Mesopotamian Monday: TMBG - Sargon, Hammurabi, Ashurbanipal, and Gilgamesh
A great song by They Might Be Giants...
My favorite line:
"Hey, man, I thought that you were dead
I thought you crashed your car"
"No, man, I've been right here this whole time playing bass guitar"
My favorite line:
"Hey, man, I thought that you were dead
I thought you crashed your car"
"No, man, I've been right here this whole time playing bass guitar"
posted by e-kvetcher at 10:12 AM
5 Comments:
I don't know what it means. But I like that they were interesting enough to play with historical references.
Miri, They Might Be Giants is a wonderful band. Their lyrics are always off the wall, but they often have clever and inventive ideas.
For example - the song "Dead":
I returned a bag of groceries
Accidently taken off the shelf
Before the expiration date
I came back as a bag of groceries
Accidently taken off the shelf
Before the date stamped on myself
Did a large procession wave their
Torches as my head fell in the basket,
And was everybody dancing on the casket? (
Now it's over I'm dead and I haven't done anything that I want
Or, I'm still alive and there's nothing I want to do
I will never say the word
"Procrastinate" again; I'll never
See myself in the mirror with my eyes closed
I didn't apologize for
When I was eight and I made my younger brother
Have to be my personal slave
Did a large procession wave their
Torches as my head fell in the basket,
And was everybody dancing on the casket?
Now it's over I'm dead and I haven't done anything that I want
Or, I'm still alive and there's nothing I want to do
(So) So I won't
(Sit) sit at home
(And) anymore
(And) and you won't
(And) see my head in
(And) the window
(And) and I won't
(And) be around
(And) ever anymore
(And) and I'll be up there on the wall at the store
I returned a bag of groceries
Accidently taken off the shelf
Before the expiration date
I came back as a bag of groceries
Accidently taken off the shelf
Before the date stamped on myself
Did a large procession wave their
Torches as my head fell in the basket,
And was everybody dancing on the casket?
Now it's over I'm dead and I haven't done anything that I want
Or, I'm still alive and there's nothing I want to do
Now it's over I'm dead and I haven't done anything that I want
Or, I'm still alive and there's nothing I want to do
see again, interesting, but I don't get it. I mean, I get the gist, just not most of the supposed symbolism. I mean, groceries don't sit on shelves in bags. they get put into bags at the check-out. so you see how that's just sort of confusing. still, one has to give credit for being inventive with the lyrics. it annoys me when artists don't put any effort into their words.
no, no - he doesn't mean that the groceries were already bagged. He just means that that the groceries were in a bag when he returned them.
But I think the key line is :
Now it's over I'm dead and I haven't done anything that I want
Or, I'm still alive and there's nothing I want to do
I guess so.
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