# I hate, hate, hate They Might Be Giants **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 25, 2020, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-hate-hate-they-might-be-giants/846947 "2020-01-25T06:51:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mike\_Mabes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mike_mabes/32/1782_2.png) [@Mike\_Mabes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Mabes)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2020, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-hate-hate-they-might-be-giants/846947/1 "2020-01-25T06:51:49Z")
I’m hanging out with my brother, he has told me about a dream he had that had a song lyric from that group about Istanbul, which in his dream morphed into this song. _I returned as a bag of groceries Taken off the shelf before the expiration date_ Later in the night he plays a that song Sung in this annoying nasal voice (and I like Bob Dylan). But then, there are these final lines- _Now I’m dead and I haven’t done what I wanted to do Or I’m still alive and I’ve done everything I wanted to do._ Might have to rethink my opinion of the band ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2020, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-hate-hate-they-might-be-giants/846947/2 "2020-01-25T09:45:23Z")
I love their covers of Destiny’s Child’s “Bills Bills Bills” ([They Might Be Giants cover Destiny's Child's 'Bills, Bills, Bills' - YouTube](https://youtu.be/ij6foFRNxx0)) and “Tubthumping” ([Tubthumping - They Might Be Giants & The AV Club Chorus - YouTube](https://youtu.be/yf0Amcgxot8)) ---
**Author:** ![LoneRhino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lonerhino/32/1311_2.png) [@LoneRhino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LoneRhino)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2020, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-hate-hate-they-might-be-giants/846947/3 "2020-01-25T10:46:08Z")
They seem like a pretty bland band unworthy of any strong emotions. Good or bad. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2020, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-hate-hate-they-might-be-giants/846947/4 "2020-01-25T11:14:53Z")
Not to put too fine a point on it, “Birdhouse in Your Soul” is a great song. But other than that… :shrug: ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ecks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bcef8e/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ecks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ecks)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2020, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-hate-hate-they-might-be-giants/846947/5 "2020-01-25T12:44:50Z")
You got the lyrics wrong. Now it’s over, I’m dead and I haven’t done anything that I want, Or I’m still alive and there’s nothing I want to do. And for the record, they’re great. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2020, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-hate-hate-they-might-be-giants/846947/6 "2020-01-25T12:54:42Z")
_Yes, no, maybe…I don’t know. Can you repeat the question?_ ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2020, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-hate-hate-they-might-be-giants/846947/7 "2020-01-25T13:01:31Z")
Although TMBG may have popularized Istanbul/Constantinople, They did NOT write the song, and it has been sung by MANY folks (including Bette Midler) > **[“Istanbul (Not Constantinople)”: Cover Songs Uncovered](https://popcultureexperiment.com/2016/12/26/cover-songs-uncovered-istanbul-not-constantinople/)** > > This is the 52nd post in a weekly, yearlong series. Read about it here and see the list of previous songs here. A new post about a different song was posted each Monday throughout 2016. You can lis… Brian ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2020, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-hate-hate-they-might-be-giants/846947/8 "2020-01-25T13:24:33Z")
Not my favorite band, but “Ana Ng” is probably in my top 100 favorite songs of all-time. Birdhouse is probably in the top 200. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2020, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-hate-hate-they-might-be-giants/846947/9 "2020-01-25T13:56:16Z")
They’re definitely quirky. And quirky things, in general, tend to elicit strong emotions: Either people will love it, or not care for it at all, depending on how you feel about that particular sort of quirk. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2020, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-hate-hate-they-might-be-giants/846947/10 "2020-01-25T13:57:12Z")
I have a copy of “Flood”, and I enjoy listening to it every once in a while, but towards the end it all starts to sound the same. I’ve never been inclined to seek out any more. “Birdhouse in your Soul” and their cover of “Istanbul (not Constantinople)” are great. However, “Minimum Wage” may be my favorite song on that album. Heee-yaw! ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2020, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-hate-hate-they-might-be-giants/846947/11 "2020-01-25T14:16:50Z")
TMBG fall into the category of Groups I Thought Were Really Cool in The 1980s, But Who Now Get On My Last Nerve. Foremost in that group is Talking Heads. Also Timbuk 3 and The Beautiful South. What they all have in common is that, lyrically, they’re all too clever for their own good. Elvis Costello, post-1986, same deal. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2020, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-hate-hate-they-might-be-giants/846947/12 "2020-01-25T14:25:30Z")
> [@Mike\_Mabes](#): > > But then, there are these final lines- > > _Now I’m dead and I haven’t done what I wanted to do > Or I’m still alive and I’ve done everything I wanted to do._ > > Might have to rethink my opinion of the band Why does that upset you so? Is it that you’re older than you’ve ever been? And now you’re even older? And now you’re even older? Maybe? PS. Now you’re older still! [Music video for TMBG - Older](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2bo_u_YmW8) ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2020, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-hate-hate-they-might-be-giants/846947/13 "2020-01-25T14:37:20Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > They’re definitely quirky. And quirky things, in general, tend to elicit strong emotions: Either people will love it, or not care for it at all, depending on how you feel about that particular sort of quirk. I love TMBG, but love, hate, and anything in between are all totally legitimate responses to the band. _Flood_, the most successful of their many albums, recently turned 30, prompting appreciations like The AV Club’s [They Might Be Giants defied the major-label curse with Flood](https://music.avclub.com/they-might-be-giants-defied-the-major-label-curse-with-1840974335) and Spin’s [They Might Be Giants’ Flood Turns 30: Musicians Extol the Landmark Album](https://www.spin.com/2020/01/they-might-be-giants-flood-at-30-musicians-celebrate-album/). ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2020, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-hate-hate-they-might-be-giants/846947/14 "2020-01-25T15:08:19Z")
I opened this thread wondering why a movie that has fallen into obscurity would inspire such hatred. > **[They Might Be Giants (1971) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067848/)** > > They Might Be Giants: Directed by Anthony Harvey. With George C. Scott, Joanne Woodward, Jack Gilford, Lester Rawlins. In a Manhattan psychiatric hospital a man, convinced he is Sherlock Holmes, is treated by a female doctor who happens to be named... ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2020, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-hate-hate-they-might-be-giants/846947/15 "2020-01-25T18:14:13Z")
Put me in the “Appreciate _Little Birdhouse_, no use for them otherwise” camp with all the other people. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2020, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-hate-hate-they-might-be-giants/846947/16 "2020-01-25T18:22:47Z")
> [@Mike\_Mabes](#): > > I hate, hate, hate They Might Be Giants You’re not the boss of me now. ---
**Author:** ![tripthicket](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripthicket/32/297_2.png) [@tripthicket](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tripthicket)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2020, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-hate-hate-they-might-be-giants/846947/17 "2020-01-25T19:40:25Z")
Don’t Let’s Start, y’all. ---
**Author:** ![Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/8baadc/32.png) [@Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nicest_of_the_Damned)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2020, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-hate-hate-they-might-be-giants/846947/18 "2020-01-25T19:48:11Z")
I am a fan. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2020, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-hate-hate-they-might-be-giants/846947/19 "2020-01-25T20:10:56Z")
I liked them back in 1990 when Flood came out. I have not heard an album from them in 25+ years. Oh, I saw them in concert once as well. They were fine, nothing special. I think they were, by 2000, very tired of the songs on Flood. They did what I would call a “Flood medley” of songs spliced together and got it out of the way. Very going-through-the-motions feel. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2020, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-hate-hate-they-might-be-giants/846947/20 "2020-01-25T20:39:09Z")
I love Istanbul. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-hate-hate-they-might-be-giants/846947.md?page=2)