Talk:They Might Be Giants' Flood

Read it yet?

So has anyone read this yet? How is it? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kaylum (talk • contribs) 03:40, 30 November 2013

it's a great read, and not too long as to overdo anything. lots of neat new info and some high-level analysis. i'd strongly recommend it! Apollo (colloquia!) 14:44, 30 November 2013 (EST)

Misquote from Letterbox

I just noticed that the book incorrectly cites a lyric to Letterbox that is correctly stated in the liner notes (and constantly debated here on the wiki): the infamous line is written on page 55 as "'a lot of eyes on the other side'" instead of "a lot of eyes on me by this time". While it is known for being a misheard lyric, the book assumes it to be the intended choice of words rather than a fan's misconception.

What makes this interesting is that, with the correct lyrics in mind, the citation no longer makes as much sense. Reed and Sandifer try to use Letterbox to show how TMBG refer to a "cusp between childhood and adulthood", as stated on the previous page. "A lot of eyes on the other side" then refers to the other side of the cusp, but "a lot of eyes on me by this time" doesn't really work that well.

Had the authors realized that this was a misheard lyric, it would have actually been useful to mention this. Even if John and John didn't intend to separate childhood from adulthood as the book says they did, the music is able to come across that way to their fans - or, at least, to the authors. --173.63.178.237 22:23, 12 January 2014 (EST)