They Might Be Giants (Song) (1983 Demo)

Trivia/Info

• TMBG Unlimited - May description:

One of the band's very first recordings, this four track recording bears a fair amount of similarity to the final version that appeared on the 1990 album Flood but slightly different lyrics, and a lot more "out" improvisation. Flansburgh's double speed guitar work has never sounded snappier.

• John Flansburgh on the double speed guitar used in the song^[1]:

I started out on an ES-330 (with a mysterious "Jumbo" on the trust rod plate) which I had through college. I never even thought about other guitars I enjoyed it so much. It was very easy to play, and very light. Only later on would I find out this was essentially the same model as the Beatles' Epiphone Sheratons. It is the double speed guitar on the recording "They Might Be Giants" (flown in from the original demo made five years before [Flood]) but alas it was stolen in a big apartment theft.

• The recording used for the song was also used for the version heard on the 1985 Demo Tape, but with added voice samples from "a kinda fake, budget version of a self-improvement program"^[2] on an unknown cassette featuring Dr. Dave Breese and the extended outro that fades out on this version.
• The drum track of this song is directly taken from the 1979 drum beat album, DrumDrops Volume One by David Crigger and Joey D. Vieira. The track is titled "Bluegrass Country", and can be listened to here. The 1985 demo also uses this drum track.
• The line about "yelling out 'albatross'", which appears in both early versions as well as current live versions, is a reference to a sketch from Monty Python's Flying Circus.
• Hiya Hi can be heard fading out faintly at the start of the official MP3, suggesting that this was sourced from an as-yet-uncirculated demo tape. It could also suggest that Hiya Hi was recorded around the same time as this song, as both use drum tracks from DrumDrops Volume One.
• This demo also appeared on the 1984 Promotional Demo Tape, despite not being listed on the tape's insert.

Song Themes

Body Parts, Easter Eggs, Hair, Lies And Deception, Questions, Self-Reference, Size, Songs With Samples, Weather

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