"The Guitar (The Lion Sleeps Tonight)" | ||||
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Single by They Might Be Giants | ||||
from the album Apollo 18 | ||||
Released | July 30, 1992 | |||
Recorded | 1992 | |||
Genre | Alternative rock, funk rock | |||
Length | 24:12 | |||
Label | Elektra | |||
Songwriter(s) | John Flansburgh, John Linnell | |||
They Might Be Giants singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
The Guitar (The Lion Sleeps Tonight) on YouTube |
"The Guitar (The Lion Sleeps Tonight)" is a song and single by alternative rock band They Might Be Giants, released in 1992. The track is one of three singles from Apollo 18 . The song has also appeared on several compilation albums, including Dial-A-Song: 20 Years Of They Might Be Giants and A User's Guide to They Might Be Giants .
The song, originally titled "The Guitar", was the result of a jam session based around "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" by The Tokens. This motif is most pronounced in the chorus of the song, which is sung by Laura Cantrell, who also appears in the song's music video. [1] However, the influence of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" is present throughout the song in its continuous bassline. [2] Due to the legal ramifications of the recurring theme, Elektra appended "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" to the end of the song's title. [1]
The music video for "The Guitar" was the first They Might Be Giants video to be directed by bandmember John Flansburgh. [3]
In promotion of Apollo 18, TMBG performed "The Guitar" and "The Statue Got Me High" on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in 1992. [4] For this appearance, the duo of Linnell and Flansburgh debuted their new live backing band, which accompanied them on the Don't Tread on the Cut-Up Snake World Tour in support of Apollo 18. [5] The band also performed the song as part of their 2001 documentary, Gigantic (A Tale of Two Johns) . [3]
"The Guitar" was used in a 2013 advertisement for the Buick Encore. [6]
They Might Be Giants is an American alternative rock 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.
Flood is the third studio album by Brooklyn-based alternative rock duo They Might Be Giants, released in January 1990. Flood was the duo's first album on the major label Elektra Records. It generated three singles: "Birdhouse in Your Soul", "Istanbul ", and the domestic promotional track "Twisting". The album is generally considered to be the band's definitive release, as it is their best-selling and most recognizable album. Despite minimal stylistic and instrumental differences from previous releases, Flood is distinguished by contributions from seasoned producers Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley. John Linnell and John Flansburgh also took advantage of new equipment and recording techniques, including unconventional, home-recorded samples, which were programmed through Casio FZ-1 synthesizers. The album was recorded in New York City at Skyline Studios, which was better equipped than studios the band had worked in previously.
They Might Be Giants, sometimes called The Pink Album, is the debut studio album from Brooklyn-based band They Might Be Giants. It was released by Bar/None in 1986. The album generated two singles, "Don't Let's Start" and "(She Was A) Hotel Detective". It is included on Then: The Earlier Years, a compilation of the band's early material, in its entirety, with the exception of "Don't Let's Start", which is replaced with the single mix for the compilation.
John Henry is the fifth studio album by American alternative rock group They Might Be Giants. It was released in 1994. It is the first album by They Might Be Giants to include a full band arrangement, rather than synthesized and programmed backing tracks. The album's name, a reference to the man versus machine fable of John Henry, is an allusion to the band's fundamental switch to more conventional instrumentation, especially the newly established use of a human drummer instead of a drum machine.
John Conant Flansburgh is an American musician. He is half of the long-standing Brooklyn, New York–based alternative rock duo They Might Be Giants with John Linnell, for which he writes, sings, and plays rhythm guitar.
Apollo 18 is the fourth studio album by American alternative rock duo They Might Be Giants. It was released in 1992 through Elektra Records and was named after the cancelled Apollo 18 mission that was scheduled to have followed Apollo 17. The album was also associated with International Space Year, for which They Might Be Giants were declared the official "musical ambassadors" by NASA.
Long Tall Weekend is the seventh studio album by American alternative rock duo They Might Be Giants, released in 1999. It was released exclusively online through the digital music service eMusic. The album was the band's first since their departure from the major label Elektra. Long Tall Weekend was also the first full-length album released exclusively on the Internet by an established major label band. Although the album's primary release was digital, CDs of the album were issued promotionally. Following the success of the album's release through eMusic, TMBG went on to issue a digital series of rarities collections — TMBG Unlimited — through their website.
Dial-A-Song: 20 Years Of They Might Be Giants is a 2002 compilation album by American alternative rock band They Might Be Giants, issued by Rhino Records and compiled by the band's co-singer/songwriter and guitarist John Flansburgh. Despite its name, the compilation does not include tracks from the band's "Dial-A-Song" service. It is instead an anthology of various single, album and live tracks from the band's history, spanning their full career up to the time of its release. It includes tracks from every album starting with 1986's They Might Be Giants up through No!, their first children's album, which was released only three months before this compilation.
"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.
"(She Was A) Hotel Detective" is a song and single by alternative rock band They Might Be Giants. It was released as a single on May 5, 1988, two years after the release of They Might Be Giants, the album on which it originally appeared. The "Hotel Detective" title has become a somewhat recurring theme for the band.
"Particle Man" is a song by alternative rock band They Might Be Giants, released and published in 1990. The song is the seventh track on the band's third album, Flood. It has become one of the band's most popular songs, despite never having been released as a single. John Linnell and John Flansburgh performed the song, backed by a metronome, for their 1990 Flood promotional video. Although it was released over a decade before the band began writing children's music, "Particle Man" is sometimes cited as a particularly youth-appropriate TMBG song, and a precursor to their first children's album, No!, which was not explicitly educational. The song is partially influenced by the theme of the 1967 Spider-Man TV series.
Here Come the ABCs is the second children's album and eleventh studio album by alternative rock band They Might Be Giants, aimed at young children learning the alphabet. The CD and DVD were originally released separately but have since been released as a combo. There are 25 songs in the CD and 38 in the DVD.
A User's Guide to They Might Be Giants is a 2005 compilation album by the group They Might Be Giants.
"I Palindrome I" is a song by American alternative rock duo They Might Be Giants. It was the second single from Apollo 18, released in 1992 by Elektra Records.
Back to Skull is an EP released by American alternative rock group They Might Be Giants in 1994. The EP was issued contemporaneously with the band's 1994 album John Henry. Artwork for the EP was done by Mike Mills.
"The Statue Got Me High" is a song by American alternative rock band They Might Be Giants. The song was released as the lead single from the band's 1992 album, Apollo 18. The song reached number 24 on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart. The B-sides "I'm Def" and "Which Describes How You're Feeling" are both taken from the band's 1985 demo tape, which was recorded using low-quality equipment.
Direct from Brooklyn is a compilation of music videos by American alternative rock group They Might Be Giants. It was released on VHS in 1999 and DVD in 2003. The title refers to the home of John Linnell and John Flansburgh, founding members of the band. Many of the music videos were filmed in Brooklyn and other parts of New York City.
Daniel Adam Miller is an American musician and songwriter.
"Put Your Hand Inside the Puppet Head" is a song by alternative rock band They Might Be Giants, from their eponymous debut album They Might Be Giants. It has also been released on several compilation albums, including Then: The Earlier Years and A User's Guide to They Might Be Giants.
Nanobots is the sixteenth studio album from Brooklyn-based alternative rock group They Might Be Giants. Uncharacteristically for the band, the album's title comes from an album track, as the second track shares a title with the album. The album was released on March 5, 2013 on Idlewild Recordings — the band's independent imprint — with Megaforce Records in the US. The album was also separately released on March 8 in Australia through Breakaway Records and on March 11 in Europe, through Lojinx. One week before its physical release, Nanobots was released digitally for streaming in its entirety through the band's SoundCloud, announced by Rolling Stone. Prior to this, "Call You Mom", "Black Ops" and "Lost My Mind" were released through the advance digital Nanobots EP in January 2013. The EP, released through Amazon.com and iTunes, was met with fairly positive responses.