"
Don't Let's Start" is a
They Might Be Giants song originally
from the self-titled
They Might Be Giants
album. It was released as a single
(
Don't Let's Start )
at this time. It has also appeared on
Then: The Earlier Years and
Dial-A-Song: 20
Years Of They Might Be Giants.
Its lyrics are typically abstract for an early They Might Be Giants
song, though its musings on
love and
life appear to stem from an impending romantic turmoil
suggested in the chorus. Although the song is known for such
dreary, pointed statements as "everybody dies frustrated and sad,
and that is beautiful,"
John Linnell
has repeatedly insisted (as in a 2003 interview with
NPR's
Terry Gross) that some
of its lyrical twists, though pondered extensively by fans, were
constructed merely to complement the melody and have no deep
meaning.
The song also led to a
music video that
was popular for some time on
MTV. In it, the
band is featured wearing rolled up cardboard with fabric stapled to
the outside on their heads.
The location in which the video was filmed is
the site of the 1964 New York
World's Fair in Queens
, which would
later be mentioned in "Ana Ng". The
face used in the video is that of
William Allen White. His face has also
been used for props at TMBG
concerts. It
appears on the
Don't Let's
Start CD single, and otherwise can
frequently be found associated with TMBG.
The song was covered by the band
Common
Rotation on their album
The Big
Fear, and is quoted by
Jimmy
Eat World in "A Praise Chorus" on their 2001 CD,
Bleed American.
When asked about the meaning of the song, Linnell replied that it
was about "not let's starting".
Don't Let's Start is also the name of an upcoming film,
with characters that take their names from various
They Might Be Giants' songs, such as
Ana Ng.
EP release
The song was also released as an
EP,
on November 2, 1987 by
Bar/None
Records.
The entire contents of this EP also appear on the compilation
albums
Miscellaneous T and
Then: The Earlier
Years.
Track listing
- "Don't Let's Start" (single mix)
- "We're The Replacements"
- "When It Rains It Snows"
- "The Famous Polka"
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