They Might Be Giants - The Neck Rolls Aren't Working Lyrics

This sounds a LOT like "The Communists Have The Music"
Who better to rip off than yourself?

Leave it to They Might Be Giants to introduce us all to a dancing act from the 1930's. If these ladies were around today, they could win America's Got Talent.

Anyone else like to sing along to this song? I always sing TMBG songs when I listen to them.

Oh man, this song is pretty solidly about politics isn't it? A loud "threat" making itself the discussion, John Glenn, recursive problems, wrecking my chances of wrecking any last hope of defeating any last hope, being broken 'cuz you're not working....

Everyone: Not even the Johns can write a song about the Catch-22.
TMBG: _Hold our airhorn._

It took me a while to realize what he was referring when he said 'Neck Rolls' I'm pretty sure he's talking about the exercise.

Why do the women always look so doped up in these old timey musicals?

John Linnell>John Lennon

Can anyone explain me what Neck Rolls are and why aren't they working?

From an album called Murdered Remains and an MMO geek I totally thought he was saying Necros aren't working.

This sounds like something that could've been on The Spine.

I can now say without a doubt in my mind that this is my top jam from this batch of dial-a-song. It STILL gives me goosebumps when I listen to it.

My two-year-old son is in LOVE with this song. (And hey, I dig it too, of course.)

He calls it the "airhorn" song. :)

It keep dragging me back in

Though my interpretation of this song on tmbw.net is about being a salt addict (and I think that interpretation fits the whole of the song better) I still have the feeling that the original inspiration for this song is bejowled politicians

So this song is about problems that make it seem like theyre not problems

Look at those girls go!

Linnell 2020.

Nx Doyle The communists have the music

i’m sad

Elizabeth Blanton I am until I listen to this band

Instant classic tmbg

i dream about the girl with the maracas every night!!

Where can I buy the mp3?

They might be giants dot com

Huh, my grandma and great aunts in a TMBG video - nice. The song has an earlier feel - reminds me of Ana Ng.

yeti12345678 Were they Winter Sisters or Marimba Queens?

Winter Sisters

@yeti Very cool.

yeti As does By The Time You Get This

I have listened to this like fifty times now and I *just* noticed that there's a harp or something in the "how can you stay mad at the airhorn" part.

the best one this year so far.

This might be one of my favorite TMBG songs of all time. I just love the lyrics and the instumentation so much.

Does anybody know who the girl in the middle is? She was PHENOMENAL

Why aren't the neck rolls working? Did someone tell you only a third of the story, a third of their opinion and change the last third to be the opposite of what was actually in their power to glean and then tell?
If the neck rolls don't work, get a sushi roll or an egg roll or a spring roll springing out of an egg used for sushi.

"that air horn is blowing away
the clear thinking that's needed to stop
the loud air horn from making itself the discussion."

this. so much this.

One name comes to mind when the need comes up to describe someone...a bigly name. :P

Just a tiny nitpick: at 1:02 the song says "destroying" while in the lyrics in the description it says "defeating". I doubt anyone cares, I just want to make sure you're aware of it :)

This song describes what it's like inside my head much of the time. Spinning, and spinning, and spinning...and getting nowhere. I love it so much. Thank you, Johns.

I don't understand how anything can sound this good. I can't wait to see you guys in October!

Return OSF London?

Yeah at the Barbican

Return OSF me too!

Shark Eater Haha I'll see you there then!

Me also!

the lyrics don't match the actual lyrics in the song
????

I love this song so much because the lyrics all make sense and it's all grammatically correct but I still have no idea what they mean

Everything in his mind is tumbling in circles, repeating itself, eating its own tail, etc., never getting anywhere, never progressing. There is only stress.

I took it to be about President Trump. The air horn is blocking out conversation about anything else and the headband is cutting off the circulation needed to stop thinking about the headband. It's the point where we've reached that all political discussion is an obnoxious nightmare of attention grabbing.

John Linnell is a picture of a Mobius strip constructed of paper covered in pictures of Mobius strips.

My brain loves this song. 😍 Thank you @ParticleMen !

Loved the video!
Hope you consider making one for I Palindrome I!

This speaks to me on a metaphysical level

Lyrics are rich with badly needed metaphors, yet also coupled with their musical expertise. Never know what to expect at first! 🙄💥😮😂😝💖😎

They have to be the same ladies from the solid potato salad video

And if you're curious about that bass player, try searching Frank DiNunzio, Sr

The neck rolls aren't working, and the piano has been drinking?

That bass player is the shit! Great song John. You too John.

ivan terrible I think he has Reefer Madness

ivan terrible Your priorities for calling things you like vulgar names are a shame.

That's some incredible dancing/gymnastics, who are they?

Ah, it says in the video. Here's them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHppswQIalc

damn I love this song!

Dude with the upright bass kinda looks like Teller.

I was getting worried that dialasong was just going to be reuploads/re-recordings but this puts all that to rest. Love the song!

2:22 The only real way to play a stand-up bass.

This is my favorite Dial A Song Track this year. It sounds like they’re older songs and it’s so rockin’ and weird. I love weird.

dave idmarx same those are all of my favorites.

What are you doing inside on such a nice day??

dave idmarx don’t worry I went swimming.

Luke Hennisch Glad to hear it... I'm at the beach right now and will be seeing Yellow Submarine later tonight in Brooklyn! ;-)

Luke Hennisch You’ll be glad to find out I have uploaded Ripley’s in 9 videos on my channel, then. Irrelevant but a weird banquet.

I hate that damned adorable airhorn.

Me too. I'm gonna kill that airhorn, even though it's adorable.

The neck rolls might not be working, but the buttered rolls are just divine!

Thanks for the kudos, sirs.

Thanks for the video, sir.

One person's neck rolls are working just fine.

Catchy as hell!

I can only guess what the Giants were smoking.

*/The Headband/*

This is classic They. Love it.

So many things to say about this! Like someone else said, this reminds me of State Songs to a degree, and also older Linnell songs like Hey Mr DJ. The lyrics are so classical TMBG-y with all the contradictions. I love the “nananananana-DUM-DUM” rhythm that goes through most of the song. As someone else said, Linnell hits some crazy high notes at one point. That piano sounds crisp. They used an omnichord at the end, one of my favourite silly instruments. Oh, and the video is also great, I love Craig J. Clark's stuff.

This is one of my favorite types of TMBG songs. Upbeat, weird, but still meaningful. I love it. They have helped me, and are currently helping me go through a really hard time in my life right now, and I commend them for that. They are, and will be my favorite band for a long time.

...it's an awful lot to think about...

this gonna be a good record

It might not be on one. They said they'd be putting some stuff on Dial-a-Song that wouldn't get released outside of it.

Hey, Mister Apple (wow, what a stupid name), you were totally wrong, this song ended up on Their album “My Murdered Remains”, you dumb stupid man. And what's up with the avatar that's literally just like the first result on Google Images, you twat?

Linnell's highest notes ever? Beat Canajoharie by like half an octave. This song rocks.

These are Gs, only a semitone higher than the F#s in Canajoharie, unless I'm completely mistaken.

still pretty high up there!

Air horn = Trump

Paul Mitchum Airhorn = people like Amy Schumer

I agree! And: "...I gave up all my money on some lessons on how to spend money...'" = trump university (my interpretation of the art, anyway) I wonder why the only other two persons to reply so far to your comment were 'trolls'. Sadly predictable nowadays. Love the song!

Deborah Bryant I actually wasn’t trolling. I don’t find Trump jokes funny anymore because they’ve become so repetitive. Everybody and their grandma has already said everything there is to say about Donald Trump’s appearance, policies, mannerisms, and so on. It’s all been done to death. They Might Be Giants has always been an alternative band known for pushing the boundaries and going against the mainstream, but if they make fun of a guy who’s already been ridiculed ad nauseam by the mainstream media, it’s not pushing the boundary anymore. This seems so uncharacteristic of them.

I'm not a 'troll', it's just that the life of the person in the song keeps getting worse. People like Amy Schumer teach people that they should live unhealthy and be a crappy person by ignoring any flaws (even ones that should definitely be fixed). People also learn to shut out any opposing ideas. Maybe the person the song is about is trying to learn how to spend money, but the airhorn's ideas disagree with that. They keep going back to the airhorn and choosing to listen to it.
Also, Trump isn't a good person, but he knows how to spend money well. People just choose to ignore how the economy changes, and instead, focus on the personal life of the president.

Paul Mitchum Paul Mitchum = A Nobody wannabe who won’t be remembered

Greetings to Bertholt Brecht!
This rocks.

i fucking LOVE this.

bitch me too the fuck

looks a bit like the portland farmers market.

Managed to find both original videos on YouTube
- Three Winter Sisters
- Reg Kehoe and his Marimba Queens
I just had to hear that bass player.

Hahhaa good work. How did you do it?

kwijung
The first one was easy since the name is in the video. The second was trickier but I eventually found it with "vintage marimba band"

And i just hat to see what that viloen souden when the player whas playing it like that.

I like this song. Also, the ladies in the video are fun to watch. Hooray for this video. Hooray for it.

teiladnam I think he has a Reefer Madness

I love it!!!! Bravo!!!

Devil horns from Mr. Bass Man @ 2:17

Kinda weird umm...title but you know what can you expect.

Linnel's neck rolls are always working for me!

I dunno man, my neck rolls are working pretty dang well.

CodeNameJaz You say that now...

This is the most Linnellesque song I've heard since all the tracks on "State Songs"

Corey Messick Self-reference, self-containment, recursion, circular reasoning, cyclical actions, etc, always jump out as being very Linnell for me.

BojoPigeon I was surprised at how well I liked, "West Virginia". Yeawh, I'm from wv and I really liked the positive energy from that song. I liked it better than the others I listened to.

I'll see your neck rolls and raise an It's Not My Birthday

@Taylor Adams Miscellaneous T was 8 years before State Songs!

So rockin’! Also, what a weird title.

At first I thought neck rolls as in, fat on your neck. But I think it means yogic neck rolling, that is supposed to reduce stress.

I’m fast. The last few songs I’ve been first.

Corey Messick Sorry. This is not the only thing I say constantly. I’m just surprised. I love TMBG and would like to show I’m a fan and show up fast and care about TMBG. I do have a theory on mcafferty’s bib that people think is sophisticated. I just like to support. Amazing poetry though.

Squid Man502 Where did my comment go? I forget what I said. Expect to keep seeing me on this band’s comment sections! I’m only positive.

Are you the real Squid Man502?