A User's Guide to They Might Be Giants

A User's Guide to They Might Be Giants is a 2005 compilation album by the group They Might Be Giants.

A User's Guide to They Might Be Giants: Melody, Fidelity, Quantity
Compilation album by
They Might Be Giants
ReleasedMay 3, 2005
GenreAlternative rock
Length70:31
LabelRhino Records
ProducerVarious
They Might Be Giants chronology
Here Come the ABCs
(2005)		 A User's Guide to They Might Be Giants: Melody, Fidelity, Quantity
(2005)		 Venue Songs DVD/CD
(2005)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic [1]
Pitchfork Media(7.2/10) [2]

In the April 29, 2005 "TMBG News" online newsletter, bandmember John Flansburgh describes the album as such:

"Rhino is releasing the single disc compilation A User's Guide To They Might Be Giants – kind of a simple reduction of Dial-A-Song – on May 3. It is a very interesting introduction to the band. If you were looking for a single disc to lay on the uninitiated, this might be the one. The liner notes, put together with our pal Barbara Glauber, are quite extensive. We've tried to compile all the songs and all the shows since the band's inception. Obviously this was a bit of a research nightmare (I'm not even sure if the show list includes in-stores!) but it is a very interesting object to look at, especially if you have good near-field vision."

Although Flansburgh referred to the album as a condensed version of Dial-A-Song: 20 Years Of They Might Be Giants, it includes two songs not on Dial-A-Song: "John Lee Supertaster" and "Clap Your Hands." Additionally, the album contains the original versions of both "Why Does the Sun Shine?" and "Don't Let's Start", as opposed to the live and single versions, respectively, found on Dial-A-Song.

Song origins

Track listing

All songs by They Might Be Giants unless otherwise noted

  1. "Minimum Wage" – 0:47
  2. "Meet James Ensor" – 1:33
  3. "Particle Man" – 1:59
  4. "Don't Let's Start" – 2:34
  5. "She's an Angel" – 2:37
  6. "Cyclops Rock" – 2:38
  7. "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" (Jimmy Kennedy, Nat Simon) – 2:38
  8. "Purple Toupee" – 2:40
  9. "James K. Polk" (Matthew Hill, They Might Be Giants) – 3:04
  10. "Birdhouse in Your Soul" – 3:20
  11. "Ana Ng" – 3:23
  12. "The Guitar (The Lion Sleeps Tonight)" (They Might Be Giants, Hugo Peretti, Luigi Creatore, George David Weiss) – 3:49
  13. "Bangs" – 3:09
  14. "The Statue Got Me High" – 3:06
  15. "New York City" (Robynn Iwata, Lisa Nielsen, and Lisa Marr) – 3:02
  16. "Doctor Worm" – 3:01
  17. "Boss of Me" – 2:58
  18. "Your Racist Friend" – 2:54
  19. "Why Does the Sun Shine? (The Sun Is a Mass of Incandescent Gas)" (Louis Singer, Hy Zaret) – 2:53
  20. "They'll Need a Crane" – 2:33
  21. "I Palindrome I" – 2:22
  22. "Put Your Hand Inside the Puppet Head" – 2:12
  23. "John Lee Supertaster" – 2:01
  24. "Older" – 1:58
  25. "We're the Replacements" – 1:50
  26. "Dr. Evil" – 1:48
  27. "No!" – 1:29
  28. "Clap Your Hands" – 1:22
  29. "Spider" – 0:51

References
  1. Phares, Heather. A User's Guide to They Might Be Giants at AllMusic
  2. Pitchfork Media review
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