• Voto:
Inesauribile la vena di questo geniale duo di NY. Nessuno ha fatto pop music come loro. Nessuno ha irriso con tanta maniacalità le cadenze e le maniere più trite lasciate in eredità da idoli, menestrelli e cantori di ogni epoca. Nessuno ha prodotto tanta intelligenza da mezzi così stupidi: grezzi marchingegni analogici low-cost in voga a fine anni 80, tastiere Bontempi responsabili dei suoni e dei ritmi più anti-estetici di sempre. Ispirati maestri della home-music, eredi scanzonati e disimpegnati dei maggiori parodisti della musica popolare moderna, da Zappa ai Residents, ilari provocatori di paradossi fra i più improponibili, i TMBG realizzano con "Flood" (1990), loro terza fatica, un'inesausta maratona di motivetti talmente disarmanti nel loro ostentato kitsch da non riuscire ad arrivare alla fine dell'album senza un sorriso ebete stampato sulle labbra.
Rastrellano ogni codice musicale, lo pelano, come si fa con gli ortaggi, lo lasciano da parte, poi trovano la pietanza che peggio vi si potrebbe abbinare, la triturano e ne fanno un gustoso involtino. Particolarmente preso di mira è il country'n'western, di cui il tandem Flansburgh/Linnell distrugge ogni alone romantico, consegnando all'ascoltatore la scabra, straniante, "brechtiana" filastrocca di "Dead". Balli di gruppo in un bivacco di Frontiera animano la festa di "Particle Man", mentre la spensierata melodia campestre non-stop di "We Want A Rock" si ricicla all'infinito come amavano fare sovente i colleghi di scorribande Camper Van Beethoven, Young Fresh Fellows e Dead Milkmen.
Plateale arena-rock e meste fisarmoniche si incontrano nell'amplesso più improbabile, come uno stallone carico di viagra che pretende di farsi una morigerata damigella, fino a quando una trombetta non irrompe su un comico ritmo salsa, tanto per rovinare la festa: ecco "Your racist friend"! E se "Twisting" altro non è che un vivido flashback nei magici garage sixties, "Hot Cha" è lo swing dei marziani: fiati da big band impietosamente sintetizzati da extra-terrestri senza sangue nelle vene. Nessuna pietà nemmeno per il reggae, dissacrato nella narcolettica e svagata "Hearing Aid".
Difficile isolare un capolavoro in questa galleria di hit sfregiati: più che il primaverile stornello "Birdhouse in Your Soul", merita la palma del momento più memorabile "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)", sfrenata danza turca, capace di evocare scenari cine-letterari da "Mille e Una Notte" (esaltati dal videoclip stile Looney Tunes), mentre il cantante fa notare che una volta Nuova York si chiamava Nuova Amsterdam. Il non-sense spudorato di questo album diventa particolarmente travolgente nell'ultima parte dell'opera, quando i motivetti più cretini vengono cantati coi registri più cartooneschi (oltre al proverbiale nasale presente un po' ovunque, spiccano per demenzialità il vocione di "Whistling in the dark" e lo scioglilingua di "Letterbox"), gli immaginari hollywoodiani si sovrappongono in un sincretismo suggestivo ("Minimum wage", sonata per frustate e navicelle spaziali) e l'assurdismo naif di band art-wave come B52 e Monochrome Set viene rinvigorito da ulteriori dosi di fantasia in "Sapphire Bullets of Pure Love", estasi di xilofoni stupefatti.
L'intelligenza mascherata da idiozia è forse la miglior qualità dei Giants, misconosciuti giganti della musica pop nonchè della sua negazione, giullari di un calderone musicale onnicomprensivo, fagocitato da decenni di produzione discografica e di serializzazioni mediatiche. L'effetto bulimico scaturito da questo zapping disorientante è l'emblema di un approccio enciclopedico alla Storia della musica popolare, in cui è sempre più difficile cogliere il confine fra omaggio e canzonatura, ritratto e caricatura: la canzone, specie la ballata, smette di essere un veicolo per un messaggio più o meno serio, diventando un animale ammaestrato da esibire in un circo fra le ghignate di un pubblico vorace.
E noi ce la ridiamo di gusto...
Elenco tracce testi samples e video
01 Theme From Flood (00:29)
Why is the world in love again?
Why are we marching hand in hand?
Why are the ocean levels rising up?
Its a brand new record,
For 1990
They Might Be Giants Brand New Album:
Flood
02 Birdhouse in Your Soul (03:22)
I'm your only friend
I'm not your only friend
But I'm a little glowing friend
But really I'm not actually your friend
But I am
Blue canary in the outlet by the light switch
Who watches over you
Make a little birdhouse in your soul
Not to put too fine a point on it
Say I'm the only bee in your bonnet
Make a little birdhouse in your soul
I have a secret to tell
From my electrical well
It's a simple message and I'm leaving out
The whistles and bells
So the room must listen to me
Filibuster vigilantly
My name is blue canary one note spelled l-i-t-e
My story's infinite
Like the Longines Symphonette, it doesn't rest
Blue canary in the outlet by the light switch
Who watches over you
Make a little birdhouse in your soul
Not to put too fine a point on it
Say I'm the only bee in your bonnet
Make a little birdhouse in your soul
I'm your only friend
I'm not your only friend
But I'm a little glowing friend
But really I'm not actually your friend
But I am
There's a picture opposite me
Of my primitive ancestry
Which stood on rocky shores
And kept the beaches shipwreck free
Though I respect that a lot
I'd be fired if that were my job
After killing Jason off and
Countless screaming Argonauts
Bluebird of friendliness
Like guardian angels it's always near
Blue canary in the outlet by the light switch
Who watches over you
Make a little birdhouse in your soul
Not to put too fine a point on it
Say I'm the only bee in your bonnet
Make a little birdhouse in your soul
(And while you're at it
Keep the nightlight on inside the
Birdhouse in your soul)
Not to put too fine a point on it
Say I'm the only bee in your bonnet
Make a little birdhouse in your soul
Blue canary in the outlet by the light switch (and while you're at it)
Who watches over you (keep the nightlight on inside the)
Make a little birdhouse in your soul (birdhouse in your soul)
Not to put too fine a point on it
Say I'm the only bee in your bonnet
Make a little birdhouse in your soul
Blue canary in the outlet by the light switch (and while you're at it)
Who watches over you (keep the nightlight on inside the)
Make a little birdhouse in your soul (birdhouse in your soul)
Not to put too fine a point on it
Say I'm the only bee in your bonnet
Make a little birdhouse in your soul
03 Lucky Ball & Chain (02:48)
I lost my lucky ball & chain
Now she's four years gone
Just five feet tall and sick of me
And all my rattling on
She threw away her baby-doll
I held on to my pride
But I was young and foolish then
I feel old and foolish now
Confidentially --
she never called me baby-doll
Confidentially --
I never had much pride
But now I rock a bar stool
and I drink for two
just pondering this time bomb in my mind
I lost my lucky ball & chain
Now she's four years gone
Just five feet tall and sick of me
And all my rattling on
She walked away from a happy man
I thought I was so cool
I just stood there whistling
"There goes the bride" as she walked out the door
"There goes the bride" as she walked out the door
I could shake my tiny fist
and swear I wasn't wrong
But what's the sense in arguing
when you're all alone?
Sure as you can't steer a train
you can't change your fate
And when she told me of that day
I knew I'd lost my home
Confidentially --
I never told you of her charms
Confidentially --
we never had a home
But this railroad apartment
was the perfect place
when she'd sit and hold me in her arms
I lost my lucky ball & chain
Now she's four years gone
Just five feet tall and sick of me
And all my rattling on
She walked away from a happy man
I thought I was so cool
I just stood there whistling
"There goes the bride" as she walked out the door
"There goes the bride" as she walked out the door
"There goes the bride" as she walked out the door
04 Istanbul (Not Constantinople) (02:34)
Istanbul was Constantinople
Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Oh Constantinople
Now it's Turkish delight on a moonlit night
Every gal in Constantinople
Lives in Istanbul, not Constantinople
So if you've a date in Constantinople
She'll be waiting in Istanbul
Even old New York was once New Amsterdam
Why they changed it I can't say
People just liked it better that way
So, Take me back to Constantinople
No, you can't go back to Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Oh Constantinople
Why did Constantinople get the works?
That's nobody's business but the Turks
Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul
Even old New York was once New Amsterdam
Why they changed it I can't say
People just liked it better that way
Istanbul was Constantinople
Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Oh Constantinople
Why did Constantinople get the works?
That's nobody's business but the Turks
So, Take me back to Constantinople
No, you can't go back to Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Oh Constantinople
Why did Constantinople get the works?
That's nobody's business but the Turks
Istanbul
05 Dead (02:56)
I returned a bag of groceries
Accidentally taken off the shelf
Before the expiration date
I came back as a bag of groceries
Accidentally taken off the shelf
Before the date stamped on myself
Did a large procession wave their (Did a)
Torches as my head fell in the basket, (large pro-)
And was everybody dancing on the casket? (cession dance?)
Now it's over I'm dead and I haven't done anything that I want (now it's over)
Or, I'm still alive and there's nothing I want to do
I will never say the word
"Procrastinate" again; I'll never
See myself in the mirror with my eyes closed
I didn't apologize for
When I was eight and I made my younger brother
Have to be my personal slave
Did a large procession wave their (Did a)
Torches as my head fell in the basket, (large pro-)
And was everybody dancing on the casket? (cession dance?)
Now it's over I'm dead and I haven't done anything that I want (now it's over)
Or, I'm still alive and there's nothing I want to do
(So) So I won't
(Sit) sit at home
(And) anymore
(And) and you won't
(And) see my head in
(And) the window
(And) and I won't
(And) be around
(And) ever anymore
(And) and I'll be up there on the wall at the store
I returned a bag of groceries
Accidently taken off the shelf
Before the expiration date
I came back as a bag of groceries
Accidently taken off the shelf
Before the date stamped on myself
Did a large procession wave their (Did a)
Torches as my head fell in the basket, (large pro-)
And was everybody dancing on the casket? (cession dance?)
Now it's over I'm dead and I haven't done anything that I want (now it's over)
Or, I'm still alive and there's nothing I want to do
Now it's over I'm dead and I haven't done anything that I want (now it's over)
Or, I'm still alive and there's nothing I want to do
06 Your Racist Friend (02:56)
This where the party ends.
I can stand here listening
to you and your racist friend.
I know politics bore you,
but I feel like a hypocrite
talking to you and your racist friend.
It was the loveliest party that I have ever attended;
If anything was broken, I'm sure it can be mended.
I can't tolerate this bobbing and pretending:
Listen to some bullet-head, and the madness that hes saying.
This is where the party ends.
I'll just sit here wondering
how you can stand by your racist friend.
I know politics bore you,
but I feel like a hypocrite
talking to you and your racist friend.
This where the party ends.
I can stand here listening
to you and your racist friend.
I know politics bore you,
but I feel like a hypocrite
talking to you and your racist friend.
Out from the kitchen, from the bedroom to the hallway.
Your friend apologizes; he could see it my way.
He let the contents of the bottle do the thinking.
Can't shake the devil's hand and say you're only kidding.
This where the party ends.
I can stand here listening
to you and your racist friend.
I know politics bore you,
but I feel like a hypocrite
talking to you and your racist friend.
07 Particle Man (02:01)
Particle Man, Particle Man
Doing the things a particle can
What's he like? It's not important.
Particle Man.
Is he a dot, or is he a speck?
If he's underwater does he get wet?
Or does the water get him instead?
Nobody knows, Particle Man
Triangle Man, Triangle Man
Triangle Man hates Particle Man
They have a fight, Triangle wins,
Triangle Man
Universe Man, Universe Man
Size-of-the-entire-universe Man
Usually kind to smaller man, Universe Man.
He's got a watch with a minute hand,
Millenium hand, and an eon hand
And when they meet, it's happy land
Powerful man, Universe Man
Person Man, Person Man
Hit on the head with a frying pan
Lives his life in a garbage can, Person Man.
Is he depressed, or is he a mess?
Does he feel totally worthless?
Who came up with person man?
Degraded man. Person man.
Triangle Man, Triangle Man
Triangle Man hates Person Man
They had a fight, Triangle wins
Triangle Man
08 Twisting (01:58)
She set your goldfish free
And now she's sighing
Blew out your pilot light
And made a wish
She doesn't have to have
Her dB's record back now
But there's not a lot of things
That she'll take back
(She wants) She wants to see you again
(She wants) She wants to see you again
Slowly twisting (Twisting)
In the wind (Twisting)
Twisting twisting (Twisting)
In the wind
She's not your satellite
She doesn't miss you
So turn off your smoke machine
And Marshall stack
She doesn't have to have
Her Young Fresh Fellows tape back now
But there's not a lot of things
That she'll take back
(She wants) She wants to see you again
(She wants) She wants to see you again
Slowly twisting (Twisting)
In the wind (Twisting)
Twisting twisting (Twisting)
In the wind
(She wants) She wants to see you again
(She wants) She wants to see you again
Slowly twisting (Twisting)
In the wind (Twisting)
Twisting twisting (Twisting)
In the wind
10 Someone Keeps Moving My Chair (02:21)
Mr. Horrible
Mr. Horrible
Telephone call for Mr. Horrible
But before he can talk to the ugliness men
There's some horrible business left
For him to attend to
Something unpleasant has spilled on his brain
As he sponges it off they say
"Is this Horrible?
Is this Horrible?
It's the ugliness men, Mr. Horrible
We're just trying to bug you
We thought that our dreadfulness
Might be a thing to annoy you with"
But Mr. Horrible says, "I don't mind
The thing that bothers me is
Someone keeps moving my chair"
"Would you mind if we balance this glass of milk
Where your visiting friend accidentally was killed?
Would it be okay with you if we wrote a reminder
Of things we'll forget to do today otherwise,
Using a green magic marker, if it's alright
On the back of your head?"
Mr. Horrible
Mr. Horrible
We're not done with you yet Mr. Horrible
You have to try on these pants so the Ugliness Men
Can decide if they're just as embarrassing as we think
We have to be sure about this
But Mr. Horrible says, "I don't mind
The thing that bothers me is
Someone keeps moving my chair"
Someone keeps moving my chair
Mr. Horrible says, "I don't mind
The thing that bothers me is
Someone keeps moving my chair"
13 Letterbox (01:27)
I'll never know what you'll find when you open up your letterbox tomorrow
Cause a little bird never tells me anything I wanna know, she's my best friend, she's a sparrow
And I'll never know what you never never wanna know when you know what you are, oh
If I had a pair of eyes in the back of my head for each time
You forgot to take out all the things you forgot to talk about when you took a bite out of my spine
I would have a lot of eyes on the other side
Wouldn't I? Wouldn't that just be fine
I'll never know what you'll find when you open up your letterbox tomorrow
Cause a little bird never tells me anything I wanna know, she's my best friend, she's a sparrow
And I'll never know what you never never wanna know when you know what you are, oh
14 Whistling in the Dark (03:27)
A woman came up to me and said,
"I'd like to posion your mind
With wrong ideas that appeal to you
Though I am not unkind"
She looked at me, I looked at something
Written across her scalp
And these are the words that it faintly said
As I tried to call for help:
"There's only one thing
That I know how to do well
And I've often been told that you only can do
What you know how to do well
And that's be you
Be what you're like
Be like yourself"
And so I'm having a wonderful time
But I'd rather be
Whistling in the dark(x6)
There's only one thing that I like
And that is whistling in the dark
Ahhahhahhahh
Ahhahhahhahh
A man came up to me and said,
"I'd like to change your mind
By hitting it with a rock," he said.
"Though I am not unkind."
We laughed at his little joke
And then I happily walked away
And hit my head on the wall of the jail
Where the two of us live today
There's only one thing
That I know how to do well
And I've often been told that you only can do
What you know how to do well
And that's be you
Be what you're like
Be like yourself
And so I'm having a wonderful time
But I'd rather be
Whistling in the dark(x6)
There's only one thing that I like
And that is whistling in the dark
There's only one thing
That I know how to do well
And I've often been told that you only can do
What you know how to do well
And that's be you
Be what you're like
Be like yourself
And so I'm having a wonderful time
But I'd rather be
Whistling in the dark(x6)
Whistling, whistling, whistling in the dark
Ahhahhahhahh
Ahhahhahhahh
Ahhahhahhahh
Ahhahhahhahh
Whistling (whistling)
Whistling (whistling)
Dark, dark, dark, dark
Whistling (whistling)
Whistling (whistling)
Dark, dark, dark, dark
Whistling (whistling)
Whistling (whistling)
Dark, dark, dark, dark
[Repeat to fade]
15 Hot Cha (01:36)
Hot Cha, where are you?
Everybody's eyes are closed
I can't see why I miss you so
So Hot Cha, where are you?
First time Hot Cha went away
A floating island was his home
Then the phone rang off the hook
And Hot Cha had to come back home
Hot Cha, where are you?
Everybody's eyes are closed
I can't see why I miss you so
So Hot Cha, where are you?
Second time he went away
Left the bathtub running over
Stereo on and cooking bacon
Never came back to tell us why
If that honey would come back
We would throw such a party
Drink and cook the prodigal son
Fondue forks for everybody
Hot Cha, where are you?
Everybody's eyes are closed
I can't see why I miss you so
So Hot Cha, where are you?
Hot Cha, where are you?
Hot Cha, where are you?
18 They Might Be Giants (02:50)
Hang on
Hang on tight
They might be giants (boy)
They might be giants
They might be rain
They might be heat
They might be frying up a stalk of wheat
They might be giants (boy)
They might be giants
They might be brain
They might be washed
They might be Dr. Spock's back-up band
To make the merry-go-round go faster
So that everyone needs to hang on tighter
Just to keep from being thrown to the wolves
Tabloid footprints in your hair
Tabloid footprints everywhere
We can't be silent
'Cause they might be giants
And what are we going to do unless they are
They might be giants (boy)
They might be giants
They might be bald
They might be snow
They might be something else in the snow
Hang on tight
They might be giants (boy)
They might be giants
They might be fake
They might be lies
They might be big, big, fake, fake lies
Tabloid footprints in your hair
Tabloid footprints everywhere
We can't be silent
'Cause they might be giants
And what are we going to do unless they are
They might be giants (boy)
They might be giants (boy)
They might be giants (boy)
They might be giants (boy)
They might be giants (boy)
They might be giants (boy)
They might be giants (boy)
They might be giants (boy)
They might be giants (boy)
They might be giants (boy)
They might be giants (boy)
They might be giants (boy)
They might be giants (boy)
They might be giants (boy)
They might be giants (boy)
They might be giants (boy)
19 Road Movie to Berlin (02:22)
We're in a road movie to Berlin
Can't drive out the way we drove in
So sneak out this glass of bourbon
And we'll go
We were once so close to heaven
Peter came out and gave us medals
Declaring us the nicest of the damned
Time won't find the lost
It'll sweep up our skeleton bones
So take the wheel and I will take the pedals
We're in a road movie to Berlin
Can't drive out the way we drove in
So sneak out this glass of bourbon
And we'll go
Notes
The Dial-a-Song version (which is closer to the version printed in the Flood liner notes) goes as follows:
We're in a road movie to Berlin
Can't drive out the way you drove in
So sneak out this glass of bourbon
And we'll go
We were once so close to Heaven
Peter came out and gave us medals
Declaring us the nicest of the damned
You said you were the king of liars
And I believed you and called you sire
But I realize now that I have been deceived
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