha actually I think I remember somebody who was suing because that supposedly happened to them at some point. But um, it still doesn't make sense.) And that means he has to explain he's "been [there] this whole time" why?... --Self Called Nowhere 08:25, 26 February 2010 (UTC)
HD video?[edit]
The Mesopotamians video badly needs "best quality" treatment, like the classic ones. And it's screaming out to be a true wide-screener. --Nehushtan (talk) 07:51, 12 December 2019 (EST)
- I reached out to David Cowles. He doesn't think it's possible - the original elements don't have enough pixels. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ --Nehushtan (talk) 13:50, 29 May 2020 (EDT)
- As it turns out, there were enough pixels. Here's an HD upscale I rendered: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGUtk4gXnig -CapitalQ ♫ talk ♪ 18:38, 3 August 2022 (EDT)
Fifth voice?[edit]
If someone knows, can they say whether the high harmonies in the phrase of "For the Mesopotamians" include a fifth/ghost/angel voice in the barbershop quartet sense? --Nehushtan (talk) 16:35, 26 April 2020 (EDT)
