Moonbeam Rays
From This Might Be A Wiki
| song name | Moonbeam Rays |
| artist | They Might Be Giants |
| releases | BOOK |
| year | 2021 |
| first played | June 8, 2022 (106 known performances) |
| run time | 2:51 |
| sung by | John Flansburgh, John Linnell harmonizes |
Trivia/Info
- This song was originally titled "Moonbeam Ray" and recorded in August 2017 alongside others that were released in the Dial-A-Song (2018) album cycle, but it was held over and rerecorded for 2021's BOOK.[1][2]
- John Flansburgh spoke about writing the song in a 2021 interview
I started writing the song probably five years ago. It started with the opening line, which was "By the time you read this, it will be too late," which is just an expression that's in movies. It's next to ransom note language, one of those melodramatic phrases that ends up in movies. Then John [Linnell] came in with a song that essentially had the same line in it ("By The Time You Get This"). This has happened before, and it's really flummoxing, because I actually thought the song was working pretty well. So I just kind of shelved it for a little while, and waited. [...] I tried rewriting it and it just wasn't as effective, so I just had to sit it out. But now it's in the world, and I think that it's just a good, well-crafted song. [...] It's just a sad breakup song, written by a happily married man.
- Flansburgh further explained the song in a 2024 interview:
A hundred years ago or more, there was a suspicion that if you spent too much time outside that the rays of the moon would kind of make you mad. It's a very old fashioned way of saying you've lost your mind. This song is sort of about being estranged from somebody, and envisioning them dancing in the moonbeams. And that's what driven them out of their mind.
- A music video for this song, directed by J.D. Amato, was released three days before "BOOK", and features an alternate live in-studio performance of the song.
Song Themes
Dancing, Fire, Hair, Insects, Mind Control, Hypnotism, Mirrors And Reflections, Money, Nonsense Words, Sleep, Time, Weapons
Videos
- Watch it on
- Live in-studio
Current Rating You must be logged in to rate this. You can either login (if you have a userid) or create an account with us today. Moonbeam Rays is currently ranked #252 out of 1021. (82 wikians have given it an average rating of 8.66) |
