History Music / FloodTheyMightBeGiants

* 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 Creator/RobertMitchum looked like an evil triangle when he took his shirt off in ''Film/TheNightOfTheHunter''.

* GutturalGrowler: Linnell greatly deepens his voice for "Whistling in the Dark".

--->'''"(Today I Met) The Boy I'm Going to Marry"''': The music started playing "Here Comes the Bride" when he walked through the door.

** "Lucky Ball and Chain" parodies a line from Darlene Love's "(Today I Met) The Boy I'm Going to Marry".

They Might Be Giants' brand new album: ''Flood''!''

** It's possible that "Particle Man" ("doing the things a particle can") is a shout out to the iconic theme from ''WesternAnimation/SpiderMan1967''.

They Might Be Giants' brand new album: ''Flood''!''

They Might Be Giants' brand new album "Flood"!''

They Might Be Giants' brand new album "Flood"!''

They Might Be Giants' brand new album: [[TitleDrop Flood!]]"''
-->--'''[[TitleTrack Theme from Flood]]'''

''Flood'' is the third studio album by Music/TheyMightBeGiants, released in 1990 by Creator/ElektraRecords, marking the band's major-label debut. It was their most commercially successful album, thanks to the cult hit singles "Birdhouse in Your Soul" and "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)". It remains considered one of the band's best works, and many people pointed it as their gateway to the band; in fact, TMBG fans have a specific nickname for fans brought into the fandom by ''Flood'', "Floodies".

''Flood'' is the third studio album by Music/TheyMightBeGiants, released in 1990 by Creator/ElektraRecords, marking the band's major-label debut. It was their most commercially successful album, thanks to the cult hit singles "Birdhouse in Your Soul" and "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)". It remains considered one of the band's best works, and many people pointed it as their gateway to the band.

''Flood'' is the third studio album by Music/TheyMightBeGiants, released in 1990 by Creator/ElektraRecords, marking the band's major-label debut. It was their most commercially successful album, thanks to the cult hit singles "Birdhouse in Your Soul" and "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)". It remains considered one of the band's best, and many people pointed it as their gateway to the band.

** "Sapphire Bullets of Pure Love" takes its title from a very short 1973 [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahavishnu_Orchestra Mahavishnu Orchestra]] song. Lyrically, it sounds like a shout out to ''ComicBook/GreenLantern''; Hal Jordan's girlfriend, Carol Ferris, has a tendency to become Star Sapphire, whose powers are fueled by love, when she feels scorned by him, and, while John could be referring to the two bandmates, it could also be Hal's partner, John Stewart.
---> ''John, I've been bad, and they're coming after me\\
Done someone wrong, and I fear that it was me''

** The original Four Lads version of "Istanbul (Not Constaninople)" is fairly slow and sedate novelty tune from TheFifties, compared to the more energetic, exotic TMBG take.

* RearrangeTheSong: As shown [[http://tmbw.net/wiki/Chronology:Particle_Man here]], "Particle Man" has been subject to all sorts of retooling by the band in live shows. They've shifted the instrumentation, done it as an UnpluggedVersion, did one version InTheStyleOf [[Music/TheBeatles "Strawberry Fields Forever"]], and have added a breakdown section where Linnell performs part of a CoverVersion of an older song in a fairly straight manner (with [[Music/AceOfBase "The Sign"]] and [[Music/DollyParton "Here You Come Again"]] as two of the more memorable ones). They've also released a version sung by an [[KidsRock elementary school music class]].

* RefrainFromAssuming: ... that Istanbul is still called Constantinople.

** They Might Be Giants references Spock, a character from Star Trek, claiming that the titular possible giants may be his backup band.

** "Twisting" meanwhile is a third-person take on the "Don't want you back" variety; the song is from the point of view of a friend of the ex-girlfriend, who is telling her ex in no uncertain terms that the only way she wants to see her ex again is if they're suffering, "twisting... in the wind."

** "Lucky Ball and Chain" references Darlene Love's "(Today I Met) The Boy I'm Going to Marry."