Spoken Word

From This Might Be A Wiki

Songs in which plain, amusical speech and/or conversation take place. (Not including digressions during live performances.)

1 Entire Song
2 Entire Sections
3 Single Lines
4 Conversations

Entire Song

From the Venue Songs DVD

Entire Sections

Alphabet Lost And Found - "On this fateful day, in the history of whenever", "Crowds of people, animals, and incomplete words..." , humorous shouting during the chorus
The Bloodboat - Announcing the bloodboat at the beginning and in the middle of the song
The Bloodmobile - "Somebody's got to haul out the trash..."
C Is For Conifers - "There are so many different kinds of conifer trees..."
Celebration - The intro to this song is spoken by John Flansburgh.
Chip The CHiP - "Alright, pull it over! Do you know why I stopped you? Cause I thought maybe you could tell me why I stopped you."
Chopping Block Testimonial - The intro to this song is spoken by John Flansburgh.
Circular Karate Chop - "Three rules from your sensei..."
Complete Paranoia - "This is a crybaby song..."
Dedicated - "October 17th: Stayed inside..."
The Edison Museum (Wax Cylinder) - Begins with "The Edison Museum, performed by They Might Be Giants, Nicholas Hill vocal, made at Edison Laboratories."
Elephants - "Did you hear about the farmer, who had a house built in Sri Lanka?..."
Hey, Man. I Saw Your Band. - "Hey, this is John of They Might Be Giants..."
House Of Mayors - "George Finby! Alexander Whigmore! Patrick O'Barr! Conrad Spectacle! Carl Van Krieg! Antonio Botton!"
I Am A Paleontologist - "Is it a T-rex? Maybe a Triceratops? Or a Carnotaur? Pachycephalosaurus?"
I Am A Robot - "Hello."
I Am A Robot (Type B) - "Oh, hello."
I Can Add - "Alright, two plus one is three, three plus one is four, and four plus one is five! I'm gettin' it! I'm gettin' good at this!"
John Lee Supertaster - The introductory part: "When I was 39 years old, I heard a story..."
Lines Upon A Tranquil Brow - The first verse
Nine Bowls Of Soup - "Woah Woah WOAH" "If I tell you what these are for, then will you stop bothering me?...", "Nine bowls of soup arranged a certain way..."
S-E-X-X-Y - "Dressed only in clothes..."
Then The Kids Took Over - Spoken word bridge
The Velvet Ape - "The year is 1970ld..."
We Just Go Nuts At Christmastime - Begins with "Hi, this is John of They Might Be Giants...", also with "Again" at the end of the song
Why Does The Sun Shine? - "Scientists have found that the sun is a huge atom-smashing machine..."
The World's Address (Joshua Fried Remix) - spoken phrases throughout the song.

Single Lines

32 Footsteps - "28, 29, 30, 31"
Absolutely Bill's Mood - "Thank you! Thank you!"
Alienation's For The Rich - "This song is dedicated to all you modern day troubadours out there / And I think I know who you are"
Alphabet Of Nations - "The alphabet of nations, the alphabet of nations, the alphabet of nations!"
Anaheim - "Goodnight, Mrs. Hitler"
Ana Ng - "I don't want the world, I just want your half"
Bread Hair - "That's a gone rug, buddy"
Even Numbers - "2, 4, 6, 8"
Fake-Believe - "Yodel-ay-he-hoo!", "That's little Lord Fauntleroy, please"
Fake-Believe (Type B) - "4-3-2-1, blastoff!", "It's not a problem, ants are strong"
For Science - "Let's get those missiles ready to destroy the universe!"
Go For G! - "Grapes, glue, gyroscopes"
Hide Away Folk Family - The Home Astrology Report recited by John Flansburgh.
Hot Dog! - "That's me!"
How Many Planets? - "And a bunch of other stuff"
I Can Add - "I don't even know spanish, but I'm gonna sing it in spanish now"
I Can Hear You - "I Can Hear You by They Might Be Giants / Made at the Edison Laboratories"
I Got My T-Shirt Back - "Play the bongos!"
I'll Sink Manhattan - "Thanks a lot guys. From the NYPD. We love you." (Played in reverse.)
L M N O - "Hello children, it's time for an important lesson with Professor Flans! This is about four letters that people sometimes confuse for one: L M N O!"
Mr. Xcitement - "Let it be known: They Might Be Giants, Doughty, The Elegant Too: Mr. Xcitement."
On Earth My Nina - "Here's my song."
One Dozen Monkeys - "His name is Larry."
Put Your Hand Inside The Puppet Head - "Memo to myself: Do the dumb things I gotta do. Touch the Puppet Head."
Q U - "Quack quack, quack, quack"
Seven - Henry Linnell and Desi Tomaselli make such statements as "I would like some cake" and "The green house at the end of the block"
She's Actual Size - "We take you to Brooklyn."
(She Thinks She's) Edith Head - Studio banter before the final chorus
Spider - "I promise not to kill you"
Why Does The Sun Shine? - Several lines, including "It is so hot that everything on it is a gas. Iron, copper, aluminum, and many others."
Zeroes - In various parts of the song, Hannah Levine states numbers that include zeroes, for instance: "ten, one hundred, one thousand"