“Clap Your Hands” – They Might Be Giants
From No
My wife is generally a demure little woman. It is not that she isn’t happy, or doesn’t enjoy life, it is simply that she rarely gets really excited over something. I suspect that George Clooney (the hottest of hotties, don’t ya know?) could walk up to her, plant a wet one on her lips, hand her two tickets to Paris and a thousand dollars and she’d still recall the experience later as simply “Okay.” She’s just like that, and I love her for it.
Still, there are a handful of little things that make her go uncharacteristically giddy. At the forefront of this very short list is They Might Be Giants. I don’t know what it is about those two geeky guys named John, but my little geeky wife adores them so.
“Clap Your Hands” is off of their attempt at a children’s album, a fact that makes her doubly excited and joyous. They Might Be Giants making up kids music! C’est Fantastique!
It’s a random, goofy tune whose lyrics are no more than “clap your hands,” and “stomp your feet,” but whose utter, relentless feel goodness makes even the most hum-bug of people smile - if just a little.
I guess it is the simple pleasures, that make life worth living. For me it is seeing the stoic love of my life, flop around the living room, with a big old goofy smile on her face, generally loving a little band from New York.
“Fell On Black Days” – Soundgarden
From Superunknown
I used to wear nothing but band t-shirts. Well, nothing but baggy pants, skater shoes, flannel AND band t-shirts. Finding a shirt with my favorite musicians plastered upon it was making a statement, man. It was like demonstrating who I was as a person. Or something.
I had a fabulous Soundgarden tee from the Badmotorfinger era, that had this crazy little design on the back made up of a whole bunch of hands, extending the middle finger. The way it was designed, with all the fingers making a giant circle, you couldn’t really tell that the design was anything more than something funky. This completely explains why my mother actually let me wear the thing.
Article comments
1 - Mark Saleski
woa....no Grateful Dead-related content this time. maybe it actually IS a random shuffle!
ps. i can't stand They Might Be Giants
2 - DJRadiohead
"Youth Culture Killed My Dog" is funny, though.
3 - Mat Brewster
I can't help it if a very large chunk of my musical collection involves the Dead, various solo projects by the dead, or people I somehow relate to the dead.
Well, maybe I can help it, but why would I want to?
I found some of TMBG to be pretty inspired, but there is a great deal that just kind of annoys. The wife, though, she loves it all.
4 - Mark Saleski
except for "Birdhouse In Your Soul", everything else i've heard makes me want to run for cover.
love that Soundgarden story.
oh, and Dead Letter Office is cool. love that version of "Toys In The Attic".
5 - Holly Hughes
I love They Might Be Giants too. Maybe it's connected to the female chromosomes. Mink Car is a seriously warped album and I can't get enough of it.
6 - Mat Brewster
Hmmmm, I'll have to get TMBG to do some sort of poll amongst their fan base dividing up the sexes. We could start with DJRadiohead, but I'm not sure which category to put him in.
Love Dead Letter Office. So random and odd.
7 - JC Mosquito
Toys as well as King of the Road are the most revealing cuts on Dead Letter Office: for a couple of moments of suspended disbelief, the artsy alt rockers pretend to be mainstream fans who know what to do with a case of lager.
8 - Mat Brewster
Man, I'm gonna have to put that album on again. "King of the Road" is unbelievably drunken, if I recall.
9 - JC Mosquito
Yes, indeed - TERRIBLY drunken. I love how they flouder around looking for a key - ANY key.