I really can’t believe they managed to write a song completely encapsulating the feeling of having really good online friends or lovers only 5 years after the creation of the internet. Way ahead of the curve johns
I guess everyone is free to interpret any song however they wish, but that was nowhere close to the intent. It's about the idea of an unmet soulmate somewhere in the world. It is also, as the Johns so often do, tinged with a hint of disaster if they HAD met, in the form of words painted on a bridge (between universes? The same as what barely comes through on tangled wires?) that might have arisen in a contentious divorce.
It's about someone the singer has never met or communicated with in any way, yet senses powerfully must be there. It isn't dependent on technology (apart from the tangled wires).
I did this song 20 years ago at a coffee shop open mic, and a girl studying with some guy in the back sang EVERY SINGLE WORD of this with me while no one else even knew what it was. And I still think about her, and we still haven't walked in the glow...
@@uRDM I'll tell you guys one thing... they're like Pink Floyd in terms of making song after song that rocks. But Pink Floyd's good songs are more like 77% of all their stuff. TMBG is like... 95% all songs that I love. They're freaking amazing.
They belong to YOU in that specific time, in that specific place, ....and they belong to ME at 8 years old, riding in the Car with my Mom and Dad to the Beach in the early Summer California Sun.
@@MisterAppleEsq Will Toledo, of Car Seat Headrest. "Trying to make it fit in the lyrics of Ana Ng, worked like a charm" - 'Cute Thing', on Twin Fantasy (Face to Face)
So many TMBG songs seem so superficial at first listen, but they contain incredible depths. Some lines are simply throwaway oddities, but they surround brilliant gems.
Hands down the most romantic song I've ever heard. Can't articulate what it does to heart/brain/gut. Easily in my TMBG TOP 3, mattering zero to you and EVERYTHING to me.
@@AaronPLehmann Thanks for the reply. I think that's a good interpretation and it does fit really well with the lyrics, so you're probably right. It's still pretty sad though!
Make a hole with a gun perpendicular To the name of this town in a desk-top globe Exit wound in a foreign nation Showing the home of the one this was written for My apartment looks upside down from there Water spirals the wrong way out the sink And her voice is a backwards record It's like a whirlpool and it never ends Ana Ng and I are getting old And we still haven't walked in the glow of each others majestic presence Listen Ana hear my words They're the ones you would think I would say if there was a me for you All alone at the sixty-four World's Fair Eighty dolls yelling small girl after all Who was at the Dupont Pavilion? Why was the bench still warm? Who had been there? Or the time when the storm tangled up the wire To the horn on the pole at the bus depot And in the back of the edge of hearing These are the words the voice was repeating Ana Ng and I are getting old And we still haven't walked in the glow of each others majestic presence Listen Ana hear my words They're the ones you would think I would say if there was a me for you When I was driving once I saw this painted on a bridge, I don't want the world, I just want your half They don't need me here, and I know you're there (don't need me) Where the world goes by like the humid air (world goes by) And it sticks like a broken record Everything sticks like a broken record Everything sticks until it goes away (it goes home) And the truth is, we don't know anything (don't know) Ana Ng and I are getting old And we still haven't walked in the glow of each others majestic presence Listen Ana hear my words They're the ones you would think I would say if there was a me for you Ana Ng and I are getting old And we still haven't walked in the glow of each others majestic presence Listen Ana hear my words They're the ones you would think I would say if there was a me for you Ana Ng and I are getting old And we still haven't walked in the glow of each others majestic presence Listen Ana hear my words They're the ones you would think I would say if there was a me for you
I am not entirely sure if I am understanding the lyrics, if there even is anyrhing to understand, but just from the first verse and the chorus, I feel like the song is about being in love with someome who is the polar opposite of you. knowing that you and them are almost completely different, but still being unable to supress the feelings you have for them
Acá una traducción así nomás al castellano rioplatense. Cualquier corrección es bienvenida: Haz un hueco con una bala perpendicular Hacia el nombre de esta ciudad en el globo terráqueo La bala saldrá en una nación extranjera Mostrando el hogar para quien fue escrito esto Mi departamento luce dado vuelta desde acá El agua gira para el lado equivocado en la pileta Y su voz es una grabación para atrás Es como un torbellino y nunca para Anna Ng y yo nos estamos volviendo viejos y aún no caminamos En el majestuoso resplandor de nuestra presencia Escuchá Ana, oí mis palabras, son las que pensaste que diría Si hubiera un yo para vos Todos solos en la feria mundial del 64 Ocho muñecas gritando “Niña pequeña después de todo” ¿Quién estaba en el estadio Pavilion? ¿Por qué el banco continuaba caliente? ¿Quién ha estado aquí? O cuando la tormenta enredó los cables en parlante del megáfono de la parada de colectivos Y detrás de filo de la audición Estas eran las palabras que la voz repetía: Anna Ng y yo nos estamos volviendo viejos y aún no caminamos En el majestuoso resplandor de nuestra presencia Escuchá Ana, oí mis palabras, son las que pensaste que diría Si hubiera un yo para vos Una vez mientras conducía vi una pintada en el puente “No quiero el mundo, sólo quiero tu mitad” Ellos no me necesitan aquí y sé que tú estás allá Donde el mundo se mueve como el aire húmedo (el mundo se mueve) Y está trabado como un disco rayado Todo está trabado como un disco rayado Todo está trabado hasta que se va (se va a casa) Y la verdad es que no sabemos nada (no sabemos) Anna Ng y yo nos estamos volviendo viejos y aún no caminamos En el majestuoso resplandor de nuestra presencia Escuchá Ana, oí mis palabras, son las que pensaste que diría Si hubiera un yo para vos
Make a hole with a gun perpendicular To the name of this town in a desktop globe Exit wound in a foreign nation Showing the home of the one, this was written for My apartment looks upside down from there Water spirals the wrong way out the sink And her voice is a backwards record It's like a whirlpool and it never ends Ana Ng and I are getting old And we still haven't walked In the glow of each other's majestic presence Listen Ana, hear my words They're the ones you would think I would say if there was a me for you All alone at the '64 World's Fair Eighty dolls yelling, "Small girl after all" Who was at the Dupont Pavilion? Why was the bench still warm? Who had been there? Or the time when the storm tangled up the wire To the horn on the pole at the bus depot And in back of the edge of hearing These are the words that the voice was repeating Ana Ng and I are getting old And we still haven't walked In the glow of each other's majestic presence Listen Ana, hear my words They're the ones you would think I would say if there was a me for you When I was driving once I saw this painted on a bridge "I don't want the world I just want your half" They don't need me here and I know you're there Where the world goes by like the humid air And it sticks like a broken record Everything sticks like a broken record Everything sticks until it goes away And the truth is, we don't know anything Ana Ng and I are getting old And we still haven't walked In the glow of each other's majestic presence Listen Ana, hear my words They're the ones you would think I would say if there was a me for you Ana Ng and I are getting old And we still haven't walked In the glow of each other's majestic presence Listen Ana, hear my words They're the ones you would think I would say if there was a me for you Ana Ng and I are getting old And we still haven't walked In the glow of each other's majestic presence Listen Ana, hear my words They're the ones you would think I would say if there was a me for you Ana Ng and I are getting old And we still haven't walked In the glow of each other's majestic presence Listen Ana, hear my words They're the ones you would think I would say if there was a me for you
The text implies a hole dug to China, which is impossible in real life. Therefore, the subtext implies a correspondence between two people from different universes/dimensions/timelines.
When I first heard it I thought the first verse was about John shooting a hole in a globe with a BB gun next to Danang, with the D obscured by the BB hole.
And it sticks like a broken record And it sticks like a broken record And it sticks like a broken record And it sticks like a broken record And it sticks like a broken record And it sticks like a broken record And it sticks like a broken record
Ana Ng and I are getting older than we've ever been and now we're even older.
And we are old and coolish now
Although millions of cephalophores are marching past my exit wound in a foreign nation, they're invisible to me except for Ana Ng.
There's a picture opposite me, of Ana Ng's primitive ancestry, who killed off Chess Piece Face's screaming argonauts
And now we're older still...
@@TOBAPNW_ and we won't stop ever.
Oh man. I wish I could thank these guys personally for writing this song. No matter how low I'm feeling, this brings me up.
TMBG are great at that. Can you even be angry while listening to them?
@@chadgradsphere7648 Amen.
I really can’t believe they managed to write a song completely encapsulating the feeling of having really good online friends or lovers only 5 years after the creation of the internet. Way ahead of the curve johns
The web, not the Internet, but otherwise agreed :D
@@compulsiverambler1352 Jesus Christ
I guess everyone is free to interpret any song however they wish, but that was nowhere close to the intent. It's about the idea of an unmet soulmate somewhere in the world. It is also, as the Johns so often do, tinged with a hint of disaster if they HAD met, in the form of words painted on a bridge (between universes? The same as what barely comes through on tangled wires?) that might have arisen in a contentious divorce.
its about pen pals lol and letters, people had long distance relationships before the internet existed
It's about someone the singer has never met or communicated with in any way, yet senses powerfully must be there. It isn't dependent on technology (apart from the tangled wires).
I did this song 20 years ago at a coffee shop open mic, and a girl studying with some guy in the back sang EVERY SINGLE WORD of this with me while no one else even knew what it was. And I still think about her, and we still haven't walked in the glow...
Another follower of atom i see. Come forth and drink the waters of the glow
Too bad you didn't get her number.
Reading these comments, I'm realizing for the first time in 30 years that I don't actually love They Might be Giants more than everyone else.
LOL! There'll always be a bigger superfan somewhere, heheh.
@@uRDM I'll tell you guys one thing... they're like Pink Floyd in terms of making song after song that rocks. But Pink Floyd's good songs are more like 77% of all their stuff. TMBG is like... 95% all songs that I love. They're freaking amazing.
I'll replace you
They belong to YOU
in that specific time,
in that specific place,
....and they belong to ME
at 8 years old, riding in the Car
with my Mom and Dad to the Beach
in the early Summer California Sun.
“Who was at the DuPont Pavilion?” is a great lyric, painting a picture of having “chemistry” with a stranger he never met.
Thank you Will for introducing me to this, now I'm trying to be John Linnell.
Who's Will?
@@MisterAppleEsq
Will Toledo, of Car Seat Headrest.
"Trying to make it fit in the lyrics of Ana Ng, worked like a charm" - 'Cute Thing', on Twin Fantasy (Face to Face)
+@@quitegonegenie Ah, thanks.
You're welcome
hahaha another CSH fan I see
I always thought the opening guitar riff to Ana Ng would make the best phone ring tone ever.
Thank goodness most people have their phones on silent these days.
Since forever I thought the exit wound was Danang with the "D" shot out, revealing her home.
The way John Linnell sings "Ana Ng" the name itself.... touches my soul. 0:35
So many TMBG songs seem so superficial at first listen, but they contain incredible depths. Some lines are simply throwaway oddities, but they surround brilliant gems.
this is one of the best ways ive seen/heard anyone describe TMBGs musical and lyrical content
I saw them live in 1992...they were perfect
Can't... Stop... Listening... To This Song
so old. so good.
Good music never expires.
Agreed.
Old?! I remember when this was young.
@@uphilliceskater I've got some bad news for you dude
That guitar riff is wonderful, John Linnell has a knack for interesting rhythms.
They’re the words you would think I would say if I was John Linell
Or trying to beeee John LINELL!
I am love
I've had the instrumental stuck in my head for weeks
It's amazing how much meaning you can pack into a song if you try hard enough.
It's like a whirlpool and it never ends!
No way, car seat headrest reference??? /j
NO WAY!!
Hands down the most romantic song I've ever heard. Can't articulate what it does to heart/brain/gut.
Easily in my TMBG TOP 3, mattering zero to you and EVERYTHING to me.
Kristen Anne Stephens I agree with you.
Kristen Anne Stephens Very true.
Isn't it about unrequited love? 'We haven't walked in the glow of each other's majestic presence'?
@@theframe100 It's about how they might have loved each other if they'd ever met. But they haven't
@@AaronPLehmann Thanks for the reply. I think that's a good interpretation and it does fit really well with the lyrics, so you're probably right.
It's still pretty sad though!
a legend
Make a hole with a gun perpendicular
To the name of this town in a desk-top globe
Exit wound in a foreign nation
Showing the home of the one this was written for
My apartment looks upside down from there
Water spirals the wrong way out the sink
And her voice is a backwards record
It's like a whirlpool and it never ends
Ana Ng and I are getting old
And we still haven't walked in the glow of each others majestic presence
Listen Ana hear my words
They're the ones you would think I would say if there was a me for you
All alone at the sixty-four World's Fair
Eighty dolls yelling small girl after all
Who was at the Dupont Pavilion?
Why was the bench still warm? Who had been there?
Or the time when the storm tangled up the wire
To the horn on the pole at the bus depot
And in the back of the edge of hearing
These are the words the voice was repeating
Ana Ng and I are getting old
And we still haven't walked in the glow of each others majestic presence
Listen Ana hear my words
They're the ones you would think I would say if there was a me for you
When I was driving once I saw this painted on a bridge,
I don't want the world, I just want your half
They don't need me here, and I know you're there (don't need me)
Where the world goes by like the humid air (world goes by)
And it sticks like a broken record
Everything sticks like a broken record
Everything sticks until it goes away (it goes home)
And the truth is, we don't know anything (don't know)
Ana Ng and I are getting old
And we still haven't walked in the glow of each others majestic presence
Listen Ana hear my words
They're the ones you would think I would say if there was a me for you
Ana Ng and I are getting old
And we still haven't walked in the glow of each others majestic presence
Listen Ana hear my words
They're the ones you would think I would say if there was a me for you
Ana Ng and I are getting old
And we still haven't walked in the glow of each others majestic presence
Listen Ana hear my words
They're the ones you would think I would say if there was a me for you
Thank you.
Thanks :)
❤👏
Still a bop
what if his name doesn't fits into the lyrics of ana ng ? :(
They might be giants
Maybe not tho
i really really love this song
Today is me and my girlfriends two months, we live around 4k km away and yet I hear her voice and I feel as if I'm there.
This has aged magnificently
They were innovative for sure
The line about water spiraling refers to an urban legend called the Coriolis Force.
The coriolis effect is real… 😑
But it is true that most folks misunderstand how it works.
I still love this song in 2024.
I don't even like this song and it's been stuck in my head for decades
between this and dramamine i must say will has fine music taste
I'm glad to see another CSH fan in here
Im scared to go down the TMBG rabbit hole...
As a fiction writer, this band was hugely influential for me...
it must be
Word Smith's.
Love it. Seems they loved the Worlds Fair pavilion in queens. Must have hung out there at the park a lot. They are fixing it up now
Yep, both Johns attended the fair as little boys, and the memory was formative for them.
wait they're fixing it up? i thought it was still demolished
this song is a fucking enigma
this is probably my favorite tmbg song.
Mine too.
Mine too,
this is my favorite song in general
First They Might Be Giants song I ever heard, probably.
Not, Istanbul?
mine was science is real
Mine was particle man
"probably" is such a good addition to this comment bc I frequently find out that songs I'd heard as a kid are actually TMBG
For Jim Kincaid good man, died a couple yrs ago love you dude
One of the first TMBG tracks I ever heard, back before they showed up on Tiny Toons. One of the best tracks on Linclon!
There was a reason they were the tallest midget, or whatever they said
I feel complete watching their music on their channel. Plus, this is my favourite song, so that is cool too.
I originally thought this song was called annaannaarg
❤️💯
From TMs own collection on Purealternative FM tonight
O O 7 Mirrored O' CLo''ck - NICE ONE!! - LEGEND S ParticleMen!
Ooooo 13s mysteries deep'en's! 4 5 2 EXCELLENCE
What a fantastic song!!! TMBG!!!
Woah.
I am not entirely sure if I am understanding the lyrics, if there even is anyrhing to understand, but just from the first verse and the chorus, I feel like the song is about being in love with someome who is the polar opposite of you. knowing that you and them are almost completely different, but still being unable to supress the feelings you have for them
What if... the person who is your perfect love, your "soulmate" was born in a country halfway around the world and you never ever ever meet them?
@@lesliesolomon2808 apologies for being a sarcastic bitch but you sure did figure out the meaning of the song
Acá una traducción así nomás al castellano rioplatense. Cualquier corrección es bienvenida:
Haz un hueco con una bala perpendicular
Hacia el nombre de esta ciudad en el globo terráqueo
La bala saldrá en una nación extranjera
Mostrando el hogar para quien fue escrito esto
Mi departamento luce dado vuelta desde acá
El agua gira para el lado equivocado en la pileta
Y su voz es una grabación para atrás
Es como un torbellino y nunca para
Anna Ng y yo nos estamos volviendo viejos y aún no caminamos
En el majestuoso resplandor de nuestra presencia
Escuchá Ana, oí mis palabras, son las que pensaste que diría
Si hubiera un yo para vos
Todos solos en la feria mundial del 64
Ocho muñecas gritando “Niña pequeña después de todo”
¿Quién estaba en el estadio Pavilion?
¿Por qué el banco continuaba caliente? ¿Quién ha estado aquí?
O cuando la tormenta enredó los cables
en parlante del megáfono de la parada de colectivos
Y detrás de filo de la audición
Estas eran las palabras que la voz repetía:
Anna Ng y yo nos estamos volviendo viejos y aún no caminamos
En el majestuoso resplandor de nuestra presencia
Escuchá Ana, oí mis palabras, son las que pensaste que diría
Si hubiera un yo para vos
Una vez mientras conducía vi una pintada en el puente
“No quiero el mundo, sólo quiero tu mitad”
Ellos no me necesitan aquí y sé que tú estás allá
Donde el mundo se mueve como el aire húmedo (el mundo se mueve)
Y está trabado como un disco rayado
Todo está trabado como un disco rayado
Todo está trabado hasta que se va (se va a casa)
Y la verdad es que no sabemos nada (no sabemos)
Anna Ng y yo nos estamos volviendo viejos y aún no caminamos
En el majestuoso resplandor de nuestra presencia
Escuchá Ana, oí mis palabras, son las que pensaste que diría
Si hubiera un yo para vos
WIDB / Southern Illinois University / 1988 Represent
TMBG the goats
Who else is here from the SFH cover
and the truth is, we don't know anything
cant wait to look back at this comment section in 10 years (im 13 right now)
same same
IM 13 TOO!!!
I'm still trying to figure out who the crap was sitting on that bench...
They definitely had some influence on Green Day?
they have had some influence on just about everyone who came after them.
No, not really. The vocalism is similar but Green day was primarily influenced by multiple Classic Punk/Pop-Punk bands.
this came out before green day
@@dougyuck yes?
me when the tmbg obsession gets too bad
The darkest band in the world.
The things they write about are almost always horrific.
Even dr worm ?
I heart John Linell!!!!
Anyone here from Strong Bad emails?
Make a hole with a gun perpendicular
To the name of this town in a desktop globe
Exit wound in a foreign nation
Showing the home of the one, this was written for
My apartment looks upside down from there
Water spirals the wrong way out the sink
And her voice is a backwards record
It's like a whirlpool and it never ends
Ana Ng and I are getting old
And we still haven't walked
In the glow of each other's majestic presence
Listen Ana, hear my words
They're the ones you would think
I would say if there was a me for you
All alone at the '64 World's Fair
Eighty dolls yelling, "Small girl after all"
Who was at the Dupont Pavilion?
Why was the bench still warm? Who had been there?
Or the time when the storm tangled up the wire
To the horn on the pole at the bus depot
And in back of the edge of hearing
These are the words that the voice was repeating
Ana Ng and I are getting old
And we still haven't walked
In the glow of each other's majestic presence
Listen Ana, hear my words
They're the ones you would think
I would say if there was a me for you
When I was driving once
I saw this painted on a bridge
"I don't want the world
I just want your half"
They don't need me here and I know you're there
Where the world goes by like the humid air
And it sticks like a broken record
Everything sticks like a broken record
Everything sticks until it goes away
And the truth is, we don't know anything
Ana Ng and I are getting old
And we still haven't walked
In the glow of each other's majestic presence
Listen Ana, hear my words
They're the ones you would think
I would say if there was a me for you
Ana Ng and I are getting old
And we still haven't walked
In the glow of each other's majestic presence
Listen Ana, hear my words
They're the ones you would think
I would say if there was a me for you
Ana Ng and I are getting old
And we still haven't walked
In the glow of each other's majestic presence
Listen Ana, hear my words
They're the ones you would think
I would say if there was a me for you
Ana Ng and I are getting old
And we still haven't walked
In the glow of each other's majestic presence
Listen Ana, hear my words
They're the ones you would think
I would say if there was a me for you
I accidentally spoke your first name aloud :0
How comes they appear in there videos but there faces don’t appear on there albums
idk, cuz they can do that.
this song is such a masterpiece it’s not even funny
The text implies a hole dug to China, which is impossible in real life. Therefore, the subtext implies a correspondence between two people from different universes/dimensions/timelines.
When I first heard it I thought the first verse was about John shooting a hole in a globe with a BB gun next to Danang, with the D obscured by the BB hole.
I did not know this
Mj is in this talking
Really not sure how Will Toledo fit the name of his lover into this song's lyrics
The syllables don't even fit right!
This song evokes so much
emotion and nostalgia...
which is quite something
because the lyrics are nonsense.
And it sticks like a broken record
And it sticks like a broken record
And it sticks like a broken record
And it sticks like a broken record
And it sticks like a broken record
And it sticks like a broken record
And it sticks like a broken record
Black colored diamond in my eye. In the center of my eye. Taking me to work. Taking me today.
You know you're a nerd when your favorite music has words like "perpendicular".
i can't hear the word "perpendicular" in math class now without thinking of, or having the urge to sing, this song.
@berrypepperroni7708 That's hilarious. TMBG might be the ultimate nerd band.
@@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017 potentially
love this song so fucking much :)
dont say that.
This needs an update.
Slowed + Reverb LOL.
Whats the best TMBG song that would work in an episode of Sopranos (:
Oh Fuck...
This looks amazing.
dont say that.
Im the 69th lol