Doctor Worm

The lyrics describe a worm learning to play the drums better. He invents a stage name for himself ("Doctor Worm"), and the song's narrator also describes his friend, a bass-playing vole known as "Rabbi Vole".

Discussing the lyrical inspiration, Flansburgh said, "For a long, long time we have been riffing on the song 'Dr. Love' by the band Kiss. And I think just the weirdness of the conceit of that song was kind of rolling around in John Linnell's head. I know a million, billion times we've talked about the song 'Dr. Love'. It's such an absurd song. So I think 'Dr. Love' was kind of the springboard for the idea behind 'Dr. Worm'."[1]

The song placed as #13 on the Triple J Hottest 100, 1998 and appears on the compilation CD.[2]

The music video directed by John Flansburgh, shot in black and white, features the band performing the song in an apartment office surrounded by medical paraphernalia.[3]

An alternate music video for the song directed by the cartoonist Kaz was featured in an episode of the Nickelodeon television series KaBlam!. In the video, Doctor Worm (an actual worm in medical attire) earns the respect of a musical group in search of a percussionist.[4]

• In 2006, Jason Trachtenburg of Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players covered the song for the They Might Be Giants tribute album, Hello Radio.
• In 2007, The Dear Abbeys released an a capella cover of the song for their 2007 studio album, Sincerely, Lost in Boston, which features several other a capella covers.
• In 2011, Relient K covered the song for their cover album, Is for Karaoke. In the cover, the band altered the lyrics "Rabbi Vole" to "Rabbi Warne", as a reference to John Warne, Relient K's bassist.

• Doctor Worm at This Might Be A Wiki
• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics