Song of the Day - Day 333

Today's song is...


Nine Bowls Of Soup




This is the song. I mean, THE song. This is the song that turned me into the passionate, obsessive TMBG fan you see before you see today. I was just starting to get interested in the band when 123s came out and Gary and I were listening to it for the first time in the car while I was bringing him to work one day. He left the CD playing when he got out, so I was listening alone by the time this song came on the first time. And, BAM. Like a brick to the head. The deadpan humor of it appealed to me immediately. I would later come to appreciate the harpsichord and drums and the completely lovely bass line, but initially it was the humorous repartee between an ichthyosaur and a little orange bird as they argued about soup that wrapped itself around my heartstrings and gave an all mighty tug.

The video only tied those strings tighter. I adore Pascal Campion's art to the extent that that little orange bird is now permanently inked onto my shoulder. Years and countless viewings later, I still collapse with giggles every time I watch the way the little bird nods his whole body when the ichthyosaur asks "If I tell you what these are for, then will you stop bothering me?"

The song isn't over the top. It's a matter of fact tale of an ichthyosaur with some mysterious bowls of soup. But I love that the biggest question is WHY he has the soup. Not why he is walking with soup balanced on a rake on his head, or why he is flying an airplane or why he is taking a snake for a walk. Just why does he have all that soup?!! Yes, it's cute and yes, it's a kids' song, but at the heart of it is everything I love about Linnell's songwriting and everything that makes up the spirit of They Might Be Giants. When it comes right down to it, this song changed my life. And when I think about every show I've seen, every blog post I've written, every album I've purchased, every song fallen in love with and every friend I've made and the fact that I owe it all to a song about an aquatic dinosaur with a questionable quantity of soup, I just tilt my head back and laugh. Could life be any more perfect?