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"Doctor Worm" | ||||
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Single by They Might Be Giants | ||||
from the album Severe Tire Damage | ||||
Released | 1998 | |||
Recorded | 1998 | |||
Genre | Alternative rock, ska | |||
Length | 3:01 | |||
Label | Elektra | |||
Songwriter(s) | John Flansburgh, John Linnell | |||
Producer(s) | Pat Dillett, Tom Durack, They Might Be Giants | |||
They Might Be Giants singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
Doctor Worm on YouTube |
"Doctor Worm" is a song by They Might Be Giants. It first appeared on the primarily live album Severe Tire Damage , being one of only three studio-recorded songs on the album. It was also released as a single and featured in a music video directed by band member John Flansburgh.
The lyrics describe a worm going by the stage name of "Doctor Worm" learning to play the drums better. The narrator also describes a 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]
They Might Be Giants, often abbreviated as TMBG, is an American alternative rock and Children’s band formed in 1982 by John Flansburgh and John Linnell. During TMBG's early years, Flansburgh and Linnell frequently performed as a musical duo, often accompanied by a drum machine. In the early 1990s, TMBG expanded to include a backing band. The duo's current backing band consists of Marty Beller, Dan Miller and Danny Weinkauf. They have been credited as vital in the creation and growth of the prolific DIY music scene in Brooklyn in the mid-1980s.
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John Sidney Linnell is an American musician and one half of the Brooklyn-based alternative rock band They Might Be Giants, with John Flansburgh, which was formed in 1982. In addition to singing and songwriting, he plays accordion, baritone and bass saxophone, clarinet, and keyboards for the group.
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"Birdhouse in Your Soul" is a song by American alternative rock band They Might Be Giants. It was released in early 1990 through Elektra Records as the lead single from the album Flood, making the single the band's first release on a major label. "Birdhouse in Your Soul" is the band's highest-charting single in both the US and the UK, and is one of their best-known songs.
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