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Whistling In The Dark

From This Might Be A Wiki
song nameWhistling in the Dark
artistThey Might Be Giants
releasesFlood
year1990
first playedNov. 25, 1989 (164 known performances)
run time3:25
sung byJohn Linnell

Trivia/Info

  • On most live versions of the song, John Flansburgh discards his guitar (usually during the accordion solo of the previous song, "Hearing Aid") and picks up a large chest-mounted bass drum, which he strikes zealously through the song.
    • "The bass drum sound was something we actually worked on for quite a while in the studio and we weren't so happy with it even in the end — but I think in our imaginations even an atomic blast would have been too small. We actually recorded it and possibly sampled it so we could retrigger the biggest sound." - John Flansburgh in a 2009 RollingStone Interview
  • Also the name of a 1941 comedy Whistling In The Dark.
  • With the cinematic theme in mind, Linnell commented in a 2009 Rolling Stone interview, "I thought it would be funny if there were two guys who have a seemingly brief, hostile interaction and the camera pulls back and they're in jail together. Bear in mind, if you insist on interpreting the words to this peculiar song, that the narrator is comfortable and capable in the role of being what he's like. However, as the wise men say, an 'is' is not an 'ought.'"

Song Themes

Criminal Activities, Heads, Jail And Imprisonment, Mind Control, Hypnotism, Oblique Cliches Or Idiom, Violence, Tongue-Twisters

Videos

 
Current Rating

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Whistling In The Dark is currently ranked #110 out of 845. (231 wikians have given it an average rating of 8.94)
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