They'll Need A Crane
From This Might Be A Wiki
Behind the scenes, featuring video director Adam Bernstein
| song name | They'll Need a Crane |
| artist | They Might Be Giants |
| releases | Lincoln, Lincoln Sampler, They'll Need A Crane (EP), Ana Ng (Single) [European Release], Then: The Earlier Years, Direct From Brooklyn, Dial-A-Song: 20 Years Of They Might Be Giants, A User's Guide To They Might Be Giants: Melody, Fidelity, Quantity, 50,000,000 They Might Be Giants Songs Can't Be Wrong |
| year | 1988 |
| first played | January 16, 1988 (72 known performances) |
| run time | 2:33 |
| sung by | John Linnell, John Flansburgh sings harmony during chorus |
Trivia/Info
- John Linnell in a 1989 interview: "The song itself basically started with an old Gerry and the Pacemakers riff. We had the riff and the title. A lot of our songs start that way... we think up a good title and then write the song round it."
- John Flansburgh has also mentioned The Housemartins as an influence on this song.[1]
- The song's video was directed by Adam Bernstein and produced by Billy Kent of Scorched Earth Productions[2]. It was filmed in 1988 at the Bethesda Terrace in Central Park, NY, and featured the Johns performing with a backup band made up of three actors, described as "professional old guys" on the late-90s tmbg.com Q&A[3]. According to a contemporary press release, the actors were Johnny Blowers (former drummer for Frank Sinatra), Ernie Furtado (bassist and New York Times crossword puzzle writer) and Fred Barby (character actor on keyboard).
- Flansburgh on getting the actors in a 1989 interview: "We put an advert in Backstage saying 'Wanted... 80-year-old musicians for pop video'."
- Linnell on the actors in a 1989 interview: "They were actors we got through an ad. They're interesting guys — [Johnny Blowers] played with Frank Sinatra. He couldn't really play our song − it was totally modern for him."
- Flansburgh on Ernie Furtado in the Direct From Brooklyn DVD commentary: "He kept on jumping up and down all throughout the shoot, and at one point I told him he didn't have to jump up and down and he was like 'Oh, no. Anything for rock.' And I thought that was sporting of him. He actually was semi-retired, and wrote crossword puzzles, which was really strange, and actually had sold a bunch of them to the New York Times, which I thought seemed like a dream job."
- Flansburgh on the music video in 2016[4]: "It was filmed when TMBG was quite established as a duo, so when trying to figure out how to create a performance based video we hired a band to jump around with us."
- In a 1995 interview with Myke Weiskopf, Adam Bernstein said John and John "hated" the music video. Flansburgh debunked the statement on Tumblr in 2023, saying: "I have never heard JL say he hated it. Speaking for myself, I don’t hate it. I like it, and it was a smart progression after our other videos."
- A photo from this shoot of John and John sitting in director's chairs was taken by producer Billy Kent and released as a press photo to promote Lincoln in 1988.
- As mentioned in the press release, the music video for Samantha Fox's "I Wanna Have Some Fun" was also shot at the same location.
- This song was performed on Late Night with David Letterman in 1989, which marked TMBG's network television debut. Flansburgh recalled his conversation with Letterman bassist Will Lee about the song's guitars in 2023 for Everything Sticks Like A Broken Record, a track-by-track breakdown of the Lincoln album featured in Bandbox Issue #103:
I can't really recall playing it on Letterman that well, although I do remember Will Lee and me talking about how annoying it was that guitars didn't stay in tune. I'm sure Will Lee has played in tune for his entire life, but as a guitar player, I can tell you it's always been a painful struggle for me. I remember him saying, "The G string, man... it's impossible. It just doesn't work." There's the old joke that guitar players spend half their lives tuning and half their lives playing out of tune. So yeah, I think the guitars might be out of tune on that recording.
Song Themes
Addiction, Compulsion, Aversion To Work, Body Parts, Drinking, Food, Funny But Sad, Love Gone Sour, Music, People (Imaginary), Real Estate, Sadness, The Senses, Telecommunication, Trade Names
Videos
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