Was looking for a copy of this just to add to the collection and found on Discogs a store near me had a copy and was only 20 dollars and autographed! I couldn't have rushed to this store sooner to grab it!

During the interview segment, one of the contestants mentioned he's in a a band, and that they have a song that uses James K. Polk related metaphors. Ken Jennings mentioned that TMBG also have a Polk song. If anyone caught it (or if someone posts it on Youtube later) please post it on here!!

The lyrics and vibe just really makes this song feel like a Gen Z version of Linnell. Highly recommend Victor Jones in general, but this specific song just reminded me heavily of TMBG.

Last night I had this dream where I had a little collection of TMBG stuff. Everything from Mink Car on vinyl (which I do own) to this bright blue T-shirt that had hot pink, indistinct decoration all over it and it said THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS in bright yellow. I even had a pumpkin that said TMBG in its carving. I woke up so disappointed that this universe didn't exist irl. Not the most exciting dream in the world, but I had a lot of fun during it, listening to nothing but TMBG the entire time I was going anywhere during it. It was like there was a little radio that played nothing but every They Might Be Giants song ever made on shuffle. 😁

How about you: ever dream about TMBG?

What would you say is their most metal Song? (Also counting solo projects)

Listening to The Else for the first time, and "The Cap'm" really stood out to me very quickly as a great song on the album that I hadn't heard before...

But reading the discussion about it, I'm surprised to see that while people are mentioning it occasionally (this is by no means a new theory), the political nature of the song doesn't seem to come up as often as people taking the song literally.

Is it generally considered true that that's what this song is about or is it a fringe theory? Because I feel like it obviously seems to be intentionally about George W Bush, And is actually a dark song, not really a fun, uplifting one. (But of course, the double meaning, and the juxtaposition of the literal uplifting interpretation and the sinister second one, is part of what makes the song great)

From my perspective, it's a bit of a pair to I'm Impressed (which is a different type of sinister leader). The narrator of The Cap'm is on the surface friendly, not too bright, pompous, bumbling, but also dangerous, because of giving a man like that so much power, and that's when the song takes on its sinister side despite the 'charming' narrator.

(Now I dont want to make this a political argument, obviously there were also Republicans who liked George Bush, so Im not saying these statements about him are factually true, but a lot of the country did not, and TMBG are people who would not, so this next bit is from that perspective, as he was seen by the people who did not like him)

Do you think there's somebody out there
Someone else who's better than the one you've got?
Well there's not, there's not

Basically saying "You think there's somebody better out there to be President? Well, you're wrong, there isn't." At the time, many people couldn't believe he was President, so this is him rejecting that and saying 'nope, Im the best you got'. Kind of adding bleakness to the song right off the bat, the helpless feeling many might have felt at this time.

When I talk you keep looking away from me
'Cause you probably think that I'm high on pot
But I'm not, I'm not

At the time, people always used to be in disbelief at the gaffes and foolish things that he would say, so I think this is just sort of making fun of that, like thinking this guy is crazy or being in disbelief or discomfort that this guy could be for real. He's asserting, nope, believe it or not, I am for real.

Look me over, I'm the Cap'm
You say it's such a joke
But I don't see you laughing

One of the sinister lines of the song. People used to laugh and make fun of the things he would say (in this case, he's strangely calling himself cap'm, instead of cap'n, just adding to the odd bumbling yet arrogant nature of the protagonist) , but it isn't actually funny, because he is the most powerful man in the country, so it's actually scary, not fun. I think a lot of the song kinda plays with this idea, that you'd find this man funny or laugh if he wasn't so dangerous, and it wasn't so scary that he really was at the helm.

People seem to think you can't be called the Cap'm
Unless you drive a boat
Well, I don't, I don't

He doesn't drive a boat, he's the President. Yet he's still taking on the title of captain for his ego, and positioning himself like a powerful sea captain.

Look me over, I'm the Cap'm
Go ahead and mess with me
You'll find out what will happ'm

Another sinister line, both of the choruses end on sinister lines, which I think underscores that it was on purpose. This line is highlighting the danger behind the folksy charm, because he's in a position to do a lot of damage, and has a mean streak beneath the friendly blunders. Again happ'm is a funny little odd quirky statement, but it's actually behind a serious threat, so another example of us thinking 'id be laughing if I wasn't crying'.

Sit beside me at the helm
Yeah, this is what I call the helm
And this button here is the fast-forward button

Just more of him acting like a kid pretending to be a sea captain and showing off his boat, bumbling through a powerful, dangerous, and important job. Perhaps also a reference to how we want to just fast-forward past his presidency? I don't know.

Did you say what I think you just said
My hat looks good on me?
I agree, I agree

Showing his arrogance, his desire to be praised, then he agrees with the praise. Again a bit sinister, considering the serious implications of him wearing the hat, which he's acting like is just a nice bit of fashion, and showing his dangerous ego.

Then the lines repeat from there.

I dunno, I get the literal interpretation of the song as a charming man who for some reason wants to be a sea captain, but I think if you read it with the interpretation he's talking about Bush, it all makes a lot of sense, and given they've mentioned the Iraq war as a backdrop, I actually think this may be one of their most political songs.

They've hit the news! (EDIT: Rochester, NY, not New York, NY.)

I like how it switches between the silhouettes of people doing different activities

If you have a set of tickets to the St Paul Saturday night show, I would love to take them off your hands if possible. Looking for two seats together within the first 5 rows if at all possible. I know it’s a really big ask but my bestie is visually impaired. She has a rare eye condition called autosomal dominant optic atrophy. 
Thanks friends! 

I have taken the time to transcribe short excerpts of 20 TMBG songs.

Each excerpt will be different from each other, so here are some things to help you out determining the song, also the rules set in place:
- None of the songs are from the Johns' solo projects
- Only official and final releases. Demos, IFC material, and anything that can really only be heard via YouTube vids/Google drive bootlegs will not count here
- Vocals, bass, piano, and wind transcriptions will only include the time signature, and are written in concert pitch. Drum transcriptions will include a tempo marking
- Some guitar and keyboard excerpts will have chord symbols and the rhythm notated instead of the actual pitches. Some excerpts may have parts paired instead of being alone
- Some parts might represent the chorus, others could be a verse, the intro or ending, others might even be a solo! Think about other parts of the song

These transcriptions do not fully reflect what is exactly played in the song they represent but are as close as I could get, even when compared with the TMBW tabs and other community transcriptions

See how many you are able to get before reading the answers on the seventh picture!

Any feedback is also appreciated, I wasn't really sure how I wanted to make this game but this is a good trial run.

If you would prefer to read the excerpts directly vs. the screenshots:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZDHMPwNwTemAO7JyhgnMTzixkD6hYA51/view

i sharpened up the characters a little bit more, more consistent thickness across them, and even spacing between characters as well!!

'j' is the top of the 'i' and bottom of the 'f',

the 'q' is just 'o' with the tail,

'p' is just 'b',

the 'u' is the top of the 'y',

'w' is kind of an upside down M but i wanted to make sure the thin arm was on the opposite side for readability,

i based the 'x' off 'k',

and i first based off the 'z' off the 's' but switched it to 'c' for that thicker top bar (definitely does just look like a 2, but if i ever do numbers for this then i'd probably do something to make that work)

im no font maker at all, i just sketched these out in my art program BUT! these are all the letters in the mink car alphabet! the album art covers most of the letters and an official tshirt gives us 5 more, and that leaves 7 missing... im not Too confident on the "f", its fairly close but i will have to revise it... and if you were wondering, the slant the characters are at is about 112 degrees

Lots of ground covered in nearly an hour - what a gem John is :)

North! to Alaska