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1[[quoteright:248:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/theymightbegiants_5986.jpg]]
2
3->''"We can't be silent \
4Cause they might be giants \
5And what're we gonna do, unless they are?"''
6-->-- "'''They Might Be Giants'''", ''Music/{{Flood|TheyMightBeGiants}}''
7
8They Might Be Giants is a band founded in 1982 by John Linnell and John Flansburgh. They initially became famous as a part of a wave of AlternativeRock bands to find success between the 1988 creation of Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart and the Grunge explosion of 1991–92; other like-minded bands that became successful during this time include Music/ThePixies, Music/{{XTC}}, Music/MidnightOil and Music/TheChurch.
9
10The band is named for the [[Film/TheyMightBeGiants1971 1971 film]] starring Creator/GeorgeCScott as a judge who thinks he's Franchise/SherlockHolmes, and Joanne Woodward as his psychiatrist, a doctor whose name happens to be Watson. The name of ''that'' film is a reference to ''Literature/DonQuixote'' (that's why he attacked the windmills, you know)... which was itself a sideways reference to Literature/TheBible.
11
12They often perform songs attributed to animated projects, or other forms of television entertainment. They sing the theme songs to ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle'', ''WesternAnimation/MickeyMouseClubhouse''[[note]]as well as the "infamous" Hot Dog Dance[[/note]] and ''WesternAnimation/HigglytownHeroes'', and wrote Dr. Evil's theme in ''Film/AustinPowersTheSpyWhoShaggedMe'' (InTheStyleOf Music/ShirleyBassey). Some older readers may remember the videos made for two songs from their 1990 album ''Music/{{Flood|TheyMightBeGiants}}'', "Particle Man" and their cover of The Four Lads' song "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)", on ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures''. Others might remember their contributions to the WesternAnimation/CartoonNetworkGroovies project in the early aughts (creating songs for the cartoons ''WesternAnimation/CourageTheCowardlyDog'' and ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory''), or their music videos on ''WesternAnimation/KaBlam''. They also worked with the creators of ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'', resulting in an official music video for "Experimental Film" starring the H*R cast, as well as some jam sessions with the Homestar puppet. Their cover of "Dog on Fire" (originally performed by their friend, Music/HuskerDu guitarist Bob Mould) was the theme song of ''Series/TheDailyShowWithJonStewart''.
13
14The ''WesternAnimation/{{Coraline}}'' movie was initially meant to be a musical featuring TMBG songs specially written for it; the only ones released so far, "Careful What You Pack" and "The Other Father's Song" (which made it into the movie), could be seen as an indicator of WhatCouldHaveBeen. Although The Other Father's singing voice is performed by John Linnell, he is otherwise voiced by TMBG frequent collaborator Creator/JohnHodgman.
15
16The band's 1987 music video for their single "Don't Let's Start" was the first ever video by a band on an independent label (Bar/None Records) [[OverlyNarrowSuperlative to go into regular rotation on MTV outside of its alternative block ''120 Minutes'' (which was only created the previous year).]]
17
18In 2004, they started the Venue Songs project, whereby they would go on tour and write a new song for every venue they played. Venue Songs was released as a [=CD/DVD=] combo, the DVD consisting of videos to the songs, with host segments featuring John Hodgman as The Deranged Millionaire, a mysterious figure who had set the band with this challenge. If they failed, they would be forced to give up their magical songwriting talisman forever, leaving Brooklyn vulnerable to attack from The Deranged Millionaire's roving baseball gangs and monstrous creatures. Luckily, they won, and the Millionaire was therefore indebted to do an interview in one of their podcasts. It's one of the funniest things ever recorded.
19
20And the old man whose face you see in all their videos is named William Allen White. He was a famous journalist in Kansas from TheEdwardianEra to UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. The band were secretive of this for quite some time in case his surviving relatives were to sue them.
21----
22!!Studio album discography:
23[[index]]
24* ''Music/{{They Might Be Giants|Album}}'' (1986)
25* ''Music/{{Lincoln}}'' (1988)
26* ''Music/{{Flood|TheyMightBeGiants}}'' (1990)
27* ''Music/Apollo18'' (1992)
28* ''Music/JohnHenry'' (1994)
29* ''Music/FactoryShowroom'' (1996)
30* ''Music/LongTallWeekend'' (1999) (The first album ever exclusively released over the internet.)
31* ''Music/MinkCar'' (2001)
32* ''Music/TheSpine'' (2004)
33* ''Music/TheElse'' (2007)
34* ''Music/JoinUs'' (2011)
35* ''Music/{{Nanobots}}'' (2013)
36* ''Glean'' (2015)
37* ''Phone Power'' (2016)
38* ''Music/ILikeFun'' (2018)
39* ''My Murdered Remains'' (2018)
40* ''The Escape Team'' (2018)
41* ''BOOK'' (2021)
42[[/index]]
43
44!!Children's album discography
45* ''No!'' (2002)
46* ''Music/HereComeTheABCs'' (2005)
47* ''Here Come the 123s'' (2008)
48* ''Here Comes Science'' (2009)
49* ''Why?'' (2015)
50
51!!Tropes that got their names from TMBG:
52* IstanbulNotConstantinople [[note]]Their version was a cover version, but is the most famous version of the song.[[/note]]
53* HellHotel
54
55----
56!!Tropes and other entries associated with the band include:
57* AccidentalMisnaming:
58** People frequently get the band's name wrong. "There May Be Giants" and "There Must Be Giants" are some of the most common examples. This was immortalized in the untitled 13th track of ''Miscellaneous T'', where a Dial-A-Song caller named Gloria refers to the band as "There Might Be Giants", "There May Be Giants" and "They May Be Giants" all in quick succession.
59** Flansburgh jokes about it with his parody intro before "They Got Lost" off ''Severe Tire Damage'' - "Ladies and Gentlemen, put your hands together for They Must Be Giants!"
60** An edition of the band's podcast "hosted" by a speech synthesis program added "Ain't They Giants?" and "Might Be Giant" to the list.
61** [[WebAnimation/HomestarRunner Strong Bad and Homestar Runner]] parody this phenomenon in the commentary for the "Experimental Film" music video, calling them the "Super Giants" and "Supreme Giants".
62* ActionGirl: The titular detective of the "Hotel Detective" series of songs is written as one.
63-->''Will she shoot you?\
64She won't have to\
65[[YouAreAlreadyDead You're already dead]]''
66* AddedAlliterativeAppeal: "Pictures of Pandas Painting" from ''Here Come the [=ABCs=]'' is made up almost entirely of alliterative phrases.
67* AIIsACrapshoot: The video for "Thinking Machine".
68* AllLoveIsUnrequited: "Withered Hope" has a veritable pentagon of unrequited love.'
69* AlphabetSong: An entire album of them on ''Here Come The [=ABCs=].''
70* AlterEgoActing:
71** They've been their own opening act on several occasions, posing as Sapphire Bullets, "the only They Might Be Giants tribute band [[Music/TheClash that matters]]", or an [[UnpluggedVersion Unplugged]] duo called Count Drinkalot (Flansburgh on acoustic guitar and Linnell on accordion).
72** For their TMBG Unlimited mp3 series around 2001, they had a project called "Battle of the Bands", directly inspired by the 1968 album ''Music/TheTurtlesPresentTheBattleOfTheBands'', with the same concept: TMBG recorded a bunch of songs InTheStyleOf different genres under FakeBand names. The oddest one was probably the alleged BoyBand Too + 3, whose song "Too + 3 R One" featured a PissTakeRap by Linnell in the bridge.
73* AmbiguousSyntax:
74** As pointed out by an interpretation of a line in Marty Beller Mask, "It's been fifteen long years since I put on the Marty mask", either the narrator's been wearing the mask for fifteen years, or it's the first time in fifteen years she's donned the mask.
75** Also, the lyrics to "The World's Address" make (slightly) more sense if you interpret the title as "the world's a dress" (after all, it's "a place that's worn", which would certainly be a "[[{{Pun}} sad pun]]").
76*** It still works when "Hey, Mr. DJ, I Thought You Said We Had A Deal" name-drops the song: "I told you 'bout the world, its address" works just as well—maybe ''better''—as "I told you 'bout the world (it's a dress)".
77** "Dead" begins with "I returned a bag of groceries accidentally taken off the shelf before the expiration date". The next line makes it clear that the narrator doesn't mean asking a clerk for a refund:
78--->''I [[{{Reincarnation}} came back as a bag of groceries]] accidentally taken off the shelf before the date stamped on myself''
79* AndThereWasMuchRejoicing:
80** "When Will You Die?"
81--->''On that promised morning\
82We will wake and greet the dawn\
83Knowing that your wicked life is over\
84And that we will carry on''
85** The narrator of "Dead" fears this was his end:
86--->''Did a large procession wave their torches\
87As my head fell in the basket,\
88And was everybody dancing on the casket?''
89* AnthropomorphicVice: "They'll Need a Crane":
90-->''Lad looks at other gals\
91Gal thinks Jim Beam is handsomer than lad\
92He isn't bad''
93* AntiChristmasSong: "Santa's Beard", "We Just Go Nuts At Christmastime" and Mono Puff's "Careless Santa" all fit the bill. And for those looking for an Anti-Hanukkah song, they also have "Feast Of Lights".
94** The lyrics have nothing to do with Christmas, but the cheery "Bong bong bong bong" backup vocals in "Bells Are Ringing" sound Christmassy enough to make this exceedingly creepy song quite effective as an Anti-Christmas Song anyway.
95* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: "Someone Keeps Moving My Chair"
96* AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever: Shows up in some of their music videos:
97** "With the Dark" has a GiantSquid, which tries to kidnap Linnell at one point.
98** "Icky" has the titular icky guy growing to giant size and climbing buildings ''Film/KingKong'' style.
99** Subverted with "She's Actual Size"; the lady in question gives the impression of being literally larger-than-life, even though she's only [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin actual size]].
100--> ''Words fail!\
101Buildings crumble!\
102The ground opens wide!\
103Light beams down from heaven -\
104She stands before my eyes!''
105* AudienceParticipationSong: Quite a few.
106** In live performances of "Drink", the audience is requested to chant "Drink! Drink!" whenever the word "drink" is sung during the chorus.
107** For "Careful What You Pack", the stage lights are turned off and the audience is requested to turn on their cellphone lights towards the stage.
108** "Battle For The Planet Of The Apes" splits the audience into two factions, one chanting "people" when the drums and bass are played, and one chanting "apes" when the keyboards and guitar are played.
109** For "Hide Away Folk Family", the audience is encouraged to scream as if they were in {{Hell}} during the bridge.
110** For “No One Knows My Plan”, the audience is encouraged to start a conga line.
111* AwfulTruth: This is a common theme for the band, which along with the LyricalDissonance that TMBG often employs, gives them a [[BlackComedy darkly comedic]] style. This might help explain their intergenerational appeal, as kids who cut their teeth with the band's children's music can easily find deeper and more complex material in TMBG's adult catalogue.
112** "Answer"
113--->''It may take an ocean of whiskey and time\
114To wash all of the letdown out of your mind\
115And this may not be the item you selected but I\
116Am the answer to all your prayers''
117** "Sometimes A Lonely Way"
118--->''We can see it now, the scratches\
119On the back of the door\
120We can see it now, no mistaking\
121What you're better for''
122** "The World's Address"
123--->''I know you deceived me, couldn't sleep last night\
124Now my tear stains on the wall reflect an ugly sight\
125I can see your secrets, no need to confess\
126Everyone looks naked when you know the world's address''
127* BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy: "Ballad of UsefulNotes/DavyCrockett [[JustForFun/RecycledINSPACE in Outer Space]]"
128* BerserkButton: "Someone Keeps Moving My Chair"
129* BlatantLies: Besides their favoritism of the UnreliableNarrator, "Everything Right Is Wrong Again" has a verse repeatedly stating "and now the song is over now"...just before the bridge.
130* BigApplesauce: They do several songs referencing their base in New York City.
131* BigWhat: Linnell delivers three of these in response to the last verse of "Thinking Machine".
132* BlackmailIsSuchAnUglyWord: "Erase".
133-->''Think of this as solving problems that should never have occurred\
134Please don't call it strangulation\
135That is such an ugly word''
136* BoDiddleyBeat: "Nightgown of The Sullen Moon", "Hypnotist of Ladies" and live performances of "Particle Man".
137* BrandX:
138** To avoid a lawsuit, the song "Nyquil Driver" was listed as "AKA Driver" on the track listing for ''John Henry'', and it's the only cut of John Henry that does not have its lyrics listed in the liner notes. Avoided in the song itself, however.
139** In the song ''E Eats Everything'' to avoid saying "Coke": '''H''' ''burns food so horrible/all'' '''I''' ''tastes is smoke''/'''J''' ''just likes drinking juice/and'' '''K''' ''drinks only [[SubvertedRhymeEveryOccasion soda]]''
140* BreadEggsMilkSquick:
141** "Lesson 16", one of Linnell's occasional spoken pieces for TMBG's podcast, starts out as a fairly standard language learning recording, before revealing that the narrator [[YouKilledMyFather "killed your father".]]
142** "You're On Fire" starts with a bit of light conversation, and then the narrator says, "My point is... hi, your head's on fire".
143* BuffySpeak:
144** From "No One Knows My Plan": "But they're like the people chained up in the cave / In the Allegory of the People in the Cave by the Greek guy".
145** ''Nanobots'' uses this in "Insect Hospital" (" 'Cause we are like, literally, literally, literally") and discusses it more extensively in the appropriately-titled "Stuff Is Way" ("You say, stuff is way / Way to go, go away...").
146** "Wait Actually Yeah No", down to the title
147* CallAndResponseSong: "Thinking Machine" is a conversation between a human being (Linnell) and a faulty chatbot (Flansburgh).
148* CallBack:
149** The song "Hey, Mr. DJ, I Thought You Said We Had a Deal" references three earlier songs from their first two albums (in a manner not unlike Music/TheBeatles' "Glass Onion"):
150---> ''Well, I told you about the world, its address\
151I wonder when they're gonna clean up the mess\
152You know the Rabid Child is still tuning in\
153Chess Piece Face's patience must be wearing thin''
154** "[=McCafferty's=] Bib" references the same performance art piece that inspired them to make William Allen White's head a recurring motif.
155* CaptainObvious: The entirety of "Older", with lines such as, "You're older than you've ever been / And now you're even older / And now you're older still".
156* CarefulWithThatAxe: John Flansburgh towards the end of "Nothing's Gonna Change My Clothes"
157* CelebrationMiscalculation: The song "It's Not My Birthday" deals with someone being wished a happy birthday on the wrong day.
158* ChessWithDeath: Played with in the music video for "I'll Be Haunting You". A person falls off a building and finds themself face-to-face with Death, who challenges them to a game of... ping-pong. They win, are restored to life, [[spoiler: and then immediately dies again due to a falling toolbox, [[HereWeGoAgain at which point Death goes back to the more traditional chess game]].]]
159* CityShoutOuts: The band had a tour in which they wrote a song about each venue they visited and then performed the song at the venue. By all accounts, they were good songs, too! Darn musical geniuses.
160* CloserThanTheyAppear: In "She's Actual Size": "Squares may look distant in a rearview mirror, but they're actual size, actual size to her".
161* CompanionCube: "Birdhouse in Your Soul" is sung from the perspective of a night light and their friendship with their young charge.
162* ConceptAlbum: "They Might Be Giants vs. [=McSweeney's=]", which was (mostly) by the band and meant to accompany ''[=McSweeney's=] Quarterly Concern #6''.
163** All the Disney albums are loosely based around, the [=ABCs=], the 123s, and science.
164** The Venue Songs, where they wrote a song for each venue they performed at on their 2004 tour.
165** John Linnell's "House Of Mayors" EP features a series of instrumental songs named after New York City mayors. The opening track, "Preamble: Fernando Wood" is a speech inspired by Fernando Wood. "Will You Love Me In December As You Do In May?" is a cover of a songs written by mayor James J. Walker. The title track is about a fictional museum called the House of Mayors. Linnell's full length album "State Songs" consists of tracks named after (but not actually about) US states, and his "Roman Songs" EP is sung entirely in GratuitousLatin.
166** 2018's "The Escape Team", with each song depicting a different [[PunnyName punnily named]] character thought up by artist David Cowles.
167* ConfusingMultipleNegatives: Used in "The Neck Rolls Aren't Working:"
168-->''This gut wrench''
169-->''I'm using to fix the bad drainpipe''
170-->''That's leaking all over my gut wrench''
171-->''Is right on the brink of destroying''
172-->''My chances''
173-->''Of wrecking my chances of wrecking''
174-->''Any last hope of destroying''
175-->''Any last hope that I had''
176* ContinuityNod: The music video for "Push Back the Hands" has a cameo of Hammurabi from the video for "The Mesopotamians", as well as a black-and-white segment that references the bands' videos for their earlier songs like "Don't Let's Start".
177* CorruptCorporateExecutive: "Kiss Me, Son of God" is written from the viewpoint of one of these.
178* CoverVersion: Two of their greatest hits, "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" and "New York City", are covers. Also note "Bills, Bills, Bills" by Music/DestinysChild and "Starry Eyes" by The Records.
179** Another notable example is "Why Does the Sun Shine? (The Sun is a Mass of Incandescent Gas)", which was written in the 1950s by Tin Pan Alley songwriters Lou Singer and Hy Zaret and recorded by folk singer Tom Glazer. The ''Why Does the Sun Shine?'' EP also includes a cover of "Jessica" by Music/TheAllmanBrothersBand.
180* CrapsackWorld:
181** "The Shadow Government": the chorus consists primarily of "It's a bad, bad world", and the last non-chorus verse is: "Crawling out of the flophouse / I saw the mayor stealing my junk / I doth protest, citizen's arrest / Now my body's in his trunk". Yeah, and the point of the song is that the oft feared [[TheOmniscientCouncilOfVagueness Shadow Government]] is preferable to the state of affairs in their world. Yeah.
182** "Pencil Rain" implies a Crapsack World too: "And none who have witnessed all / Can speak of a nobler cause / Than perishing in / The pencil rain".
183** "Put Your Hand Inside the Puppet Head".
184* CuteKitten: "It's your kind of kitten".
185* DamnedByFaintPraise: A [[https://tmbw.net/wiki/Hodgman_Promo_3 fake political ad]] for Creator/JohnHodgman, aired on Dial-a-Song, smears his previous subletter for (among various things) masturbating out the window on two separate occasions, and notes Hodgman only masturbated out the window ''once''.
186* DarkCabaret: They sometimes dabble in the genre, for example their songs on the {{WesternAnimation/Coraline}} soundtrack.
187* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: From "Everything Right is Wrong Again":
188-->''And now the song is over now, and now the song is over now\
189And now the song is over now, the song is over now''
190* DissonantSerenity: "You're On Fire". The narrator is incredibly nonchalant about the subject's head being on fire, even as he points it out.
191* DistinctionWithoutADifference: "Lazyhead and Sleepybones" from the ''No!'' album is all about this, describing two people who are too tired to realize the only thing they can't agree on is the wording of their observations.
192* DoubleMeaning: The song "Dirt Bike" is vague, but it sounds as though it is advertising a band called "Dirt Bike". The narrator "hears they're over their sophomore jinx/jinks", which could be interpreted in two completely different ways. Either they're over their "sophomor[ic hi-]jinks", which means they are no longer playing childish pranks and are ready to grow up, or they are over their "sophomore jinx", which means that unlike many second-string bands, releasing their second album has not meant the end of their career.
193* DoubleMeaningTitle: "Spoiler Alert" can be read a few ways. It foreshadows that the song has a TwistEnding (the two speakers are driving on the same road and are going to crash), but it could also refer to the writer discussing the ending of his book, or him being alerted to the oncoming truck hood.
194* DrivesLikeCrazy: Flo Wheeler in ''The Escape Team''. "Pick a lane / 'Cause your driving is driving everybody insane!"
195* DyingAlone: The lyrics of "Last Wave" talk about dying afraid and alone.
196* EducationalSong: Before they even started writing kids' albums, they had songs like "Meet James Ensor" and "Mammal".
197* EmployeeOfTheMonth: "Employee of the Month" is about someone bragging about being named Employee of the Month at "the crumb factory". The music, especially [[LastNoteNightmare the vaguely ominous slide whistles that continue into the outro]], give the impression of someone clinging to a minor accomplishment to keep themself from going crazy.
198-->Got a job at the crumb factory\
199It's my very first job\
200I'm working at the crumb factory\
201It's my number one job\
202I'm employee of the month\
203Number one crumb-making son of a gun\
204I just need one sandwich\
205And I'm set all day for making crumbs
206* EnhanceButton: Alluded to in "Unpronounceable" - "Zoom and enhance, if that were even a real thing / which it isn’t"
207* EvilTwin: The song "My Evil Twin".
208* ExtremeDoormat: Mr. Horrible in "Someone Keeps Moving My Chair", who keeps having bad things done to him by the narrator and his Ugliness Men, yet Horrible's only complaint is the song's title.
209* ForScience: A good reason to kiss a girl from Venus.
210* FriendlyPirate: "Pirate Girls Nine" is about nine girls that are pirates. Despite them being very stinky, they are very friendly.
211* FryingPanOfDoom: Person Man gets hit on the head with one, it seems.
212* FunnyBackgroundEvent: In any of their older music videos, whichever John isn't singing will be in the background flailing hysterically, spilling coffee cups, and otherwise keeping things interesting.
213* FunWithPalindromes: "I Palindrome I" is full of variously palindromic stuff; see the trope page for a full listing.
214* GenreBusting: A hallmark of their sound is their unusual arrangements, which often mix-and-match elements from music styles ranging from techno, country music, and hip-hop to polka, free jazz, and lounge music.
215* GiantSquid:
216** ''Apollo 18'' has one battling a sperm whale on the cover.
217** The stop-motion video for "With the Dark" features a similar one fighting the Johns.
218* GiantWoman: The titular girl from "Too Tall Girl".
219-->Too-tall girl can see\
220Past the rooftops and the trees\
221Too-tall girl can see\
222Past the crosstown mall and townie sprawl
223* GoshDangItToHeck: In live "family-friendly" concerts when all ages are present, the band will {{bowdlerize}} the title of "Damn Good Times" to "Dang Good Times".
224* GratuitousGreek: "Greek #3", which is "Number Three" translated into Greek.
225* HandPuppet:
226** Their sock-puppet mini-show, the Avatars of They, featuring Linnell as the Green Avatar, and Flansburgh as the Blue Avatar. They are projected on the venue screen, and usually thank They Might Be Giants for "opening up" before performing a few songs and exchanging banter, usually alongside cutouts of famous celebrities like Creator/MegRyan or the Supreme Court of the United States.
227** The second track from their first album is "Put Your Hand Inside The Puppet Head". The entire chorus is a repeated TitleDrop.
228* HeadlessHorseman: Apparently a fascination for They Might Be Giants, who namedrop the Headless Horseman in their songs "You Probably Get That A Lot" and "Headless". "Authenticity Trip" contains references to Sleepy Hollow and to Ichabod Crane, but not to the Horseman himself.
229* HistoricalBiographySong:
230** "[[Music/JohnHenry Meet James Ensor]]" is a poetic (and quite vague) retelling of the passage through fame and obscurity of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Ensor Belgian artist of that name]].
231** "[[Music/FactoryShowroom James K. Polk]]" is a much more encyclopedic and factual rendition of the political emergence, policies, and deeds of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_K._Polk 11th president]].
232** "[[Music/{{Nanobots}} Tesla]]" is a somber tune about [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikola_Tesla Nikola Tesla]], noting all the inventions he created and discoveries he found, while almost mourning the circumstances of his death.
233* HiddenTrack: The original release of "Token Back To Brooklyn" was as a pre-gap track before "S-E-X-X-Y" on ''Factory Showroom'', although it was later released as a proper track on ''Long Tall Weekend''.
234* HowIWroteThisArticleArticle: {{Exaggerated}}. "Number Three", the third song on their first album, is about burning out after writing only two songs.
235* ImplausibleDeniability: In "Icky", the "icky guy" borrows a "nice pair of slacks", but "only return[s] one of them". (So...a single leg?) He then defends himself by claiming it was like that when he borrowed it.
236* InconvenientSummons: In their 2015 Dial-A-Song tour, their "mother" calls mid-concert.
237* IntentionallyAwkwardTitle:
238** "Youth Culture Killed My Dog", among several others.
239** "Kiss Me, Son of God" makes a few folks squeamish. One of the verses makes it abundantly clear that the song's VillainProtagonist is ''not'' supposed to be Jesus, though.
240* InvisibleStomachVisibleFood: {{Discussed|Trope}} in the song "I Am Invisible" from ''Why?''. The invisible man isn't sure whether the trope applies to him or not.
241* UsefulNotes/JamesKPolk: A whole song [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin about him]].
242* KarmaHoudini: "Reprehensible", kind of. The only punishment available involves reincarnation and horrible nightmares. It's suggested that the viewpoint character of "Kiss Me, Son of God" is also one, as he vaguely refers to terrible acts done to screw over large swaths of people (those closest to him in particular), but he ends the song at the acme of his wealth and influence.
243* LastNoteNightmare:
244** "Hide Away, Folk Family", dear God.
245** "The Bells Are Ringing" qualifies, once you pay attention to the lyrics.
246* LatexPerfection: "Marty Beller Mask".
247* LikeIsLikeAComma: Flansburgh is often guilty of this in interviews. He even {{Lampshades}} it in the commentary track of ''Gigantic''.
248* LimitedLyricsSong: "The Famous Polka", which is mostly instrumental aside from one stanza of lyrics at the end. When the song is performed live, the band tends to omit the lyrics entirely, aside from yelling "Hey!" at the end.
249* LongestSongGoesLast:
250** ''I Like Fun'' closes with "Last Wave", which only clocks in at 3:24.
251** Similarly, ''The Escape Team'' closes with "The Poisonousness", which clocks in at a mere 2:55.
252* LyricalDissonance: A hallmark of the band is to create upbeat songs with humorously dark lyrics. At least a quarter of the songs on any given album will have some sort of lyrical dissonance, be it power-pop murder ballads, up-tempo break-up waltzes, cool futuristic tunes about discovering one is paralyzed, or piano ditties about death by guillotine.
253* MarionetteMotion: The band themselves, in music videos.
254* MinisculeRocking: Most of their songs are below the three minute mark, and the longest songs they've released on studio albums just barely exceed four-and-a-half minutes. Particularly brief songs include the "Fingertips" songs from ''Apollo 18'' that range from 6 seconds to one minute in length and the 9 tracks under a minute on the ''Nanobots'' album.
255** "Songs About Coffee" magically combines this with EpicRocking by being a twenty minute track made up of most of the very short ad songs made for Dunkin Donuts' "America Runs on Dunkin'" campaign. Released as part of the last part of the 2018-2019 Instant Fan Club although parts of it were released as "I'm in a Rut", "Contraption", and "Burning Coffee" on their podcast.
256* MoodWhiplash: The opening of "Shoehorn with Teeth".
257--> ''He wants a shoehorn, the kind with teeth''\
258[glockenspiel hit]\
259''People should get beat up for stating their beliefs''
260* MoonwalkDance: The monkey in "Triops Has Three Eyes" pulled a moonwalk.
261* MotorMouth: "Letterbox". [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHxk4NeLY3s AND HOW.]]
262** And if you thought that was too slow, "Santa Cruz" off of Venue Songs goes even faster.
263* MurderBallad: "Erase".
264* MustHaveCaffeine: {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d in the documentary about the band, ''Gigantic: A Tale of Two Johns''. Coffee doesn't actually come up in their lyrics as often as you might think, although it's there.
265* NewSoundAlbum: They moved up from "Two guys, an accordion, a guitar and a drum machine" to a full band for their fifth album ''Music/JohnHenry''. Not everyone was pleased.
266* NoodleIncident[=/=]NothingIsScarier: John Linnell's sense of humor tends to occupy the middle ground between the two, especially in later works ("I Made A Mess", "Synopsis for Latecomers" and "Aaa")
267* NoSenseOfDirection: "They Got Lost" is about the band running into this problem, which Linnell admits happens frequently when he and Flansburgh are on the road together. The song is based on a real instance when they were driving to Julie Kramer's show at WFNX in Boston (although in the song's version of the story, one of the Johns mistakes a fast food wrapper for a road map).
268* OnTheRebound: This is explicitly the subtext (if there is such a thing) of the song "Contrecoup", which discusses the trope in terms of a brain injury resulting from the brain hitting the far side of the brainpan.
269* OneSteveLimit: The founders are commonly referred to by their last names or collectively as "the Johns". At one point their backing band consisted of guitarist Dan Miller, bassist Danny Weinkauf and drummer Dan Hickey, which was referred to as "the Band of Dans". The trope is {{lampshade|Hanging}}d in the lyrics to "When Will You Die", recorded after Marty Beller replaced Hickey:
270-->''This is Dan, and that's Dan, and here's Marty on the drums to complete the band, and I'm John and he is also John...''
271* OneWomanSong: Ana Ng, of course.
272* OnlyFriend: Thoroughly [[ZigZaggingTrope zigzagged]] by the narrator of "Birdhouse in Your Soul".
273-->''I'm your only friend''\
274''I'm not your only friend''\
275''But I'm a little glowing friend''\
276''But really I'm not actually your friend''\
277''But I am''
278* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Flansburgh's generally not direct in his sentiments, but the rare occasions in which he is ("Sometimes a Lonely Way", "Good to Be Alive") are some of the band's most poignant tunes.
279* OperatorsAreStandingBy: This is the title of a song, which imagines what the operators are doing while they wait for you to call.
280-->Operators are standing by\
281Smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee\
282Bounce their shoes at the end of their feet\
283And wish they could go home
284* PepTalkSong: "Hovering Sombrero":
285-->''When you take yourself for granted\
286Feel rejected and unwanted\
287Know you're never just a hat''
288* PhraseCatcher: "You Probably Get That a Lot":
289-->''You probably get that a lot\
290I'll bet that people say that a lot while you\
291Are sarcastically lip-syncing along\
292To words they felt were spoken spontaneously''
293* PrecrimeArrest: In "Ballad of Davy Crockett (In Outer Space)", because Davy is "Messing around with the fabric of time. He knows who's guilty 'fore there's even a crime".
294* TheProblemWithPenIsland: The inspiration for "Weep Day" came from the tracklist for a Music/BobDylan LP which printed "Mr. Tambourine Man" as "MR TAMBO- / URINE MAN", reflected in the songs chorus: "It's samba time for Tambo and weep day for Urine Man".
295* ProtestSong: "Your Racist Friend" was their most direct one in their early years. After UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror started, they've occasionally dipped into political commentary, though done in their usual whimsically sardonic way (e.g. "Black Ops").
296* PunBasedTitle: ''Back To Skull'' is a companion EP to the album ''John Henry'' (which has a recurring skull motif in the artwork), and it was released during "back to ''school''" season.
297* QuestioningTitle: Their children's album ''Here Comes Science'' features four examples, "How Many Planets?", "What Is A Shooting Star?", "Why Does the Sun Shine?", and "Why Does the Sun Really Shine?".
298** The title of another of their children's albums, ''Why?'', also qualifies.
299** Examples from their adult albums include "What Did I Do To You?", "How Can I Sing Like A Girl?", "When Will You Die?", and "Why Must I Be Sad?".
300* RainbowMotif: The song on their science album about the color spectrum is named after the common mnemonic "Roy G. Biv".
301* RearrangeTheSong:
302** The original version of "Why Does the Sun Shine (The Sun Is a Mass of Incandescent Gas)" (from their 1993 EP of the same name) features a slower tempo and is mainly driven by accordion and glockenspiel, more closely resembling the original version of the song from 1959. The band rearranged it into an uptempo, punk rock version for their live album ''Severe Tire Damage''. A variation on this arrangement was later used for their children's album ''Here Comes Science''.
303** "Another First Kiss" and "Man, It's So Loud In Here" were both played live in very different arrangements before appearing on ''Mink Car'':
304*** "Another First Kiss" first appeared on ''Severe Tire Damage'' as uptempo NewWaveMusic, but appeared on ''Mink Car'' as a ballad.
305*** "Man, It's So Loud In Here" was originally guitar-based alternative rock, but appeared on ''Mink Car'' in a more electronic arrangement with elements of [[{{Eurobeat}} hi-NRG]] and SynthPop. This was said to be the idea of RecordProducer [[Music/FountainsOfWayne Adam Schlesinger]], who noted the lyrical references to disco and nightclubs and thought it would be fitting to make the song sound more like something you might actually hear in a dance club.
306* RecycledInSpace: If you can't guess by the title, "The Ballad of Davy Crockett (In Outer Space)" is "The Ballad Of Davy Crockett" reimagined being set in outer space.
307* RedOniBlueOni: Flansburgh is more outgoing, while Linnell is more reserved.
308* RepetitiveAudioGlitch: A subtle case in "Ana Ng":
309-->''And it sticks like a broken record\
310Everything sticks like a broken record\
311Everything sticks until it goes away''
312* RhinoRampage: The boss in the music video "Seven Days of the Week". He gets mad at the boy for not going to work, but cools down at the end.
313* {{Rockumentary}}: ''Gigantic: A Tale of Two Johns'', mixing cinéma vérité footage of their live shows and related activity in the summer and fall of 2001 with interviews, historical material, some animation and special inserts, plus people like Creator/HarryShearer and Creator/MichaelMcKean reciting the band's lyrics.
314* RoundRobin: The song "Exquisite Dead Guy" probably alludes to the Round Robin pastime that is known as Exquisite Corpse.
315* RunningGag: Flansburgh uploaded videos to [[https://www.youtube.com/user/ParticleMen the band's YouTube channel]] titled "''[Location/Show]'' not going well", wherein he records the audience staring at the band silently and angrily. One of the last of these videos topped it off with the audience singing "Boring! Boring! Why are we waiting?"
316* {{Sampling}}:
317** "Boat of Car" sampled Music/JohnnyCash's "Daddy Sang Bass".
318** Their instrumental cover of Music/FrankSinatra's "Lady Is a Tramp" sampled "Tramp" by Music/OtisRedding and Carla Thomas.
319** "The Guitar (The Lion Sleeps Tonight)" interpolates "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" by The Tokens.
320** "Now That I Have Everything" uses "5/4 Rock" by Joey D. Viera for a pre-recorded drum track.
321** The bridge to "Rhythm Section Want Ad" interpolates Raymond Scott's "Powerhouse".
322** The saxophone hook in "Number Three" is from Lou Monte's "Skinny Lena".
323** The backing track to "Minimum Wage" samples Music/FrankSinatra's CoverVersion of PetulaClark's "Downtown".
324** The bridge in "Where Your Eyes Don't Go" is the 'someone's in the kitchen with Dinah' section of "I've Been Working on the Railroad".
325** "See The Constellation" samples the intro (specifically, Dee Dee Ramone yelling "One Two Three Four!!") from "Commando" by Music/TheRamones.
326** "The World's Address (Joshua Fried Remix)" samples "Convoy" by C.W. [=McCall=], but otherwise all the odd soundbites ("someone in the club tonight has stolen my ideas") and musical snippets ("Paging Mr. Saxophone!") were actually created specifically for the remix.
327* SelfDeprecation: The Avatars of They (the Johns' sock puppet alter-egos) often take chances to belittle their "opening act", They Might Be Giants, when they come onstage, calling them "cool, for a bunch of SUPER-OLD GUYS", saying they're total dicks, and lamenting of their poor treatment of being trapped in a suitcase for weeks on end and being forced to do covers of TMBG songs instead of their own.
328** An earlier example is the title of the collection of b-sides from their Bar None years - as a nod to the section of the record store where they often found their albums filed, the band named it ''Miscellaneous T''.
329* SelfMadeOrphan: Hinted at in "Stone Cold Coup d'Etat", a surreal song about underlings revolting and killing their leaders:
330-->''Around a dinner table a family says grace\
331And the son sees the secret signal on his sister's face\
332Dad smiles at his wife\
333Daughter reaches for the knife''
334* SelfTitledAlbum: Their first.
335** The band also did a Self-Titled Song. Just to keep things confusing, it's on the third studio album, not the first (self-titled) one. It was originally written when the songs from the first album were, but they decided to hold off releasing it for a few years.
336* SellingTheShow: Near the end of the DVDCommentary for ''Gigantic'', the director asks the Johns if they have ever had a show where they felt they were "phoning it in". They wisely brush off the question.
337* SesameStreetCred: ''Tons'', needless to say. There are the five children's albums, plus several songs contributed to children's shows (including ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'', ''WesternAnimation/KaBlam'', ''WesternAnimation/HigglytownHeroes'' and ''WesternAnimation/MickeyMouseClubhouse'').
338* SesquipedalianLoquaciousness: Fans enjoy spotting words in TMBG lyrics that have probably not been used in any other song, ever, genre-be-damned. Sometimes the listener is forced to reach for a dictionary. For instance:
339** ''Cephalophore'', from "You Probably Get That a Lot". A saint martyred by beheading, thus depicted as carrying their own head.
340** ''Cloisonné'', from "Cloisonné". Artwork where colored glass is melted within non-glass borders.
341** ''Countrecoup'', from "Contrecoup". A brain injury caused by collision between the brain and the side of the skull opposite the initial blow. The song is a metaphor for OnTheRebound, and it also spouts ''phrenology'' (analysis of the psyche from the shape of a skull), ''craniosophic'' (learned in the ways of the cranium), and ''limerent'' (infatuated).
342** ''Métier'', from "Never Knew Love". Synonym of "vocation" or "forte".
343** ''Mohenjo-daran'', from "The Mesopotamians". Mohenjo-daro is an archeological site in the Indian sub-continenent that yields results rivaling those from Mesopotamia in age.
344** ''Obsequious'', from "Turn Around". It means "[[TheGrovel groveling]]".
345** ''Omniverse'', from "One Everything". As a synonym of ''multiverse'', it means "all that could ever be in all dimensions", and it gets serious bonus points for appearing in one of their [[ViewersAreGeniuses children's songs]] ("We share the same omniverse. Please clean your room. We share the same omniverse").
346** ''Panacea'', from "Snowball in Hell", is a [[{{panacea}} cure-all]].
347** ''Savoir-faire'', from "Extra Savoir-Faire". It means "social grace even in adversity".
348** ''Sophomore'', from "Dirt Bike". This is actually a very common word in U.S. English, but see DoubleMeaning.
349** "Three Might Be Duende" swings for the bleachers. Framed as a PuttingTheBandBackTogether story, it trots out ''apocryphal'' (of doubtful authenticity), ''espadrille'' (a light, flat-heeled shoe), ''martinet'' (a military disciplinarian), and ''duende'' itself, an Iberian "goblin".
350** The song "Money for Dope" almost doesn't count, since it is a PatterSong with no particular theme: the words are essentially random. Nevertheless, "banjolin" (a banjo-mandolin hybrid) is probably unique.
351* ShoutOut: Many.
352** Some shout-outs range from ''Series/ILoveLucy'' to Creator/{{Plato}}'s ''Allegory of the Cave' to Surrealist party games.
353** "Ana Ng" features the line "Make a hole with a gun perpendicular / To the name of this town in a desktop globe", a reference to a gag from ''ComicStrip/{{Pogo}}''.
354** The B-side "We're the Replacements" is an allusion to Music/TheReplacements, a fellow [[CollegeRadio college rock]] band.
355** "Rhythm Section Want Ad" namedrops contemporaries Music/{{Menudo}}, Music/{{MDC}}, and Music/{{Eurythmics}}.
356** "Music/{{XTC}} vs Music/AdamAnt" mentions, of course, the titular bands, as well as Music/BowWowWow.
357** "Thunderbird" references the chorus of "Fun, Fun, Fun" by Music/TheBeachBoys, changing "Daddy takes the T-Bird away" to "[[TheAlcoholic T-Bird takes her dad away]]".
358** The cover artwork on ''The Else'' features the Spanish words "Se aprovechan" (They take advantage), which are taken (in their original lettering) from a print of that title in Creator/FranciscoDeGoya's series ''The Disasters of War (Los desastres de la guerra)''. The song "Bee of the Bird of the Moth" on the same album, references Goya's etching ''The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters (El sueño de la razón produce monstruos)'', which features various spooky animals including owls, which also figure in the cover art.
359* ShownTheirWork:
360** The song "Am I Awake" displays some accurate themes in dreams that are common to everybody, and can be used to identify that you're dreaming. "And when I close my eyes it looks the same as when I open them again" is a real phenomenon that closing your eyes in dreams does nothing at all. "What time is it?" is because whenever you look at a series of numbers or letters in a dream, look away, and look again, the sequence changes, and is often gibberish.
361** "Mammal" accurately describes the characteristics of [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin mammals]]. It is also very likely the only song to contain a reference to [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allotheria allotherians]], a group of prehistoric mammals that are now extinct. They even refer to it as a "dead uncle". On the other hand, they do refer to the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koala koala]] as the "koala bear", but almost everyone outside Australia does that.
362** Then there's their biographical songs about such figures as UsefulNotes/JamesKPolk and James Ensor.
363** "Why Does the Sun Shine? (The Sun is a Mass of Incandescent Gas)", a cover of a song by Tin Pan Alley songwriters Lou Singer and Hy Zaret, features lyrics [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin explaining why the sun shines]]. The song's lyrics (which were written in the 1950s) have [[ScienceMarchesOn since been proven to be inaccurate]] (the sun is made of plasma, not gas). They later wrote a new song with updated lyrics to correct the errors. Both songs are featured in the band's fourth children's album ''Here Comes Science'', which features many songs on scientific subjects.
364* SignsOfDisrepair: The song "Alphabet Lost and Found" deals with many words and signs missing letters.
365* SillyLoveSongs: Very, very rare for them, but they do indeed have one straightforward love song: [[PlayingAgainstType "Another First Kiss"]]. Though, for a straightforward love song, it's extremely melancholy and could be easily interpreted as being about the inevitable decline of happiness in relationships, and the resulting resignation.
366** From My Murdered Remains, we have "Ampersand", which is almost certainly their happiest love song.
367* SingerSongwriter: Flansburgh and Linnell basically use the [[Music/TheBeatles Lennon[=/=][=McCartney=]]] collaboration model--they write songs separately, then work together in the revision and performance stages, with whoever sings the lead vocal generally being the song's main writer. Of course, there are exceptions, with some actual co-written songs and [[https://tmbw.net/wiki/Traded_Tracks cases where one John sang a song written by the other John]] ("The World's Address" and "Subliminal" being the most prominent examples).
368* SmokingIsCool: John Flansburgh had a wooden pipe which was a huge part of his image until around 1992.
369** He later parodied this: he's shown with two (uncut) cigars in his teeth on the cover of Mono Puff's ''It's Fun To Steal.''
370* SoloSideProject: John Flansburgh had the side project Mono Puff, John Linnell had an off-again on-again solo act, and bassist Danny Weinkauf has a career in children's music.
371* SongOfSongTitles: "Why Must I Be Sad?" is about a kid who, according to John Flansburgh, "hears all of his unspoken sadness given voice in the music of Music/AliceCooper". It name-drops several of Cooper's songs, including "No More Mister Nice Guy", "I Love the Dead", "Dead Babies", "Raped and Freezin'", and "Only Women Bleed".
372* SongStyleShift: "How Many Planets?" from ''Here Comes Science'' changes styles several times to represent each of the planets in UsefulNotes/TheSolarSystem.
373* SpinOff: John Linnell's "State Songs", "Roman Songs" and "House of Mayors" projects and John Flansburgh's other band, Mono Puff.
374* SpontaneousHumanCombustion:
375** The song "The Statue Got Me High" makes reference to spontaneous human combustion supernaturally induced by a humanoid statue, along with some subtle ''Theatre/DonGiovanni'' references.
376---> ''My coat contained a furnace where there used to be a guy''.
377** To say nothing of "You're On Fire", [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin which is entirely about this.]]
378---> ''Oh damn, you must've got one of them\
379Combustible heads, I read an article all about them''.
380* StalkerWithACrush: The narrator in "I'm Your Boyfriend Now". He's not even subtle about it.
381--> ''If you don't know by now, just look, I'm right outside\
382You've got to admit that I'm your boyfriend now''
383* StepUpToTheMicrophone: On the kids' albums, the backing bandmates will sing lead on songs they themselves wrote.
384* StudioChatter:
385** "(She Thinks She's) Edith Head" parodies this, with both versions having non-sequitur spoken word mixed very low when the song goes quiet.
386** Their (instrumental) cover of "Lady Is A Tramp" starts with a yell of "Yeah!"
387* SubliminalSeduction:
388** Several of their songs parody the "backmasking" phenomenon, ranging from an actual backwards message ("They Might Be Giants would like to include a verse about the suffering people of the world, but they couldn't figure out where to put it into the song" in one version of "Which Describes How You're Feeling") to an earlier part of the song reversed ("Subliminal"), to... John Flansburgh just singing nonsense syllables intended to ''sound'' backwards ("Hideaway Folk Family").
389** Taken to a bizarre conclusion with "On Earth My Nina", which sounds like nonsense until you play it backwards, whereupon it becomes "Thunderbird". Even more bizarre, "Nina" was released first, by more than five years.
390** They even got to do the ''Series/TwinPeaks'' 'Listen to something played backwards, mimic the sound, and then play that backwards so it sound forwards' process on "Dinner Bell".
391---> ''Show-der, bicep, ew-bow, ahhhm! Foreahm, thumb, wrist, knuckle, pahhhhm!'' (etc.).
392** In 2020, a song called "Stillub" started appearing in their live sets - it was simply the band imitating a reversed recording of their song "Sapphire Bullets of Pure Love" on live instruments. Fans naturally recorded and reversed it, winding up with something recognizable as the original song, albeit with that "Twin Peaks" effect mentioned above. The Johns even did a little bit of choreography designed to look strange until the video was played in reverse, complete with walking away from their microphones backwards at the end of the song. Starting in 2022, they perform this version of the song in the evening's first set, and then play a reversed video of the earlier performance just before they come on stage for the second set.
393* SubvertedRhymeEveryOccasion:
394** "Kiss Me, Son of God" has one. Two if you have a dirty mind and forgot the title.
395** "Put Your Hand Inside the Puppet Head", too: "The check's in the mail, and I'll see you in church".
396** "I'll Sink Manhattan":
397--->''I've got a message\
398So before I get ''through''\
399I'll find your answering machine\
400And I'll sink it ''first'' ''
401* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: In "Critic Intro":
402--> ''The performers are not grinning scarecrows sent to torture and manipulate you.''
403* TechnicianVersusPerformer: The Johns describe themselves this way. Flansburgh compliments Linnell's ability to whip out catchy tunes, while Linnell compliments Flansburgh's ability to create memorable and unusual details. They each point to the other as the reason for their success.
404* TextlessAlbumCover: ''Lincoln'', ''The Else'', ''Glean'', and ''The Escape Team'' each have one.
405** In contrast, the covers of ''Album Raises New and Troubling Questions'' (a 2011 compilation album), ''Phone Power'', ''I Like Fun'', and ''My Murdered Remains'' are made up of nothing ''but'' text.
406** The cover of ''Flood'' was originally just going to be the picture of the guy in the makeshift raft with no text, but Elektra insisted on adding something else, so they compromised with the fairly unobtrusive ''Flood'' logo.
407* ThisIsASong: The song "S-E-X-X-Y" begins with the lines: "Dressed only in clothes / From her head to her toes / This is the way / The talking part goes".
408** "Everything Right is Wrong Again" contains two different instances of the lines "And now this song is over now (x3) / This song is over now". For added humour value, one of them is in the middle of the song.
409** "Number Three" is the third track on their first album, and is entirely about itself.
410** "On Earth My Nina" starts with Linnell saying softly, "Here's my song".
411** Midway through "Creepy" (from Flansburgh's side project Mono Puff), Flansburgh announces, "This song is called 'Creepy'".
412* ThoseWackyNazis: PlayedForHorror on "If Day for Winnipeg", based on a simulated Nazi raid used to sell Canadian war bonds.
413* TimeTravel: The song "2082" is about this. It's also an inversion of NeverTheSelvesShallMeet and HelpYourselfInTheFuture, as the character [[spoiler:finds and murders their elderly future self.]]
414* TongueTwister: Quite often, perhaps best exemplified in their early, early song "Now That I Have Everything:
415-->''I wasn't always so fortunate\
416But I knew what I had to do to be well-to-do\
417And it had to do with the things\
418I had to do''
419* ATragedyOfImpulsiveness: Implied in "ECNALUBMA", which tells the story of its protagonist bruised and battered, lying in wait for medics to arrive, after "a day of impulsive fun".
420-->''Well, it's a good thing that I brought a napkin\
421I knew that this would happen\
422Why does this always happen\
423That a day of impulsive fun becomes an evening\
424Of injury, blood and grieving\
425Injury, blood and grieving''
426* TruckDriversGearChange:
427** "Alienation's for the Rich".
428** "Birdhouse in Your Soul" does this in the second bridge before reverting back to its original key for the following verse.
429** "Los Angeles" from "Venue Songs" in the last verse.
430* TwoLinesNoWaiting: "Spoiler Alert" consists of two overlapping stories: Flansburgh the tired trucker, and Linnell the author who texts while driving. The ending implies that their cars collide.
431* UncommonTime: They've done [[https://tmbw.net/wiki/Not_In_4-4_Time a fair number of songs with this]], particularly favoring [=6/8=]. "Now That I Have Everything" uses a [=5/4=] drum track (a recording actually called "[=5/4=] Rock") in an otherwise [=4/4=] song, giving it an off-kilter rhythm.
432* TheUnpronounceable: The appropriately-titled "Unpronounceable" deals with the narrator's obsession with decrypting someone's unpronounceable name.
433* UnreliableNarrator: The Johns have referenced this trope by name in interviews. ''Many'' of their songs' protagonists are implied to be some combination of deluded ("Destination Moon"), paranoid ("The Shadow Government"), or just generally clueless ("Purple Toupee").
434* VillainSong: "Kiss Me Son of God", "I Palindrome I" and "No One Knows My Plan" are definites. Others... perhaps.
435* VocalTagTeam: Linnell and Flansburgh each sing about the same amount in every conceivable way - about the same numbers of songs singing lead, singing backup, and a smattering of full-fledged duets. In general, the one who wrote a given song will handle lead vocals.
436* TheWalrusWasPaul: "Particle Man" seems like a very cryptic song, and it isn't clear who the four "men" are supposed to represent, if anyone. John Flansburgh described it as "just a song about characters in the most obvious sense" and claims that the lyrics are not intended to invoke real people, though Linnell later said that Triangle Man was based on a friend's observation that Robert Mitchum looked like an evil triangle when he took his shirt off in ''Film/TheNightOfTheHunter''.
437* WhamLine: The last two lines of "You'll Miss Me": "It must be raining, 'cause a man ain't supposed to cry, / But I look up, and I don't see a cloud".
438* WhoWritesThisCrap: "Who came up with Person Man?"
439* WhiteMaskOfDoom: The train engineer in the third verse of "Turn Around" reveals a "face which was a paper-white mask of evil".
440* WhosOnFirst: When you tell people about They Might Be Giants, you'll often hear an ObligatoryJoke of "Well, are they?"
441* WhyWontYouDie: Prominent in - [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin shocker]] - "When Will You Die?"
442* WordSaladLyrics: Commonly. The most blatant example would be "On Earth My Nina", which has an odd genesis. While recording "Thunderbird" for the first time, John Linnell tried backmasking the lyrical part of the song, and thought he heard the lyric "On Earth My Nina". He then proceeded to fill in the rest of the song with random words that kinda-sorta sounded like the other lyrics of "Thunderbird" backwards. "Stuff Is Way" takes it to the fullest extent, and "Thinking Machine" does the same, but lampshades it.
443* WouldHitAGirl: "Madam, I Challenge You to a Duel". Quoth John Flansburgh: "The entire conceit of the song is that it’s about an extremely formal person, like the kind of person that would challenge someone to a duel — only that the twist is that they are challenging a lady to a duel, which breaks every code of behavior in the world of dueling". The lyrics imply the eponymous madam is a CombatPragmatist.

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