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Working Undercover For The Man

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song nameWorking Undercover for the Man
artistThey Might Be Giants
releasesWorking Undercover For The Man (EP), Mink Car
year2000
first playedSep. 8, 1998 (65 known performances)
run time2:19
sung byJohn Flansburgh

Trivia/Info

  • "Well ... I've always been kind of ... it's more a meditation on the "Mod Squad" than anything else. The idea of the narc just seems.... Like, those episodes of "Dragnet" where they have the young, undercover dress in a hippie suit. The whole thing about being in a band, you can almost think of everything as a costume. There's something artificial about it, but you've taken everything from street life, and then incorporated them into a stage show. There's nothing normal about being on stage. There's nothing true about being on stage. I guess the idea of rock music ... people in the rock culture are so hung up on this notion of "authenticity" that it's painful. And I just thought that the idea of the guy in the band, you know, he's just a narc, was kind of exciting. It just revealed a larger potential lie. Like, maybe the guy in Soundgarden isn't really on the verge of total emotional collapse. Maybe he just thinks his hair looks really good today." ~ John Flansburgh bandoppler.com
  • Flans introduced the song at the 2005-07-08 show: "This song is called 'Working Undercover For The Man.' For those who don't know, 'Man' is short for 'The Man.'"

Song Themes

I Am, Intelligence, Espionage, Lies, Deception, Music, Occupations, Transportation

Videos

 
Current Rating

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Working Undercover For The Man is currently ranked #164 out of 845. (102 wikians have given it an average rating of 8.84)
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