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vovatWhatever happened to the search function on LiveJournal? I know it was a third-party application, but did they just remove all of the links to it, or what? The thing is, I have a nagging feeling that I might have used this post's title before, but I don't feel like going back and checking. I'm sure nobody but me really cares, though.
Anyway, the subject this time is the solo work of John Linnell, the bottom half of They Might Be Giants. He only had one solo album released in record stores, and that's State Songs, a project in which he wrote songs based on the names of states, but not on the states themselves. Kind of confusing, huh? Read on for the individual songs.
Illinois - Things start out with an instrumental, which I can't help feel is cheating somewhat. I mean, if the goal is to base songs on the names of states, shouldn't they pretty much have to have lyrics? Someone on an online TMBG forum pointed out that you could sing the titles of their instrumentals to their tunes, which might have been the intention, but still doesn't seem quite right. The piece is played on a carousel band organ, an instrument that will become quite familiar by the end of this album.
The Songs of the Fifty States - The theme song for the whole thing. I have no idea why John didn't want to start with this one, but there you go. The lyrics to this one are quite clever, really. There's a bit of a joke at the end, with Linnell starting to play the beginning of "Arkansas," implying that it's his "favorite one."
West Virginia - There's an organ on this one as well. It's not a carousel organ, though, but I sixties-sounding organ that provides a really fun backing line. I believe the song is (or at least was)![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
bethje's favorite of the State Songs, and I can't say I blame her.
South Carolina - This song features Linnell singing in a goofy low voice that I don't think he's ever even tried to replicate when performing it live. It's about a guy who gets rich from a lawsuit after being injured in a bicycle crash, and it contains a reference to "Old Man River."
Idaho - Not one of my favorite State Songs, but one that constantly seems to come up when I'm listening to my music on random. It's based on a probably apocryphal anecdote about the other famous musical John L., who was said to have dropped so much acid that he thought he had to stay up all night and make sure his house didn't crash into anything.
Montana - I know some people have mentioned this one as a favorite, and it WAS the first single, although that was partially because it would fit on the oddly-cut vinyl record (I believe "South Carolina" was John's first choice). The song is typical Linnell, about a guy in the hospital who feels he can die comfortably after realizing Montana is a leg. The music is more traditional pop/rock than with many of the other tracks.
Pennsylvania - This one is almost an instrumental, but at least it actually includes the name of the state. I think it's pretty fun, and I like the violin and weird synthesizer noises. Besides, Pennsylvania is the state I was living in when this album came out, so how could I NOT like the song? {g}
Utah - I've always thought this song seemed incomplete, like it needed a second verse. The thing is, Linnell has said he went through several different possibilities for the state before settling on this one. Maybe Utah is just a hard state to write songs about. The track marks the second appearance of the carousel band organ.
Arkansas - Not really Linnell's favorite, from what he's said, but I couldn't blame him too much if it were, because it's a cool song. It's about a ship that's exactly the same size as the state of Arkansas (which, in whatever parallel universe this is, has a seacoast). Sounds like a concept Jorge Luis Borges would have come up with.
Iowa - I think this is the best of the band organ songs, because it incorporates it into a mix with several other instruments, rather than just letting it stand by itself. I also like the sort of dance-party tune that the band organ plays. And I think it's an actual Dustbuster that appears in the spoken-word bridge. I'd say this is one of the best overall State Songs.
Mississippi - Another instrumental. It's not bad, but once again, instrumentals on this record kind of strike me as cop-outs.
Maine - The first of the State Songs that I've heard, and it's still one of my favorites. The music is catchy and the lyrical structure is pretty neat. Maine is the heaven below in the first chorus, and the hell from above in the second. There's also a brief nod to "Daydream Believer." The demo version that I originally heard used the line "leave my family out of this" instead of "leave me to my ugly state," and I have to say I think I like the demo line better.
Oregon - Linnell enjoys telling the story about how Oregonians were more bothered by his mispronunciation of the state's name (he says "Or-a-gone" instead of "Or-a-gun") than by the fact that the entire lyric is about saying Oregon is bad. I think it might also be the only Linnell-penned song in which he mentions a brothel.
Michigan - A short, bombastic song featuring an introduction on bass clarinet. This is apparently the first of the State Songs written, way back in the late eighties, and John has compared it to a football fight song. It's a quite enjoyable listen, and how many other songs include the lyric "we must eat Michigan's brain"?
New Hampshire - The last of the band organ songs, with a more intricate arrangement on the instrument than with most of its other uses. The lyrical matter is about a dirty hippie poet known as New Hampshire Man.
Nevada - I'm not sure why John bothered rewriting this one, as the original version (featuring ladies falling from treetops being saved by parachute dresses) is much better. The idea of playing the song over a recording of a marching band is pretty cool, but the inclusion of the lengthy aftermath of the parade is less so. I mean, it's an interesting idea, but doesn't make for good repeated listening. I'm listening to it now, though, for the sake of completeness.
I have to say that I really like this album. The band organ might have been a bit overused, and I think John should have waited on releasing the instrumentals until he could come up with some words for them, but I don't think any of the songs are total duds. Of course, since there are only fifteen State Songs on the record, it cries out for a sequel, and Linnell has pretty much said he doesn't intend to make one. Come on, John, what else do you have going on? Yeah, I know you have a kid to raise, but still.
During live performances, Linnell would sometimes cover other artists' songs that prominently feature the names of states. One of them, "Maryland My Maryland," was an actual state song, sung to the tune of "O Tannenbaum" (which, of course, Linnell has also covered). The others that I know of were Johnny Horton's "North to Alaska" [1], CSN&Y's "Ohio" (although he only sang one line of it), the Dead Kennedys' "California Über Alles," and Bruce Springsteen's "Nebraska." There was also one show, some time before the release of the album, in which John recited the Wallace Stevens poem "Anecdote of the Jar" for Tennessee. There was only one other officially released Linnell-written State Song, though, and that was:
Louisiana - The B-side of the vinyl single for "Montana," this is a fun song featuring accordion and lyrics about Louisiana putting a blanket over the narrator's head. If Linnell ever changes his mind and DOES come up with a second part for State Songs, I wonder if he'll re-record this one.
The only other Linnell solo release was an EP called House of Mayors, which he did for John Flansburgh's Hello Recording Club. The goal here was to write songs about New York City mayors. Unlike the State Songs, most of these were instrumentals.
Preamble: Fernando Wood - Not really a song, but a spoken-word bit supposedly quoting the nineteenth-century mayor, who was known for supporting the Confederacy in the Civil War and proposing that the city become an independent state.
Processional - The first of three Processionals, this one plays the oft-repeated theme tune on a clarinet.
DeWitt Clinton - This one sounds like Atari music to me, at least at the beginning. It's basically a minimalist piece that adds more instruments as it goes along. Clinton served his term as mayor in the very early nineteenth century, and went on to become governor of the state, in which position he was instrumental in the opening of the Erie Canal.
Processional (2) - This one sounds like it's sort of akin to "Nevada," incorporating crowd noise from a carnival. The theme tune is kind of in the background, and sounds sort of like a carousel organ. I don't think it actually WAS one, but it shows that Linnell already had an interest in this unusual instrument.
John Purroy Mitchel - I might describe this as a tentative-sounding piano piece, in that the piano player (presumably Linnell) doesn't quite seem to know where to go with the melody. It doesn't sound bad, though, but instead has kind of a haunting sound to it. Later, the number goes on to incorporate what sounds like a party horn. I believe Mitchel is still the youngest person to serve as Mayor of New York, having been elected in 1914 at the age of thirty-four.
Will You Love Me in December As You Do in May? - This is a very pretty cover song, but how did it end up on a record about NYC mayors? Well, see, the lyrics were written by James John "Jimmy" Walker, mayor from 1926 to 1932. He resigned during the Great Depression, when his administration came under investigation for corruption.
Processional (3) - This time around, the theme tune is played on the accordion, and in a faster tempo than in any of the other occurrences.
Fiorello LaGuardia - I'm not totally sure how to describe this one. It's cacophonous, yet also pretty simple. A far cry from Walker's toleration of casinos, LaGuardia was known for throwing slot machines into the river. He was a staunch supporter of the New Deal, and is credited with helping restore the city's economic prosperity after the Great Depression.
David Dinkins - The only still-living mayor to be immortalized in a Linnell song, Dinkins is said to have heard the piece, but not been able to figure out what it had to do with him. You're not alone in that, David. It's a jazzy number that doesn't seem like it would be out of place in a Peanuts special.
House of Mayors - The tune of this song is the same one from the Processionals, but this time it has words. It's basically a description of a hypothetical amusement park attraction devoted to NYC mayors, like the Hall of Presidents at the Disney parks. Since the city has had 113 mayors so far, it would presumably have to be bigger than the Disney hall, though. It ends with a bit of Linnellian whimsy in an impossible "big room upstairs" known as the House of the Yet-to-Be-Mayors. I also have to mention that a Google search pointed me to some story that uses the names of the phony mayors referenced in the song (George Finby, Alexander Whigmore, etc.) as characters.
Next week, I think I'll move on to another band. Unless I receive some better suggestions, I'll probably go with my second favorite music group, XTC.
[1] I seem to recall a quote from a Linnell concert in which he said that Horton had three songs about Alaska. I know one of the others is "Springtime in Alaska," but if John is correct, what's the third?
Anyway, the subject this time is the solo work of John Linnell, the bottom half of They Might Be Giants. He only had one solo album released in record stores, and that's State Songs, a project in which he wrote songs based on the names of states, but not on the states themselves. Kind of confusing, huh? Read on for the individual songs.
Illinois - Things start out with an instrumental, which I can't help feel is cheating somewhat. I mean, if the goal is to base songs on the names of states, shouldn't they pretty much have to have lyrics? Someone on an online TMBG forum pointed out that you could sing the titles of their instrumentals to their tunes, which might have been the intention, but still doesn't seem quite right. The piece is played on a carousel band organ, an instrument that will become quite familiar by the end of this album.
The Songs of the Fifty States - The theme song for the whole thing. I have no idea why John didn't want to start with this one, but there you go. The lyrics to this one are quite clever, really. There's a bit of a joke at the end, with Linnell starting to play the beginning of "Arkansas," implying that it's his "favorite one."
West Virginia - There's an organ on this one as well. It's not a carousel organ, though, but I sixties-sounding organ that provides a really fun backing line. I believe the song is (or at least was)
bethje's favorite of the State Songs, and I can't say I blame her.South Carolina - This song features Linnell singing in a goofy low voice that I don't think he's ever even tried to replicate when performing it live. It's about a guy who gets rich from a lawsuit after being injured in a bicycle crash, and it contains a reference to "Old Man River."
Idaho - Not one of my favorite State Songs, but one that constantly seems to come up when I'm listening to my music on random. It's based on a probably apocryphal anecdote about the other famous musical John L., who was said to have dropped so much acid that he thought he had to stay up all night and make sure his house didn't crash into anything.
Montana - I know some people have mentioned this one as a favorite, and it WAS the first single, although that was partially because it would fit on the oddly-cut vinyl record (I believe "South Carolina" was John's first choice). The song is typical Linnell, about a guy in the hospital who feels he can die comfortably after realizing Montana is a leg. The music is more traditional pop/rock than with many of the other tracks.
Pennsylvania - This one is almost an instrumental, but at least it actually includes the name of the state. I think it's pretty fun, and I like the violin and weird synthesizer noises. Besides, Pennsylvania is the state I was living in when this album came out, so how could I NOT like the song? {g}
Utah - I've always thought this song seemed incomplete, like it needed a second verse. The thing is, Linnell has said he went through several different possibilities for the state before settling on this one. Maybe Utah is just a hard state to write songs about. The track marks the second appearance of the carousel band organ.
Arkansas - Not really Linnell's favorite, from what he's said, but I couldn't blame him too much if it were, because it's a cool song. It's about a ship that's exactly the same size as the state of Arkansas (which, in whatever parallel universe this is, has a seacoast). Sounds like a concept Jorge Luis Borges would have come up with.
Iowa - I think this is the best of the band organ songs, because it incorporates it into a mix with several other instruments, rather than just letting it stand by itself. I also like the sort of dance-party tune that the band organ plays. And I think it's an actual Dustbuster that appears in the spoken-word bridge. I'd say this is one of the best overall State Songs.
Mississippi - Another instrumental. It's not bad, but once again, instrumentals on this record kind of strike me as cop-outs.
Maine - The first of the State Songs that I've heard, and it's still one of my favorites. The music is catchy and the lyrical structure is pretty neat. Maine is the heaven below in the first chorus, and the hell from above in the second. There's also a brief nod to "Daydream Believer." The demo version that I originally heard used the line "leave my family out of this" instead of "leave me to my ugly state," and I have to say I think I like the demo line better.
Oregon - Linnell enjoys telling the story about how Oregonians were more bothered by his mispronunciation of the state's name (he says "Or-a-gone" instead of "Or-a-gun") than by the fact that the entire lyric is about saying Oregon is bad. I think it might also be the only Linnell-penned song in which he mentions a brothel.
Michigan - A short, bombastic song featuring an introduction on bass clarinet. This is apparently the first of the State Songs written, way back in the late eighties, and John has compared it to a football fight song. It's a quite enjoyable listen, and how many other songs include the lyric "we must eat Michigan's brain"?
New Hampshire - The last of the band organ songs, with a more intricate arrangement on the instrument than with most of its other uses. The lyrical matter is about a dirty hippie poet known as New Hampshire Man.
Nevada - I'm not sure why John bothered rewriting this one, as the original version (featuring ladies falling from treetops being saved by parachute dresses) is much better. The idea of playing the song over a recording of a marching band is pretty cool, but the inclusion of the lengthy aftermath of the parade is less so. I mean, it's an interesting idea, but doesn't make for good repeated listening. I'm listening to it now, though, for the sake of completeness.
I have to say that I really like this album. The band organ might have been a bit overused, and I think John should have waited on releasing the instrumentals until he could come up with some words for them, but I don't think any of the songs are total duds. Of course, since there are only fifteen State Songs on the record, it cries out for a sequel, and Linnell has pretty much said he doesn't intend to make one. Come on, John, what else do you have going on? Yeah, I know you have a kid to raise, but still.
During live performances, Linnell would sometimes cover other artists' songs that prominently feature the names of states. One of them, "Maryland My Maryland," was an actual state song, sung to the tune of "O Tannenbaum" (which, of course, Linnell has also covered). The others that I know of were Johnny Horton's "North to Alaska" [1], CSN&Y's "Ohio" (although he only sang one line of it), the Dead Kennedys' "California Über Alles," and Bruce Springsteen's "Nebraska." There was also one show, some time before the release of the album, in which John recited the Wallace Stevens poem "Anecdote of the Jar" for Tennessee. There was only one other officially released Linnell-written State Song, though, and that was:
Louisiana - The B-side of the vinyl single for "Montana," this is a fun song featuring accordion and lyrics about Louisiana putting a blanket over the narrator's head. If Linnell ever changes his mind and DOES come up with a second part for State Songs, I wonder if he'll re-record this one.
The only other Linnell solo release was an EP called House of Mayors, which he did for John Flansburgh's Hello Recording Club. The goal here was to write songs about New York City mayors. Unlike the State Songs, most of these were instrumentals.
Preamble: Fernando Wood - Not really a song, but a spoken-word bit supposedly quoting the nineteenth-century mayor, who was known for supporting the Confederacy in the Civil War and proposing that the city become an independent state.
Processional - The first of three Processionals, this one plays the oft-repeated theme tune on a clarinet.
DeWitt Clinton - This one sounds like Atari music to me, at least at the beginning. It's basically a minimalist piece that adds more instruments as it goes along. Clinton served his term as mayor in the very early nineteenth century, and went on to become governor of the state, in which position he was instrumental in the opening of the Erie Canal.
Processional (2) - This one sounds like it's sort of akin to "Nevada," incorporating crowd noise from a carnival. The theme tune is kind of in the background, and sounds sort of like a carousel organ. I don't think it actually WAS one, but it shows that Linnell already had an interest in this unusual instrument.
John Purroy Mitchel - I might describe this as a tentative-sounding piano piece, in that the piano player (presumably Linnell) doesn't quite seem to know where to go with the melody. It doesn't sound bad, though, but instead has kind of a haunting sound to it. Later, the number goes on to incorporate what sounds like a party horn. I believe Mitchel is still the youngest person to serve as Mayor of New York, having been elected in 1914 at the age of thirty-four.
Will You Love Me in December As You Do in May? - This is a very pretty cover song, but how did it end up on a record about NYC mayors? Well, see, the lyrics were written by James John "Jimmy" Walker, mayor from 1926 to 1932. He resigned during the Great Depression, when his administration came under investigation for corruption.
Processional (3) - This time around, the theme tune is played on the accordion, and in a faster tempo than in any of the other occurrences.
Fiorello LaGuardia - I'm not totally sure how to describe this one. It's cacophonous, yet also pretty simple. A far cry from Walker's toleration of casinos, LaGuardia was known for throwing slot machines into the river. He was a staunch supporter of the New Deal, and is credited with helping restore the city's economic prosperity after the Great Depression.
David Dinkins - The only still-living mayor to be immortalized in a Linnell song, Dinkins is said to have heard the piece, but not been able to figure out what it had to do with him. You're not alone in that, David. It's a jazzy number that doesn't seem like it would be out of place in a Peanuts special.
House of Mayors - The tune of this song is the same one from the Processionals, but this time it has words. It's basically a description of a hypothetical amusement park attraction devoted to NYC mayors, like the Hall of Presidents at the Disney parks. Since the city has had 113 mayors so far, it would presumably have to be bigger than the Disney hall, though. It ends with a bit of Linnellian whimsy in an impossible "big room upstairs" known as the House of the Yet-to-Be-Mayors. I also have to mention that a Google search pointed me to some story that uses the names of the phony mayors referenced in the song (George Finby, Alexander Whigmore, etc.) as characters.
Next week, I think I'll move on to another band. Unless I receive some better suggestions, I'll probably go with my second favorite music group, XTC.
[1] I seem to recall a quote from a Linnell concert in which he said that Horton had three songs about Alaska. I know one of the others is "Springtime in Alaska," but if John is correct, what's the third?
