Dial-A-Song Week 42!. Get Glean, pre-order Why?!
This stuff is complex
Never figured out the part that comes next
I’m out of my depth
Everything I reach for is out of my grasp
And nothing comes next
You figured on a change or a rest
Well, that’s a good guess
Everything is shifting and shifting again
Something punched my mind in the face
Tracked me down under my pillow case
Now we’re alone in this freaky place
Our consciousness has been
This stuff is complex
Never figured out the part that comes next
I’m out of my depth
Everything I reach for is out of my grasp
There are forces out to destroy us
I heard whispers. It was a warning
They’ll knock us out and drag us to a forest
Yes, that’s what I’ve been told
Dial-A-Song #41 is “Prepare”. Video directed by Paul Sahre. “Glean” is out now, pre-order “Why?“!
Prepare
prepare for a second from now
comb your hair and compose yourself
prepare for a second from now
adjust your chair and clear your throat
a second from the present is nigh
are all your affairs in order now?
a second is a very short time
a moment to anticipate the things to come
the next second won’t be anything like the current one
and we won’t know how it’s gonna be till a second is done
no one can see into the future
we’re just going to have to wait
there may be strange new customs and new ideas
so try to keep an open mind
prepare for a second from now
as if that would make any difference at all
ready or not it is coming
and there’s no way to stop the clock
the next second’s gonna make the present seem like long ago
and make you forget everything that you currently know
counting down / to zero from one
hold your breath / here it comes
now that the second has passed
let’s all reflect on the times we’ve had
look back on a second ago
given everything that we now know
remember a second ago
recall if you can how it used to be
remember a second ago
it’s hard to believe we were so naive
I can barely remember anything about a second ago
we will soon be a second in the future that is all I know
TMBG’S Dial-A-Song week 40 brings us an alternate version of Black Ops, originally heard on Nanobots. The collage slideshow video dedicated to all dystopian modernists was compiled by the inimitable Rolf Conant.
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black ops black ops
a holiday for secret cops
black ops black ops
dropping presents from the helicopter
it’s been a long year
we’ve been so far from home
too many people here
here come the drones
we take the best of it
and make a mess of it
ripping up some lawn
and then we’re gone
black sites black sites
a thousand miles from day or night
black sites black sites
the story will remain unwritten
before we make you gone
you’d best be running on
stick to the music, child
don’t get us riled
hey, there’s a spot we missed
I see a communist
and there’s another one
and his dumb son
black ops black ops
little vials filled with knock-out drops
black ops black ops
Maybe leave you in your old gym locker
black ops black ops
a thousand miles from day or night
black ops black ops
a story told before rewriting
hey, there’s a passport here
but it could disappear
tarmac to landing pad
don’t look so sad
we fly to Amsterdam
and in a little bit
we’ll sing our special song
and this is it
you’ll be standing when the music stops
we’re not worrying about the optics
Dial-A-Song Week 37. Video by Paul Sahre and animation by Zak Tebbal.
sweetly as I fall backwards in slow motion and sink into bliss
my unconscious face smiles for I am totally oblivious to all of the
trouble awful devil evil
trouble awful devil evil
bat wings flapping just over my bed
swooping whirling around overhead
the weight of my insensate body draws all the bedclothes down with it
unknowing ecstatically lowering into a bottomless pit surrounded by
trouble awful devil evil
trouble awful devil evil
bat wings flapping just over my bed
swooping whirling around overhead
shadows lengthen
darkness spreads across a cold benighted land
ten thousand years have passed and still I continue to descend
arms folded ‘cross my chest, I dream of happiness without end, unaware of the
trouble awful devil evil
trouble awful devil evil
bat wings flapping just over my bed
swooping whirling around overhead
whatever happened to chopped off,
unloved, resentful appendages?
will they be phoning us at 3am?
whatever happened to them?
what is that distant scampering?
have you secured the gates
and put out the lights?
though my pounding heart
nearly drowns it out
what is that scampering sound?
someone’s tampered with the storage unit lock
someone’s dragging something heavy down the block
whatever happened to decency?
to privacy, to false-bottom suitcases?
what is this angry world coming to?
what did I do to you?
TMBG Dial-A-Song Week 32. Video directed by Paul Sahre.
omnicorn. like no other creature ever born
on its head is every manner of horn
the omnicorn’s the one
the one
omnicorn
omnicorn
omnicorn. hiding over by the edge of the pines
now it’s running past the hunting lodge sign
no one will see it go
I’ve been to museums
I’ve seen the no-see-ums
I know what I’m talking about
omnicorn. even rarer than a unicorn
it’s got every single kind of horn
omnicorn’s the one
the one
omnicorn
omnicorn
omnicorn. leaping over someone’s mobius strip
left behind from a vacationing trip
that’s something to talk about
omnicorn go
omnicorn go
omnicorn go
omnicorn go
Dial-A-Song Week 31. Video directed by Todd Goldstein.
I haven’t seen you in forever I’m so sad cause I missed you so much
I missed you so much I’m so so sad
I haven’t seen you in forever I’m so sad cause I missed you so much
I missed you so much I’m so so sad
I haven’t seen you in forever I’m so glad we’re together again
together again I’m so so glad
I haven’t seen you in forever I’m so annoyed cause I forgot how much you bug me
I forgot how much you bug me
I’m so so annoyed
Go away and leave me alone. No you go away. No you. No you no you.
No you. No you NO YOU. NO YOU.
Since we’ve been apart I see that I cannot live without you
I cannot live without you don’t ever leave me again
I haven’t seen you in forever I’m so glad we’re together again
together again I’m so so glad
They Might Be Giants cover the brilliant Norma Tanega’s 1966 hit for Dial-A-Song. Video created by Mixtape Club.