Older (Mink Car Version)

From This Might Be A Wiki

song name Older
artist They Might Be Giants
releases Mink Car
year 2001
run time 1:58
sung by John Linnell; John Flansburgh sings the bridge


Trivia/Info

We recently got to perform this song on the Conan O'Brien show, but that was before we added the two instruments heard at the top. The first one you hear is called a "Rauschpfife." It is then joined by the strident Saroussophone, a 19th century substitute for the Contrabassoon. Obligatory wisecracks about the reasons for their current unpopularity have already been made and are unwelcome. The song itself is just as current today as it was earlier today.
  • As for the reasoning behind the inclusion of these instruments, Linnell said "we like playing with old things because we simply like them"[1], while Flansburgh would mention on Tumblr: "You can hear just from the sounds that those instruments have really extreme textures in different registers, so I suspect that basic contrast was exciting to JL, but it’s really something I can’t be sure of."
  • This recording plays at more or less a constant 60 BPM march (check at BPM Calculator), which is one beat for every second that you get older while listening to the song.
  • The version on the European release of Mink Car is missing one rauschpfeife note near the end (the first solo note, corresponding to "time" in "time is marching on").

Song Themes

Age, Death, Funny But Sad, Not In Major Or Minor, Onomatopoeia, Time

Videos

Current Rating

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Older (Mink Car Version) is currently ranked #780 out of 1056. (92 wikians have given it an average rating of 7.58)