Interpretations:Greasy Kid Stuff

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Interpretation 1

It's about a bad hair day. This dire track should have stayed on the cutting room floor. D'ya gettit? Flans sings very badly on a song that he's literally making up on the spot. Putting this as a lead track on the Myspace site is not good advertising. This interpretation review will also probably be cut by the wikithought police. (Mr Tuck) 05:28, January 12, 2007

A fun song. I wish that I, like Mr Tuck, could have been there in the studio to watch Flans literally make up the song on the spot. --Mucket 17:50, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

To be fair I'm glad that I wasn't there. I think one of the downsides of the internet is that stuff like this gets out there too easily. In 1990 a joke throwaway ends up on a bootleg. Saying that Greasy Kid Stuff is up there with Spider from Apollo 18 on the cringe factor. Designed to be an fun observational piece it just comes across as clever clever... but not.

One of the TMBG's big moans is that they are seen as nerd rock and waccy. Putting junk like this out there only confirms this view. I don't want to appear to be negative re: the Giants. They are my fave band, I've seen them a million times, I own all they have done, plus the solo stuff, plus people are wrong CD, but I feel that I need to be constructive too. If one interprets this song correctly it belongs in a (thankfully) tiny section of songs that I will describe as ill advised. Alongside the aforementioned Spider, its saving grace is that it is not as bad at the Metal Machine Music of the Giants discography - the Planet of the Apes suite on Severe Tire Damage. --(Mr Tuck) 09:28, January 15, 2007

I think one of the coolest things about TMBG is that they're not afraid to put B-grade material out there just for fun. I think everybody knows the songs are B-grade, and they won't end up on a proper album ("Spider" excluded, I guess), but it's good times. I really enjoy this tune a lot; more than the more intricately constructed "Vestibule," for sure. (Chris Fabulous) 22:44, January 19, 2007

You have a point I guess, but I don't really see a song like Greasy Kid Stuff as a B grade song but more as a skit that one might listen to once on a podcast. Having it as a lead track on Myspace seems to be defeating the object of promoting the band. Perhaps its just me being disappointed with Flans. Alot of his more recent songs (Mink Car onwards) seem to lack the melody, invention and lyrics that I used to love him for. If he was still punching at the same creative weight as Linnell the albums would be a lot stronger. The last song of his I really liked was Damn Good Times (apart from the ill-advised guitar rock out at the end). Still it's my problem, not his. Perhaps I should lighten up! (Mr Tuck) 11:16, January 23, 2007

I think it's a fine song, catchy, with a whimsical verse, and a chorus that parodies Bolan and Bowie. It's one of the highlights of Cast Your Pod, certainly better than the answering machine messages and radio show jingles on the same album. Also, it's not just about hair: the second verse is about the Greasy Kid Stuff radio show. -- Thread Bomb (talk) 22:46, 28 June 2020 (EDT)

Interpretation 2

Did anyone realize that "Greasy Kid Stuff" is also the title of an old Bill Cosby bit about a kid with bad hair? It's really about a football player doing a hair tonic commercial, which he does extremely badly, and tries to help the kid with bad hair throw a football and fix himself up. (Shenlon) 11:03, July 26, 2007

Interpretation 3

Are y'all serious? I love this song. But to get back on topic, I always thought it was just a (fake) commercial for a hair gel. ~Anna Ng hears your words. 18:12, 18 September 2007 (UTC)

Interpretation 4

One thing I keep thinking with regard to this song is how it sounds vaguely Elvis Costelloish. I don't know why I feel that, but it just strikes me as something Costello would do if he was in TMBG. (Mr. Feek) 00:31, October 20, 2007

I can't explain it either, but I've always heard this as well. It seems like the obvious thought is that I'm somehow thinking of "Radio, Radio" and drawing some sort of comparison based on the lyrics alone, but no. Listening to them back-to-back there's very little similarity, but I still think it. It might just be because, in many ways, they have a slightly similar style as artists. Both are notable for their lyrics with a lot of "too clever" wordplay and their more rocking songs have a kind of nervous, jittery energy to them rather than the assured confidence that tends to be typical of most rock.24.6.208.173 22:59, 22 July 2014 (EDT)

Interpretation 5

I love this song. Mr Tuck has absolutely no sense of fun. (MisterMrTucksMortalEnemy) 11:40, February 9, 2009

Interpretation 6

Has anyone noticed that it sounds like he's singing "greasy keister". I used to going around singing greasy keister. eeeeew! --Nerdy4ever95 08:10, July 24, 2009

More David Bowie slamming?

It's true Elvis Costello did a song called "Radio Radio," but the way John (or is it John?) pronounces "OW! RADI-OW!" in, as someone mentioned, a rather geeky or wussy way, sure sounds to me like a parody of David Bowie. I speculate they're continuing their taunting of Mr. Bowie, as in "Au Contraire." ("out-of-style radio... tried to fake it..." fairly accurate assessment of Mr. ZiggyStardust wooncha say...) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 204.169.161.1 (talk • contribs) 14:36, November 20, 2009

I thought "Put your hand on the computer" was definitely sung in a Bowie stylee. I don't think they're "slamming", just having fun. -- Thread Bomb (talk) 22:39, 28 June 2020 (EDT)