Date of Award
8-7-2023
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Degree Type
Dissertation
Abstract
After releasing twenty-three studio albums and performing together for four decades under the name They Might Be Giants—first as a duo and then, beginning in 1992, with a full backing band—John Flansburgh and John Linnell have certainly established a niche for themselves within the world of alternative rock. The band achieved a brief glimpse of mainstream commercial success in 1990 with the release of their third album, Flood, and in the years since, they’ve maintained a foothold in popular culture through their music for film and television, as well as the release of four children’s albums, one of which earned them a Grammy. Despite the extent of their career and the passionate fanbase that has accumulated around them, musicological work on They Might Be Giants remains quite limited, and their position in rock history almost entirely unarticulated. This project thus presents the first large-scale analysis of They Might Be Giants’ creative output in the context of the overarching narrative surrounding the band’s career. In that spirit, Chapter 1 offers a largely historical representation of They Might Be Giants’ four decades-long career, consolidating the most widely-circulating information on the band and also locating them more precisely within musicological discourse, placing them both within the context of their local 1980s New York City music scene and within rock music history more broadly. I identify several of the facets of their early music that propelled them into the mainstream, as well as the broader trajectory of their career which has ultimately situated them in a particular niche as a band whose music is highly recognizable even if They Might Be Giants is not, per se, a household name. The following three chapters build on this context to capture fan reception of They Might Be Giants’ music videos, individual songs, and live performances, respectively, with a recurring focus on my personal engagement with their music. In Chapter 2, I identify historical trends in TMBG’s music videos to explore the simultaneous evolution of the band’s identity and their relationship with their audience. Chapter 3 both narrows my analysis to a close reading of one specific video—“Mrs. Bluebeard” from their 2018 album I Like Fun—and broadens the disciplinary boundaries of this project to incorporate literary and film analysis in order to reflect the extent to which TMBG’s music ultimately does welcome—and perhaps even demand—close analysis. Finally, Chapter 4 resituates the musician/audience dynamic into the concert setting, illustrating how the specific performance practices at They Might Be Giants shows shape the experience of the band’s live music.
Language
English (en)
Chair and Committee
Todd Decker
Recommended Citation
Jones, Rachel Eliza, "“We’re not a band that everybody gets”: Parsing the Spectacle of They Might Be Giants" (2023). Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 3122.
https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/art_sci_etds/3122