Can't Keep Johnny Down

Album: Join Us (2011)
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Songfacts®:

  • They Might Be Giants are an American alternative rock band formed in 1982 by John Flansburgh and John Linnell. Twenty nine years later they had released their fifteenth studio album, Join Us and this is the lead single from the set. Flansburgh told us in 2011: "By popular demand, it seems like it's going to be a single. We just thought it was a good track to put out in advance. But the response has been so strong it seems like it's going to kind of lead the charge for the record. We're actually going to make a video for it, so that's exciting."
  • John Linnell penned this song. Flansburgh enthused about the tune during an interview with Spinner: "It's a song of defiance. It's an incredibly catchy song. That's a very nice, bittersweet concoction of a very bitchy lyric with an incredibly sunny arrangement. It's sort of Brit-pop. I'm very excited about how that one came out. It's one of those tracks that as we were putting it together, I was like 'wow, this is so strong.' John did an outstanding job with the track. The man is a genius."
  • When we asked if they would have to bleep out the "dicks" in this song, Flansburgh replied: "Oh, I don't know. I don't think so. I think you can say that, can't you? We're not really up to date on what words you can say and can't say. But I think in 2011 that might not be considered an actual bona fide swear. Maybe it is, who knows?"

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