1. THEME FROM FLOOD

Why is the world in love again?
Why are we marching hand in hand?
Why are the ocean levels rising up?
It's brand new record for 1990.
They Might be Giants' brand new album:
Flood


2. BIRDHOUSE IN YOUR SOUL

I'm your only friend
I'm not your only friend
But I'm a little glowing friend
But really I'm not actually your friend
But I am

Blue canary in the outlet by the light switch
Who watches over you
Make a little birdhouse in your soul
Not to put too fine a point on it
Say I'm the only bee in your bonnet
Make a little birdhouse in your soul

I have a secret to tell
From my electrical well
It's a simple message and I'm leaving out the whistles and bells
So the room must listen to me
Filibuster vigilantly
My name is blue canary one note* spelled l-i-t-e
My story's infinite
Like the Longines Symphonette it doesn't rest

Blue canary in the outlet by the light switch
Who watches over you
Make a little birdhouse in your soul
Not to put too fine a point on it
Say I'm the only bee in your bonnet
Make a little birdhouse in your soul

I'm your only friend
I'm not your only friend
But I'm a little glowing friend
But really I'm not actually your friend
But I am

There's a picture opposite me
Of my primitive ancestry
Which stood on rocky shores and kept the beaches shipwreck free
Though I respect that a lot
I'd be fired if that were my job
After killing Jason off and countless screaming Argonauts
Bluebird of friendliness
Like guardian angels its always near

Blue canary in the outlet by the light switch
Who watches over you
Make a little birdhouse in your soul
Not to put too fine a point on it
Say I'm the only bee in your bonnet
Make a little birdhouse in your soul

(and while you're at it
Keep the nightlight on inside the
Birdhouse in your soul)

Not to put too fine a point on it
Say I'm the only bee in your bonnet
Make a little birdhouse in your soul

Blue canary in the outlet by the light switch (and while you're at it)
Who watches over you (keep the nightlight on inside the)
Make a little birdhouse in your soul (birdhouse in your soul)

Not to put too fine a point on it
Say I'm the only bee in your bonnet
Make a little birdhouse in your soul

Blue canary in the outlet by the light switch (and while you're at it)
Who watches over you (keep the nightlight on inside the)
Make a little birdhouse in your soul (birdhouse in your soul)

Not to put too fine a point on it
Say I'm the only bee in your bonnet
Make a little birdhouse in your soul


3. LUCKY BALL AND CHAIN

I lost my lucky ball & chain
Now she's four years gone
Just five feet tall and sick of me
And all my rattling on

She threw away her baby-doll
I held on to my pride
But I was young and foolish then
I feel old and foolish now

Confidentially --
she never called me baby-doll
Confidentially --
I never had much pride
But now I rock a bar stool
and I drink for two
just pondering this time bomb in my mind

I lost my lucky ball & chain
Now she's four years gone
Just five feet tall and sick of me
And all my rattling on

She walked away from a happy man
I thought I was so cool
I just stood there whistling
"There goes the bride" as she walked out the door
"There goes the bride" as she walked out the door

I could shake my tiny fist
and swear I wasn't wrong
But what's the sense in arguing
when you're all alone?
Sure as you can't steer a train
you can't change your fate
And when she told me of that day
I knew I'd lost my home

Confidentially --
I never told you of her charms
Confidentially --
we never had a home
But this railroad apartment
was the perfect place
when she'd sit and hold me in her arms

I lost my lucky ball & chain
Now she's four years gone
Just five feet tall and sick of me
And all my rattling on

She walked away from a happy man
I thought I was so cool
I just stood there whistling
"There goes the bride" as she walked out the door
"There goes the bride" as she walked out the door
"There goes the bride" as she walked out the door


4. ISTANBUL (NOT CONSTANTINOPLE)

Istanbul was Constantinople
Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Now it's Turkish delight on a moonlit night

Every gal in Constantinople
Lives in Istanbul, not Constantinople
So if you've a date in Constantinople
She'll be waiting in Istanbul

Even old New York was once New Amsterdam
Why they changed it I can't say
People just liked it better that way

So take me back to Constantinople
No, you can't go back to Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Why did Constantinople get the works?
That's nobody's business but the Turks

Istanbul (Istanbul)
Istanbul (Istanbul)

Even old New York was once New Amsterdam
Why they changed it I can't say
People just liked it better that way

Istanbul was Constantinople
Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Why did Constantinople get the works?
That's nobody's business but the Turks

So take me back to Constantinople
No, you can't go back to Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Why did Constantinople get the works?
That's nobody's business but the Turks

Istanbul


5. DEAD

I returned a bag of groceries
Accidently taken off the shelf
Before the expiration date
I came back as a bag of groceries
Accidently taken off the shelf
Before the date stamped on myself

Did a large procession wave their (Did a)
Torches as my head fell in the basket, (large pro-)
And was everybody dancing on the casket? (cession dance?)

Now it's over I'm dead and I haven't done anything that
I want (now it's over)
Or, I'm still alive and there's nothing I want to do

I will never say the word
"Procrastinate" again; I'll never
See myself in the mirror with my eyes closed
I didn't apologize for
When I was eight and I made my younger brother
Have to be my personal slave

Did a large procession wave their (Did a)
Torches as my head fell in the basket, (large pro-)
And was everybody dancing on the casket? (cession dance?)

Now it's over I'm dead and I haven't done anything that
I want (now it's over)
Or, I'm still alive and there's nothing I want to do

(So) So I won't
(Sit) sit at home
(And) anymore
(And) and you won't
(And) see my head in
(And) the window
(And) and I won't
(And) be around
(And) ever anymore
(And) and I'll be up there on the wall at the store

I returned a bag of groceries
Accidently taken off the shelf
Before the expiration date
I came back as a bag of groceries
Accidently taken off the shelf
Before the date stamped on myself

Did a large procession wave their (Did a)
Torches as my head fell in the basket, (large pro-)
And was everybody dancing on the casket? (cession dance?)

Now it's over I'm dead and I haven't done anything that
I want (now it's over)
Or, I'm still alive and there's nothing I want to do

Now it's over I'm dead and I haven't done anything that
I want (now it's over)
Or, I'm still alive and there's nothing I want to do


6. YOUR RACIST FRIEND

This is where the party ends
I can't stand here listening to you
And your racist friend
I know politics bore you
But I feel like a hypocrite talking to you
And your racist friend

It was the loveliest party that I've ever attended
If anything was broken I'm sure it could be mended
My head can't tolerate this bobbing and pretending
Listen to some bullet-head and the madness that he's saying

This is where the party ends
I'll just sit here wondering how you
Can stand by your racist friend
I know politics bore you
But I feel like a hypocrite talking to you
You and your racist friend

This is where the party ends
I can't stand here listening to you
And your racist friend
I know politics bore you
But I feel like a hypocrite talking to you
And your racist friend

Out from the kitchen to the bedroom to the hallway
Your friend apologizes, he could see it my way
He let the contents of the bottle do the thinking
Can't shake the devil's hand and say you're only kidding

This is where the party ends
I can't stand here listening to you
And your racist friend
I know politics bore you
But I feel like a hypocrite talking to you
And your racist friend


7. PARTICLE MAN

Particle man, particle man
Doing the things a particle can
What's he like? It's not important
Particle man

Is he a dot, or is he a speck?
When he's underwater does he get wet?
Or does the water get him instead?
Nobody knows, Particle man

Triangle man, Triangle man
Triangle man hates particle man
They have a fight, Triangle wins
Triangle man

Universe man, Universe man
Size of the entire universe man
Usually kind to smaller man
Universe man

He's got a watch with a minute hand,
Millenium hand and an eon hand
When they meet it's a happy land
Powerful man, universe man

Person man, person man
Hit on the head with a frying pan
Lives his life in a garbage can
Person man

Is he depressed or is he a mess?
Does he feel totally worthless?
Who came up with person man?
Degraded man, person man

Triangle man, triangle man
Triangle man hates person man
They have a fight, triangle wins
Triangle man


8. TWISTING

She set your goldfish free
And now she's sighing
Blew out your pilot light
And made a wish

She doesn't have to have
Her dB's record back now
But there's not a lot of things
That she'll take back

(Chorus)
(She wants) She wants to see you again
(She wants) She wants to see you again
Slowly twisting (Twisting)
In the wind (Twisting)
Twisting twisting (Twisting)
In the wind

She's not your satellite
She doesn't miss you
So turn off your smoke machine
And Marshall stack

She doesn't have to have
Her Young Fresh Fellows tape back now
But there's not a lot of things
That she'll take back

(Chorus 2x)


9. WE WANT A ROCK

Where was I? I forgot
The point that I was making
I said if I was smart that I would
Save up for a piece of string
And a rock to wind the string around

Everybody wants a rock
To wind a piece of string around
Everybody wants a rock
To wind a piece of string around

Throw the crib door wide
Let the people crawl inside
Someone in this town
Is trying to burn the playhouse down
They want to stop the ones who want
A rock to wind a string around
But everybody wants a rock
To wind a piece of string around

Throw the crib door wide
Let the people crawl inside
Someone in this town
Is trying to burn the playhouse down
They want to stop the ones who want
A rock to wind a string around
But everybody wants a rock
To wind a piece of string around

If I were a carpenter I'd
Hammer on my piglet, I'd
Collect the seven dollars and I'd
Buy a big prosthetic forehead
And wear it on my real head

Everybody wants prosthetic
Foreheads on their real heads
Everybody wants prosthetic
Foreheads on their real heads

Throw the crib door wide
Let the people crawl inside
Someone in this town
Is trying to burn the playhouse down
They want to stop the ones who want
Prosthetic foreheads on their heads
But everybody wants prosthetic
Foreheads on their real heads

Throw the crib door wide
Let the people crawl inside
Someone in this town
Is trying to burn the foreheads down
They want to stop the ones who want
A rock to wind a string around
But everybody wants a rock
To wind a piece of string around


10. SOMEONE KEEPS MOVING MY CHAIR

Mr. Horrible
Mr. Horrible
Telephone call for Mr. Horrible
But before he can talk to the ugliness men
There's some horrible business left
For him to attend to
Something unpleasant has spilled on his brain
As he sponges it off they say

"Is this Horrible?
Is this Horrible?
It's the ugliness men, Mr. Horrible
We're just trying to bug you
We thought that our dreadfulness
Might be a thing to annoy you with"

But Mr. Horrible says, "I don't mind
The thing that bothers me is
Someone keeps moving my chair"

"Would you mind if we balance this glass of milk
Where your visiting friend accidentally was killed?
Would it be okay with you if we wrote a reminder
Of things we'll forget to do today otherwise,
Using a green magic marker, if it's alright
On the back of your head?"

Mr. Horrible
Mr. Horrible
We're not done with you yet Mr. Horrible
You have to try on these pants so the Ugliness Men
Can decide if they're just as embarrassing as we think
We have to be sure about this

But Mr. Horrible says, "I don't mind
The thing that bothers me is
Someone keeps moving my chair"

Someone keeps moving my chair

Mr. Horrible says, "I don't mind
The thing that bothers me is
Someone keeps moving my chair"


11. HEARING AID

Frosty the supervisor
Lives by himself
Sometimes I feel sorry for him
Usually I can't

I've turned off my hearing aid
Don't say the electric chair's not good enough
For king-lazy-bones like myself

More coffee for me boss
'Cause I'm not as messed up as I want to be

I've turned off my hearing aid
Don't say the electric chair's not good enough
For king-lazy-bones like myself

Because
Because


12. MINIMUM WAGE

Minimum Wage! Yah!


13. LETTERBOX

I'll never know what you'll find when you open up your letter box tomorrow
'Cause a little bird never tells me anything I want to know, she's my best friend, she's a sparrow
And I'll never never know what you never never never want to know when you know what you are, O.

If I had a pair of eyes on the back of my head for each time
You forgot to take out all the things you forgot to talk about when you took a bite out of my spine,
I would have a lot of eyes on me by this time wouldn't I? Wouldn't that just be fine.

Too late or soon to make noise about* love and there's no time for sorrow
Run around in the rain with a hole in the brain till tomorrow

I'll never know what you'll find when you open up your letter box tomorrow
'Cause a little bird never tells me anything I want to know, she's my best friend, she's a sparrow
And I'll never never know what you never never never want to know when you know what you are, O.


14. WHISTLING IN THE DARK

A woman came up to me and said
"I'd like to poison your mind
With wrong ideas that appeal to you
Though I am not unkind"
She looked at me, I looked at something
Written across her scalp
And these are the words that it faintly said
As I tried to call for help:

There's only one thing that I know how to do well
And I've often been told that you only can do
What you know how to do well
And that's be you,
Be what you're like,
Be like yourself,
And so I'm having a wonderful time
But I'd rather be whistling in the dark
Whistling in the dark
Whistling in the dark
Whistling in the dark
Whistling in the dark
Whistling in the dark
There's only one thing that I like
And that is whistling in the dark

A man came up to me and said
"I'd like to change your mind
By hitting it with a rock," he said,
"Though I am not unkind."
We laughed at his little joke
And then I happily walked away
And hit my head on the wall of the jail
Where the two of us live today.

There's only one thing that I know how to do well
And I've often been told that you only can do
What you know how to do well
And that's be you,
Be what you're like,
Be like yourself,
And so I'm having a wonderful time
But I'd rather be whistling in the dark
Whistling in the dark
Whistling in the dark
Whistling in the dark
Whistling in the dark
Whistling in the dark
There's only one thing that I like
And that is whistling in the dark

There's only one thing that I know how to do well
And I've often been told that you only can do
What you know how to do well
And that's be you,
Be what you're like,
Be like yourself,
And so I'm having a wonderful time
But I'd rather be whistling in the dark
Whistling in the dark
Whistling in the dark
Whistling in the dark
Whistling in the dark
Whistling in the dark
Whistling, whistling
Whistling in the dark

Whistling (whistling), Whistling (whistling)
Dark (dark), Dark (dark)...


15. HOT CHA

Hot Cha, where are you?
Everybody's eyes are closed
I can't see why I miss you so
So Hot Cha, where are you?

First time Hot Cha went away
A floating island was his home
Then the phone rang off the hook
And Hot Cha had to come back home

Hot Cha, where are you?
Everybody's eyes are closed
I can't see why I miss you so
So Hot Cha, where are you?

Second time he went away
Left the bathtub running over
Stereo on and cooking bacon
Never came back to tell us why

If that honey would come back
We would throw such a party
Drink and cook the prodigal son
Fondue forks for everybody

Hot Cha, where are you?
Everybody's eyes are closed
I can't see why I miss you so
So Hot Cha, where are you?
Hot Cha, where are you?
Hot Cha, where are you?


16. WOMEN AND MEN

When the ship runs out of ocean
And the vessel runs aground
Land's where we know the boat is found
Now there's nothing unexpected
About the water giving out
"Land's" not a word we have to shout.

But there's something beside the shoreline
Moving across the beachhead
Coming up from the shipwreck
Making as if to say:

Women & Men
Women & Men
Women & Men
Women & Men

(Women & Men) Bringing with them messages of love
And every where they go love will grow (love will grow)
(Women & Men) When you see the faces of the women
And the men, you too will know (you will know)

Women & Men have crossed the ocean
They now begin to pour
Out from the boat and up the shore
Two by two they enter the jungle
And soon they number more
Three by three as well as four by four
Soon the stream of people gets wider
Then it becomes a river
River becomes an ocean
Carrying ships that bear

Women & Men
Women & Men
Women & Men
Women & Men


17. SAPPHIRE BULLETS OF PURE LOVE

Pistol shots
Gun shots
Pistol shots
Gun shots

Bullets from a revolver
Bullets from a gun
Bullets through the atmosphere
Here they come

John, I've been bad
And they're coming after me
Done someone wrong
And I fear that it was me

Sapphire bullets
Bullets of pure love

Sapphire bullets
Bullets of pure love


18. THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS

Hang on
Hang on tight

They might be giants (boy)
They might be giants
They might be rain
They might be heat
They might be frying up a stalk of wheat

They might be giants (boy)
They might be giants
They might be brain
They might be washed
They might be Dr. Spock's back-up band

To make the merry-go-round go faster
So that everyone needs to hang on tighter
Just to keep from being thrown to the wolves

Tabloid footprints in your hair
Tabloid footprints everywhere
We can't be silent
'Cause they might be giants
And what are we going to do unless they are

They might be giants (boy)
They might be giants
They might be bald
They might be snow
They might be something else in the snow

Hang on tight

They might be giants (boy)
They might be giants
They might be fake
They might be lies
They might be big, big, fake, fake lies

Tabloid footprints in your hair
Tabloid footprints everywhere
We can't be silent
'Cause they might be giants
And what are we going to do unless they are

They might be giants (boy)...


19. ROAD MOVIE TO BERLIN

We're in a road movie to Berlin
Can't drive out the way we drove in
So sneak out this glass of bourbon
And we'll go

We were once so close to heaven
Peter came out and gave us medals
Declaring us the nicest of the damned

Time won't find the lost
It'll sweep up our skeleton bones
So take the wheel and I will take the pedals

We're in a road movie to Berlin
Can't drive out the way we drove in
So sneak out this glass of bourbon
And we'll go