"Dead" is the fifth track from They Might Be Giants' major label debut, and third album, "Flood".
I am at a loss of words in regards to it. There was something mesmerising about "Dead" the first time I listened to it in 2010; today it still raises that same feeling which I believe I could describe, but wouldn't have the vocabulary to do so.
The keyboard set to 'piano', which is the only instrument used in the song, resembles something that would accompany a silent film from waaaay back or a parade of some sort due to its major key and marching tempo. It is Linnell's depressing lyrics about not living life to the full, having regrets and people celebrating somebody's death that puts things into perspective. Happy music with sad lyrics is a thing that the band is known for, but this may be the one that really gets to me.
Here it is, They Might Be Giant's biggest song. Commercially anyway. This, "Istanbul" and "Boss of Me" were their only songs to chart in the UK. Shows how much we know about music. I'm only joking, we know quite a bit about music. It's a shame we just never appreciated this band as much.
I've just woken up from a nap so please excuse any spelling mistakes, or anything that clearly doesn't make any sense.
They Might Be Giants released "Birdhouse in Your Soul" as the first single from their major label debut, "Flood". The song, from the perspective a 'blue canary' night-light who 'watches over you' in your sleep. Not in any strange kind of way, but to guard you from the demons and monsters of the night. Like a guardian angel, it's always near.
Now I don't know what affect the song had on people when it was initially released in 1990. I still had another five years to go until I was born, but judging from the stats I see on Wikipedia and TMBW it helped the band gain a bigger following of fans after reaching top ten positions in the UK and in the US Modern Rock chart in the US.
When I was younger and started listening to They Might Be Giants, I knew that I'd heard the song from somewhere. Perhaps in an advert, or it played in the background of a TV show or something. But I didn't know it was the band who sung it. I watched the video on Yahoo's LAUNCHcast website, and it made me like the song even more. The weird zombie children, the random bike riding around the band, the choreography, it's nice to see the band in one of their music videos too.
If you want to listen to the demo from Dial-a-Song, here it is.
