You've got to wonder about a band whose first hit, "Birdhouse In Your Soul" was narrated by a night light.
In fact, you've gotta wonder about a band whose first hit was named "Birdhouse In Your Soul."
The band is the geeky duo They Might Be Giants, and "Birdhouse" was not an aberration - all their songs are just as odd. "We Want a Rock," for example, from their last album, "Flood," contained the line "Everybody wants prosthetic foreheads on their real heads."
So, the big question is, what does it all mean? Are these guys intellectual geniuses or just really silly?
The best thing to do in such situations is simply to ask. Luckily, the glasses-wearing half of the duo, John Flansburgh, happened to be on the phone so this was fairly easy to do.
The song we talked about was "Particle Man," also off "Flood." It's a cheerful little ditty with lines like: "Triangle man hates particle man. They have a fight. Triangle wins." Very enigmatic, to say the least.
Flansburgh explains: "A lot of songs are character songs. Some songs tell a story, but only tell half the story."
Nevertheless, They Might Be Giants' peculiar outlook on life has made them very popular with music fans. Before signing with Elektra Records two years ago, they were labeled as America's biggest indie band, which they likened to "being called the world's tallest midget."
Now, with the new album, "Apollo 18," they're ready to spread their message, whatever it is, to a new round of innocent listeners. "Apollo 18" contains the particularly Giant-esque tune "Fingertips" - which actually consists of 21 different refrains that are designed to be played in random order on a CD, creating an ever-changing musical collage.
Despite the fact that some of these refrains contain lines like "Please pass the milk" and "What's that blue thing doing here," Flansburgh sees nothing unusual about the Giants' lyric writing choices.
"I've known John (Linnell, the other Giant) since we were kids," said Flansburgh. "We have a group of friends who share a similar point of view. It's interesting to us that a lot of people go 'You're so singular.' But we have other friends with parallel aesthetics."
"There's a bunch of us," he added, menacingly.
For their show at the Michigan Theater, expect plenty of accordion-fueled madness. Although the Giants no longer use their giant props as they did in the past, there will most certainly be some interesting souvenirs. Their last tour offered psychedelic fezzes and "Brooklyn's Ambassadors of Love" T-shirts.
And, after the show, you just might see Flansburgh out exploring our town. Your best bet is the nearest coffee house.
"Last time I was there, I bought a bunch of really good coffee at that place that's on the main drag," said Flansburgh. "Actually, that's the only thing I remember. There was a lot of coffee drinking."