YOUTH CULTURE POLLED MY DOG: They Might Be Giants (first 21 years) POLL RESULTS

It's Not My Birthday is now 22a

the hopefully-correct next 77 now neatly covers everything that could have been somebody's #1

78 We're The Replacements 344 points, 8 votes
79 AKA Driver 324 points, 8 votes
80 Stand on Your Own Head 308 points, 7 votes
81= Thermostat 305 points, 5 votes
81= She Was A Hotel Detective 305 points, 5 votes
81= (She Was A) Hotel Detective 305 points, 5 votes
84 Hope That I Get Old Before I Die 301 points, 5 votes
85 Exquisite Dead Guy 300 points, 7 votes
86 Unsupervised, I Hit My Head 295 points, 5 votes
87 The Guitar (The Lion Sleeps Tonight) 277 points, 5 votes
88 Hopeless Bleak Despair 276 points, 4 votes
89 Dig My Grave 272 points, 5 votes
90 Pet Name 266 points, 6 votes
91 Certain People I Could Name 264 points, 4 votes
92 I Am Not Your Broom 260 points, 3 votes
93 Alienation's For The Rich 258 points, 6 votes
94= The Songs of the 50 States 257 points, 4 votes
94= Mrs Train 257 points, 5 votes
96= The Edison Museum 252 points, 4 votes
96= I Can Hear You 252 points, 5 votes
98 Your Own Worst Enemy 249 points, 4 votes
99 She's Actual Size 245 points, 5 votes
100= Now That I Have Everything 244 points, 4 votes
100= Hearing Aid 244 points, 5 votes
102 O, Do Not Forsake Me 243 points, 6 votes
103= Working Undercover For The Man 235 points, 4 votes
103= The Biggest One 235 points, 5 votes
105 Sapphire Bullets Of Pure Love 229 points, 3 votes
106 First Kiss 222 points, 2 votes for First Kiss, 2 for Another First Kiss
107 Theme From Flood 217 points, 5 votes
108 When It Rains it Snows 215 points, 4 votes
109 (She Thinks She's) Edith Head 214 points, 5 votes
110 The Big Big Whoredom 213 points, 5 votes
111= Space Suit 212 points, 4 votes
111= Become A Robot 212 points, 5 votes
113 Why Must I Be Sad? 210 points, 5 votes
114 Violin 205 points, 3 votes
115= Unrelated Thing 201 points, 4 votes
115= Out Of Jail 201 points, 5 votes
117= Where Do They Make Balloons? 200 points, 3 votes
117= Spy 200 points, 4 votes, inc one specifying the Why Does the Sun Shine? EP version
117= Lie Still, Little Bottle 200 points, 4 votes
120 Rabid Child 198 points, 4 votes
121 Cage & Aquarium 196 points, 5 votes
122 Hypnotist Of Ladies 191 points, 4 votes
123 Hovering Sombrero 189 points, 4 votes
124 Robot Parade 188 points, 3 votes, inc. one for "rock version"
125 My Man 178 points, 2 votes
126 Hot Cha 170 points, 3 votes
127 Montana 167 points, 2 votes
128 Mr. Klaw 163 points, 2 votes
129 Welcome To The Jungle 162 points, 3 votes
130 The Day 157 points, 3 votes
131 Nixon's The One 156 points, 2 votes
132= Spider 155 points, 3 votes
132= I’m Def 155 points, 3 votes
134 Thunderbird 152 points, 2 votes
135 Mink Car 148 points, 3 votes
136= Maine 147 points, 3 votes
136= I'll Sink Manhattan 147 points, 3 votes
136= Hall Of Heads 147 points, 5 votes
139 I Hope That I Get Old Before I Die 140 points, 4 votes
140 Chess Piece Face 139 points, 3 votes
141= Sleepwalkers 137 points, 2 votes
141= Rest Awhile 137 points, 3 votes
143= You'll Miss Me 134 points, 2 votes
143= Absolutely Bill's Mood 134 points, 4 votes
145 Cyclops Rock 124 points, 5 votes
146 Finished With Lies 119 points, 3 votes
147 Bed Bed Bed 117 points, 2 votes
148 Iowa 116 points, 2 votes
149 I Am A Human Head 115 points, 2 votes
150 S-E-X-X-Y 113 points, 2 votes
151 Pennsylvania 105 points, 2 votes
152 Drink! 104 points, 2 votes
153 Window 101 points, 2 votes
154 Wicked Little Critta 100 points, 2 votes

Highest ranker I didn't vote for is "Where Your Eyes Don't Go." Highest on my ballot that didn't place is "Montana" (my #8.)

i considered voting for "i'm def," for some reason it really tickled me back then

wonder how many of those voting for the pastichey b-side hotel detective meant to vote for the honking o.g. great results anyway. love how many votes some of these deep deep cuts got.

thunderbird, out of jail, sapphire bullets and i'll sink manhattan were ROBBED tho

xpost: there's only one voter who could have done so accidentally - three of us voted for both, and two specified Back To Skull to be extra clear. wait that means that MORE people (six) voted for the sequel song! look, I'm very hungover today.

Highest ranker I didn't vote for is "Don't Let's Start."

Highest on my ballot that didn't place in the top 77 is "I Am Not Your Broom" (my #6).

Highest on my ballot that didn't place in the top 154 is "The House at the Top of the Tree" (my #27).

Further details when we post our full ballots, I guess.

Raise your hand if, like me, you voted for "Walk on Water."

It's okay, I can wait.

I don't think "(She Was a) Hotel Detective" is very good, probably my least favorite song on the album. baffling to me that they made it a single

I am so happy that "We Want a Rock" made the top 10, thought it might miss the list. I don't know why but the lyrics have probably stuck with me more than any other TMBG song. Great poll everyone

I was one of the 2 votes for “Thunderbird”. I had it at #11

Has anyone listened to The World's Address podcast? They don't particularly like the drum machine years albums and one of them has only bothered to listen to Flood all the way through for the purpose of that week's episode. A good listen if you want to drive yourself insane
http://theworldsaddress.com/

Highest ranker I didn't vote for: "Birdhouse in Your Soul"

Highest on my ballot that didn't place in the top 77: "Space Suit", "I Can Hear You", "Counterfeit Fake", "The Day", "Rabid Child" (all in my top 20, IIRC)

Thanks for putting it together, sic!

yes, bravo! good times all around and, i think, a very fine turnout with fascinating but not suspect results. has also led to me listening to, and thinking about, Them for a really sustained period. am now convinced john linnell is one of the great unheralded songwriters of the late 20th century. hell of a portfolio.

my god that podcast sounds insane. bizarro world. might give it a try just as a window into their contemporary fandom (?). i guess it's cool that they have enough life as a band that people could be getting into them thru the new stuff (or from growing up on the kids' albums?) and still be just now getting around to the stuff that actually made their place in musical history.

Wow, "Ana Ng" is really good.

Why is it called "The World's Address" if they don't dig the early records?

I didn't vote, but Thermostat would have been near the top of any ballot I submitted, surprised that it's so low

Idaho as well, which I don't see at all

"thermostat" is one like "a self called nowhere" that i know i really dug when i was first getting into the band and which for whatever reason doesn't speak to me as much now. maybe it's the chorus, "turn it up turn it down" gets a little old or something.

It reminds me of Smooth by Santana and Rob Thomas. Maybe it’s just me

The song that was robbed was “Now that I Have Everything”. Though I believe it’s only available as a bonus track on Then so it’s understandable.

great little zippy keyboard part on that.

the Then bonus tracks are so good

IIIN BUENOOOOS AAAAAAAAIIREEEEEES

i seriously thought about voting for "Untitled." I took off the intellectuals, I put on There May Be Giants.

It was my #39 and I was shocked it didn't place. Wait, it wasn't even in the top 154? NONSENSE!

Best part of Untitled is how she always says the band name wrong, but in three different ways

Hope That I Get Old is on the list twice. I think it's got enough points to crack the top 77, as well it should!

I'm one of those who voted for Back to Skull "Hotel Detective" but not the original.

I'm not the only one who voted for "I am not your Broom" haha!

I thought for sure I would be the lone vote for O Do Not Foresake Me, but it got 6 votes!

dammit2. It’s a wonder I fixed any of the spelling and punctuation variances once I’d finished AA’s ballot, where every entry was a play on the title or a lyrical quote or a joke

Then bonus tracks prove TMBG were always spiritually closer to The Residents than Weird Al and those porky Canadians

that World's Address podcast linked above ... is that hosted by someone here (or a friend of someone here)?

I Hope That I Get Old Before I Die is 65a, and if any more correspondence is entered on the matter, I'll submit a new ballot as a sock puppet and retabulate the entire list.

They should have a comp of just weird one-offs, no hits, called "I Took Off The Intellectuals: The Best of There May Be Giants"

Forgot to say -- thanks so much for running this, sic, it has been great to spend a few weeks immersed in this great music with all you guys!

Cheers, all!

indeed...its been really fun to read the discussion here (especially from you Doc Casino) and I'm glad so many people here appreciate this group

i am still trying to process Doc Casino's objections to the Longines Symphonette mention in "Birdhouse" but will have to take it up with him when next we meet.

Yes, the many 3+am nights I put in doing pointless prep for this piddly poll were justified in giving Doc Casino an excuse to post this week.

than Weird Al and those porky Canadians

...Corky & the Juice Pigs?

Barenaked Ladies I Think

objections to the Longines Symphonette mention

things you were completely reasonably old when you learned

sic's poll, and the ballots massive, far outstrip any of my dumb rambling posts! assuming y'all aren't being facetious. great thread imo.

"longines" line just seems idk out of character for the night light and the song, like it's this super obscure reference to provide a rhyme to "my story's infinite" and a setup to "it doesn't rest," neither of which realllly tells us much more about the character or the situation. like it just feels closer to try-hard clever kid territory, for me anyway.

What's kind of amazing about TMBG is how seldom they fall into try-hard clever kid territory, given what they're trying to do.

otm

definitely.

Hey (sic), give us the full list when you get a chance!

nah, it's all 1-vote and 2-vote songs from there, except Birds Fly with three votes and 92 points

No, I mean the top 77--we need a summary list.

oh yeah!

1 Ana Ng 1786 points, 20 votes , 3 #1s
2 Don't Let's Start 1677 points, 19 votes
3 Birdhouse In Your Soul 1537 points, 17 votes , 1 #1
4 They'll Need A Crane 1524 points, 18 votes
5 She's An Angel 1426 points, 17 votes , 2 #1s
6 We Want A Rock 1282 points, 16 votes , 1 #1
7 Where Your Eyes Don't Go 1205 points, 17 votes
8 Purple Toupee 1204 points, 16 votes
9 Put Your Hand Inside The Puppet Head 1132 points, 15 votes , 1 #1
10 Dead 1026 points, 12 votes
11 Twisting 1014 points, 14 votes
12 Kiss Me, Son Of God 994 points, 13 votes , 2 #1s
13 Doctor Worm 971 points, 12 votes , 1 #1
14 Nightgown Of The Sullen Moon 934 points, 12 votes , 1 #1
15 Particle Man 930 points, 12 votes , 1 #1
16 Whistling In The Dark 902 points, 13 votes
17 Till My Head Falls Off 898 points, 11 votes , 2 #1s
18 Fingertips 865 points, 11 votes
19 I Palindrome I 806 points, 12 votes
20 Snowball In Hell 797 points, 11 votes
21 Rhythm Section Want Ad 784 points, 10 votes
22 Your Racist Friend 772 points, 10 votes
22a It's Not My Birthday 759 points, 10 votes
23 Narrow Your Eyes 751 points, 11 votes
24 Istanbul (Not Constantinople) 743 points, 10 votes
25 Everything Right Is Wrong Again 708 points, 10 votes
26 Spiraling Shape 695 points, 10 votes
27 The Statue Got Me High 694 points, 11 votes
27a I've Got A Match 688 points, 9 votes
28 Mammal 682 points, 11 votes
29 Destination Moon 676 points, 8 votes
30 The World's Address 654 points, 10 votes
31 Someone Keeps Moving My Chair 645 points, 10 votes
32 Minimum Wage 639 points, 11 votes
34 Number Three 616 points, 8 votes
35 Cowtown 592 points, 9 votes
36 The Bells Are Ringing 571 points, 8 votes
37 James K. Polk 571 points, 9 votes
38 Man It's So Loud In Here 565 points, 9 votes
39 Boat Of Car 565 points, 8 votes , 1 #1
40 Meet James Ensor 558 points, 10 votes
41 Youth Culture Killed My Dog 557 points, 9 votes
42 No One Knows My Plan 551 points, 8 votes
43 New York City 547 points, 8 votes
44 Which Describes How You're Feeling 544 points, 8 votes
46 Sensurround 541 points, 7 votes
47 See The Constellation 541 points, 9 votes
48 Letterbox 540 points, 9 votes
49 Mr. Me 535 points, 8 votes , 1 #1
50 Dinner Bell 515 points, 8 votes
51 Nothing's Gonna Change My Clothes 513 points, 10 votes
52 Boss Of Me 513 points, 7 votes
53 Hey, Mr. DJ, I Thought You Said We Had A Deal 510 points, 7 votes
54 Metal Detector 495 points, 9 votes , 1 #1
55 They Might Be Giants 473 points, 8 votes
56 Older 469 points, 8 votes
57 Women & Men 468 points, 8 votes
58 Lucky Ball & Chain 463 points, 8 votes
59 The End Of The Tour 456 points, 6 votes
60 Subliminal 456 points, 10 votes
61 The Famous Polka 453 points, 8 votes
62 Shoehorn With Teeth 447 points, 9 votes
63 My Evil Twin 447 points, 8 votes
64 Why Does The Sun Shine? 446 points, 7 votes
65 Sleeping in the Flowers 443 points, 8 votes
65a Hope That I Get Old Before I Die 441 points, 9 votes
66 South Carolina 431 points, 6 votes
67 I Should Be Allowed To Think 429 points, 7 votes
68 A Self Called Nowhere 416 points, 6 votes , 1 #1
69 Piece Of Dirt 406 points, 9 votes
70 Turn Around 378 points, 6 votes
71 Weep Day 374 points, 6 votes
72 Road Movie To Berlin 370 points, 7 votes
73 Hide Away Folk Family 359 points, 6 votes
74 32 Footsteps 353 points, 5 votes
75 How Can I Sing Like A Girl? 350 points, 6 votes
76 For Science 347 points, 5 votes
77 Snail Shell 337 points, 5 votes

South Carolina beating out Montana and Maine as the top-ranked State Song is a travesty.

Are you gonna say they’re great?