Talk:Birdhouse in Your Soul

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Link for lyrics leads to a Google search looking for lines in the song. Would probably be better if the link took you to a web page containing the lyrics.

I just removed the link, because the lyrics are easily findable at TMBW.net, the other link - LesterRoquefort 22:53, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

There is no conceivable way this song is about opposable thumbs. "There's a picture opposite me / of my primitive ancestry / which stood on rocky shores and kept the beaches shipwreck free." that refers to a lighthouse. how on earth could the primitive ancestry of opposable thumbs be a lighthouse? Wwjdd 05:32, 15 January 2006 (UTC)

It's about a nightlight. —User:ACupOfCoffee@ 07:29, 26 February 2006 (UTC)

Fixed up. Wezzo 22:25, 27 February 2006 (UTC)

Cover?

I've heard multiple versions of this song. Did TMBG do multiple versions, or has another band covered it? --LostLeviathan 17:19, 23 May 2006 (UTC)

Other than some live recordings and a demo with substantially different lyrics than the final cut, no. There are at least a few covers out there, most notably (AFAIK) one by Lemon Demon. — User:ACupOfCoffee@ 19:55, 16 November 2006 (UTC)

One problem with the nightlight theory is the reference to the singer's primitive ancestry 'killing jason off and countless screaming argonauts'. In the Jason myth it was the sirens, monsters with the bodies of birds and the heads (and sometimes chests) of beautiful women, who tried and failed to lure the Argonauts to their death with seductive singing. This would suggest that the singer may in fact be the Blue Canary, linked to the Sirens by the fact that it is a bird and by its song. It is also rather hard to imagine a nightlight being somebody's only friend - a pet is plausible.

Well, it's a blue canary nightlight. What else could "Blue canary in the outlet by the light switch" mean? The "primitive ancestry" is lighthouses, and the reference to Jason and the Argonauts is to to say that a night light would make a really crappy lighthouse. I suspect They Might Be giants didn't know the myth very well when they wrote the song. (If anyone is interested in continuing to discuss this, I'd prefer to do it at a more appropriate place — namely TMBW:Interpretations:Birdhouse In Your Soul) — User:ACupOfCoffee@ 19:55, 16 November 2006 (UTC)

The nightlight theory IS CORRECT...manonam! what a great craft for missing the obvious and complicating the straightforward some people have. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.103.203.34 (talk) 04:35, 22 December 2007 (UTC)

Erm, it is a acupofcoffee that doesn't know the myth. The "primitive ancestry" are sirens, not lighthouses. The lyrics contrast the modern usage of sirens (to prevent shiprecks) with the opposite original intent of real sirens: to cause shipwrecks by enchanting sailors onto the rocks through the power of their singing. Meowy 21:29, 6 April 2012 (UTC)

Track Listing?

Why does an article for a song have a "Track Listing?" Is there some implication that this one song has two tracks to it?!? Applejuicefool 20:19, 1 November 2007 (UTC)

Singles have an A side and a B side on records. The second track listing would refer to a B side song.98.247.216.38 (talk) 00:57, 16 February 2009 (UTC)

Blue canary night light

I haven't inserted a mention of this, as I'm hesitant to add commercial activities, but this http://bluecanarynightlight.com/ has obviously been (lovingly) created in response to the song. (The lighthouse comments in the Reviews section make it clear that it is not a coincidence. In the photo, it's even in the outlet by the light switch!) As such, I wonder whether it warrants inclusion. Salopian (talk) 15:15, 15 August 2010 (UTC)

I like this a lot and am off to buy one. Thank you! Rissa, copy editor 01:40, 22 April 2014 (UTC)

Longines Symphonette

I asked John once after a concert whether the Longine Symphonette alarm clock(analog) radio I'd found at a garage sale was the one he meant and he said, "yes, you should hang on to that it might be really valuable some day.". I realize this is my word only, but it also better fits the concept of describing a bedroom, and it would never rest, it's an alarm clock. Also I see no citation for the interpretation that this refers to the orchestral music. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.53.163.12 (talk) 02:59, 19 September 2011 (UTC)

The song describes objects in a child's bedroom, within sight of the canary nightlight, which the alarm clock-radio would be. The Longines Symphonette record company does not fit that category, nor does the high-end watch of the same name. Cstaffa (talk) 00:42, 15 July 2017 (UTC) Cstaffa (talk) 00:42, 15 July 2017 (UTC)

Fog siren?

The supposition that the picture is a fog siren is tenuous at best. The better explanation is that it is a picture of a light house. It fits with the night light theme much better and the light house is a common iconic element of sea scape pictures. There is no actual reference to from sirens in Greek mythology in the song. The reference to Jason and the Argonauts is probably there because they are iconic examples of lost sailors and not as a tie in to the sirens of Greek mythology. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.136.177.204 (talk) 14:07, 9 April 2012 (UTC)

There are also no references to lighthouses in the song! But the lyrics do make a specific reference to a "primitive ancestry". How can a bird consider a lighthouse to be a primitive ancestor? The word siren is used to describe a fog horn intended to keep shores shipwreck-free - so that agrees with the lyrics. And, in mythology, sirens were half-woman half-bird composite creatures. The bird narrator says it considers "keeping shores shipwreck free" to be unsatisfying after "killing Jason off and countless screaming Argonauts". Where is there any mention of lighthouses in the Jason and the Argonauts myth? And how could a lighthouse kill anyone anyway? Sirens, however, are mentioned in the myth, and they made killing sailors their speciality (though on that occasion the sirens were unsuccessful in the killing part). Meowy 19:23, 11 April 2012 (UTC)

I suppose it could also be interpreted as a composite creature, the half-bird half-nightlight, seeing in its perceived ancestors those two halves taking larger forms while pondering which of those forms it would like to behave like: one half of its ancestry being a lighthouse, the other half being a siren (also a composite creature). But that is making things too complicated (as well as too much OR)! Meowy 01:38, 20 April 2012 (UTC)

L-I-T-E

So what does this line mean: "The nightlight then goes on to proclaim its identity ("my name is 'blue canary;' one note, spelled 'L-I-T-E'").." Thanks. Rissa, copy editor 01:42, 22 April 2014 (UTC)

that whole section is original research and ought to be deleted, methinks. there are references we could cite for the song's theme/narrative but the level of depth here is just silly. ~ Boomur [☎] 02:48, 22 April 2014 (UTC)

Authors

This article desperately needs a listing of the official authors of the song. Elby — Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.113.56.149 (talk) 10:30, 12 August 2015 (UTC)

Birdhouse in Your Soul by TMBG

This song was one of the first I heard from They Might Be Giants ~ 23 years ago. It stole my heart instantly and I'm still a concert-going superfan to this day. MelanthaMorgan (talk) 05:50, 31 December 2017 (UTC)