[ ]   [ ]   [ ]                        [ ]      [ ]   [ ]
They Might Be Giants — Why Does The Sun Shine?
Album: Severe Tire Damage
Avg rating:
6.1

Your rating:
Total ratings: 577









Released: 1998
Length: 2:12
Plays (last 30 days): 0
share tweet wikiwebsitesearchamg
cd
mp3
search
(no lyrics available)
Comments (161)add comment
If lessons had been delivered like this I may have done better at School.
Posted 5 years ago by ScottishWillie    [ Reply ]
Please stop!   Oh wait.....MUTE!
Posted 9 years ago by sbegf    [ Reply ]
Great song for the Muppet Show not RP....sorry {#Undecided}
Posted 9 years ago by Suzl    [ Reply ]
Schoolhouse rock? 
Posted 9 years ago by clwguy    [ Reply ]
Bang Bang Bang Bang

Bang Bang Bang Bang

Bang Bang Bang Bang

Bang Bang Bang Bang
 
Posted 9 years ago by mrtuba9    [ Reply ]
Fun song. Is it a masterful example of musicianship? Probably not. But it's a fun song. 
Posted 9 years ago by hencini    [ Reply ]
Noise
Posted 9 years ago by walchenbach    [ Reply ]
 Art_Carnage wrote:
... and that's how TMBG started their trek from a cutting-edge band, to total irrelevance.

 
Says you.
Posted 10 years ago by Proclivities    [ Reply ]
 jmsmy wrote:
To Loosely quote Bruce Springsteen - I've learned more from a 3 minute song then I ever learned in school.

This song wasn't exectly what he meant - but I sure learned a lot from it.
 

NeuroJoe wrote:

Apparently it's not a song about spelling {#Wink}
 
{#Iamwithstupid} LOL!
Posted 11 years ago by hixmyrick    [ Reply ]
 SchoepTone wrote:
Reminds me of Monty Python.
 
Reminds me of The Animaniacs. 

https://youtu.be/OmfAyK6CeIg
Posted 12 years ago by Grammarcop    [ Reply ]
Absolutely loved the first 4 albums and saw them live in Brisbane at that point.  They played a 3hr 15 min set which caused me to miss my last bus but I didn't mind the 5 mile walk at all.  Though I think my neighbours may have been a bit upset when we woke them up with TMBG and a room full of hyped up jumping idiots at about 3am.
Posted 12 years ago by Sloggydog    [ Reply ]
 jmsmy wrote:
To Loosely quote Bruce Springsteen - I've learned more from a 3 minute song then I ever learned in school.

This song wasn't exectly what he meant - but I sure learned a lot from it.
 
Apparently it's not a song about spelling {#Wink}
Posted 12 years ago by NeuroJoe    [ Reply ]
 cc_rider wrote:
I wonder if they play this song in Constantinople.
 
It's Istanbul, not Constantinople.
Posted 12 years ago by zair99    [ Reply ]
Yeah, I can think of many many many other TMBG songs I'd rather hear than this one.
Posted 12 years ago by Ag3nt0rang3    [ Reply ]
To Loosely quote Bruce Springsteen - I've learned more from a 3 minute song then I ever learned in school.

This song wasn't exectly what he meant - but I sure learned a lot from it.
Posted 12 years ago by jmsmy    [ Reply ]
Kind of funny. Kind of musical.
Posted 12 years ago by EdmoJoe    [ Reply ]
 lafcadio wrote:
Actually, the sun is a miasma of incandescent plasma.  Both science and TMBG are self-correcting!
 
but incandescent gas rhymes better!
Posted 12 years ago by ick    [ Reply ]
I wonder if they play this song in Constantinople.
Posted 12 years ago by cc_rider    [ Reply ]
Reminds me of Monty Python.
Posted 12 years ago by SchoepTone    [ Reply ]
I should love this band, right?  I like quirky, I have kids, I like creative — they annoy me to no end...

Hi Ho.
Posted 12 years ago by Biscobret    [ Reply ]
 lafcadio wrote:
Actually, the sun is a miasma of incandescent plasma.  Both science and TMBG are self-correcting!
 
Let's see...what rhymes with "plasma"? 
Posted 12 years ago by djengs    [ Reply ]
silly but fun
 
Posted 12 years ago by smartn1    [ Reply ]
Actually, the sun is a miasma of incandescent plasma.  Both science and TMBG are self-correcting!
Posted 12 years ago by lafcadio    [ Reply ]
Great album for kids—smart kids.
Posted 12 years ago by pattiecovert    [ Reply ]
FUCK YEAH!
Huzzah for science!

Posted 13 years ago by Businessgypsy    [ Reply ]

I could do without the whine


Posted 13 years ago by Raechel    [ Reply ]
... and that's how TMBG started their trek from a cutting-edge band, to total irrelevance.
Posted 13 years ago by Art_Carnage    [ Reply ]
The best part is, they recently gave a musical correction to the assertions of this song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLkGSV9WDMA 

{#Sunny} 
Posted 13 years ago by missquo    [ Reply ]
These guys crack me up!  Love it, love it, love it!  (They bring out the geek in me, I'm afraid.)
Posted 13 years ago by unclehud    [ Reply ]

My kids love this!!

 

So do I actually.


Posted 13 years ago by xtalman    [ Reply ]
Holy cow, our class sang this song back in 3rd grade (early 70s...).

Talk about the WayBack Machine™....
Posted 14 years ago by smackiepipe    [ Reply ]
They want to be Squeeze.
Posted 14 years ago by Orodrigues    [ Reply ]
I love this album.  They somehow managed to get all the energy of one of their shows into that shiny plastic disc!
Posted 14 years ago by ziggytrix    [ Reply ]
ugggghhhh
Posted 14 years ago by badgerv    [ Reply ]
 garycha wrote:


Turd rock.
 
Get a sense of humor.  This is funny, informative stuff. If you want introspective, hang out for five minutes here, and it'll show up. That's just the way RP is.{#Sunny}
Posted 14 years ago by Cynaera    [ Reply ]
Lmao, funny stuff

Posted 14 years ago by yadayada2705    [ Reply ]
 rtrudeau wrote:
Nerd rock.
 

Turd rock.
Posted 14 years ago by garycha    [ Reply ]
This is awesome; I grew up with the original version and all of the Science Song records way back in the early 60s. All of the originals are at:  https://www.acme.com/jef/singing_science/


Posted 14 years ago by wallyworld17    [ Reply ]
 flyboy wrote:
You mean the sun heats the Earth?  That can't be good for global warming.  We must do something about this.
 
{#Roflol} Absolutely right!  Let's get Maria McKee and Grace Potter to sing the rings off Saturn, then use the rings to lasso the sun and move it somewhere else...

I can't help it - I grin whenever I hear this song.  Kinda hard to pogo through the house to it, but I do it anyway.

Posted 14 years ago by Cynaera    [ Reply ]
 Govi wrote:
Humorous and intelligent lyrics can't overcome the Pogue-ness of this mindblasting rhythm: bang bang bang bang bang bang bang...
 

I like that, too. These guys are brilliant!!!!!!!
Posted 14 years ago by Rotterdam    [ Reply ]
Humorous and intelligent lyrics can't overcome the Pogue-ness of this mindblasting rhythm: bang bang bang bang bang bang bang...


Posted 14 years ago by Govi    [ Reply ]
this is really helping me study for my qualifying exam....
Posted 14 years ago by ihategrapejuice    [ Reply ]
Thank you for the astronomical instruction.
Posted 14 years ago by ick    [ Reply ]
I'm always impressed how these guys can write a song about virtually anything and it sounds great.
Posted 14 years ago by The_Enemy    [ Reply ]
a bruce springsteen quote "i learned more from a 3 minute song then i ever learned in school"


Posted 14 years ago by jmsmy    [ Reply ]
I live in the mountains above San Jose. I get what you're saying, Bill. We've had rain, sleet, snow, and hail... and that's just in the last 3 hours! Come on Spring time! {#Clap}
Posted 14 years ago by toterola    [ Reply ]
...so now you know, and knowing is approximately fifty percent of the conflict...
Posted 14 years ago by mandolin    [ Reply ]
This version is so much better than the re-recorded version they did for their recent Here Comes Science kids' album.
Posted 14 years ago by isayhoomhom    [ Reply ]

Just got their Science album.

 

Cool stuff for us geeks.{#Cowboy}


Posted 14 years ago by xtalman    [ Reply ]
you nailed it.

 dggeek wrote:
{#Dancingbanana}{#Roflol}{#Dancingbanana_2}
 


Posted 14 years ago by hkarr    [ Reply ]
{#Dancingbanana}{#Roflol}{#Dancingbanana_2}
Posted 14 years ago by dggeek    [ Reply ]
Cute once.
Posted 14 years ago by FlatCat    [ Reply ]
 yodasan_magoo wrote:

Hello Comrade Flyboy...can you see me waving to you?

  Yes, yes I can.


Posted 14 years ago by flyboy    [ Reply ]
Nerd rock.
Posted 14 years ago by rtrudeau    [ Reply ]
This describes how i'm feeling all the time
Posted 14 years ago by Sloggydog    [ Reply ]
 flyboy wrote:
You mean the sun heats the Earth?  That can't be good for global warming.  We must do something about this.
 
Hello Comrade Flyboy...can you see me waving to you?

Posted 15 years ago by yodasan_magoo    [ Reply ]

The most hilarious part is just after the song ends, and one of the Johns says "The sun, ladies and gentlemen!"  That cracks me up.


Posted 15 years ago by window    [ Reply ]
 azdcryan wrote:
of course we all know "don't let's start" "particle man" and others, and I enjoyed them back in high school when they were released in the late 80's.  but now, as a man, and a father I have re-discovered TMBG as an exceptional children's music act.  This song and especially "zeroes" are awesome sing-alongs for kids, and there is truly a million times more important information contained in this music than Dora the Explorer's entire cannon of skin-crawling drivel...(assuming that the sum of multiplying by zero creates a result greater than zero, only in this special circumstance) 

IMO, of course,
 
{#High-five} What an excellent suggestion!

Posted 15 years ago by peter_james_bond    [ Reply ]
Crapity, Crap, Crap...
Posted 15 years ago by yodasan_magoo    [ Reply ]
You mean the sun heats the Earth?  That can't be good for global warming.  We must do something about this.
Posted 15 years ago by flyboy    [ Reply ]
 redeyespy wrote:
9 out of 10 Gen Xers might cite Schoolhouse Rock to illustrate.
 
conjunction junction what's your function?

Posted 15 years ago by lophrequa    [ Reply ]
{#Dancingbanana_2}
Posted 15 years ago by dggeek    [ Reply ]
These guys are so smart
Posted 15 years ago by More_Cowbell    [ Reply ]
anyone other than me bored to bloody tears by this drivel?
Posted 15 years ago by colt4x5    [ Reply ]
Hilarious (if heretical :) seggy from Richie Havens!

Posted 15 years ago by lmic    [ Reply ]
Love it!
Posted 15 years ago by annie_fannie    [ Reply ]
utter crap
Posted 15 years ago by Tony0600    [ Reply ]
of course we all know "don't let's start" "particle man" and others, and I enjoyed them back in high school when they were released in the late 80's.  but now, as a man, and a father I have re-discovered TMBG as an exceptional children's music act.  This song and especially "zeroes" are awesome sing-alongs for kids, and there is truly a million times more important information contained in this music than Dora the Explorer's entire cannon of skin-crawling drivel...(assuming that the sum of multiplying by zero creates a result greater than zero, only in this special circumstance) 

IMO, of course,
Posted 15 years ago by azdcryan    [ Reply ]
Realizing that the Sun is not actually a huge ball of gas, they have a sequel to this song now, called, "The Sun is a Miasma of Incandescent Plasma."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLkGSV9WDMA 


Posted 15 years ago by bobrk    [ Reply ]
 copymonkey wrote:
My kids once listened to this version of this song about 28 times in a row. Go ahead—ask one of them how far away is the sun, I dare ya.
 
hey kids, how far away is the Sun?

Posted 15 years ago by AdyMiles    [ Reply ]
Add to this track list for a great album if you want

They Might Be Giants: Why Does The Sun Shine? (The Sun Is A Mass Of Incandescent Gas)
Blind Melon: 3 Is A Magic Number

 

Posted 15 years ago by kilroyjoe3    [ Reply ]
clever song. very listenable and informative
Posted 15 years ago by AdyMiles    [ Reply ]
fredriley wrote:
I don't know about absurd - sounds like an exemplary lesson in basic astronomy to me. Listen and learn kids :o)
Since we're being utter nerds here, {#Sunny} {#Propeller}
the most nerdy, smart alec, humourless comment that i could think of is:

isn't the sun a mass of incandescent plasma, and not gas? {#Naughty} {#Doh}
("The sun is a mass of ionized gas"; hmmm, I think that would work.
Sorry, sorry ...  {#Cheesygrin} )

Posted 15 years ago by ce    [ Reply ]
Then turn it off and let me enjoy it.  I love TMBG.  You get them or you don't.

 arissimo wrote:
my dogs are hiding under the bed, BEGGING me to turn this off..... and yes, BARF, is the `perfect` word!!!! 

>^..^< 
 


Posted 15 years ago by gilesclone    [ Reply ]
Bleh.
Posted 15 years ago by michaelgmitchell    [ Reply ]
for a minute this song made the sun come out in London {#Cool} {#Sunny}
Posted 15 years ago by spraehbuer    [ Reply ]
The Weird Al Yankovic's. {#Crashcomp}
Posted 15 years ago by OHMish    [ Reply ]
My kids once listened to this version of this song about 28 times in a row. Go ahead—ask one of them how far away is the sun, I dare ya.
Posted 15 years ago by copymonkey    [ Reply ]
 bentonian wrote:
Research has shown that putting facts into a song makes things easier to remember - don't be afraid to learn!
 

9 out of 10 Gen Xers might cite Schoolhouse Rock to illustrate.
Posted 15 years ago by redeyespy    [ Reply ]
Good fun.
Posted 15 years ago by RadioDoc    [ Reply ]
 DrLex wrote:
This is utter nerdiness condensed into music!
 

PROUD TO BE A NERD-FAN
Posted 15 years ago by songbirdfemme    [ Reply ]
my dogs are hiding under the bed, BEGGING me to turn this off..... and yes, BARF, is the `perfect` word!!!! 

>^..^< 
Posted 15 years ago by arissimo    [ Reply ]
Yes! The Sun approves of this song! {#Sunny}
Posted 15 years ago by peter_james_bond    [ Reply ]
 Beanie wrote:

Aw....c'mon!  Doesn't it make you smile at least a little, just because it's so absurd?

 
I don't know about absurd - sounds like an exemplary lesson in basic astronomy to me. Listen and learn kids :o)

So, what's next for the TMBG singing scientists? The search for the Higgs Boson? Dark Matter? Quantum mechanics? They could have a long and interesting career ahead of them purely as musical science popularisers :). 7 from the Nottingham jury.

Posted 15 years ago by fredriley    [ Reply ]
Radio Disney?
Posted 15 years ago by netstv    [ Reply ]
{#Sunny}
Posted 15 years ago by mandolin    [ Reply ]
Research has shown that putting facts into a song makes things easier to remember - don't be afraid to learn!
Posted 15 years ago by bentonian    [ Reply ]
This is utter nerdiness condensed into music!
Posted 15 years ago by DrLex    [ Reply ]
 Papernapkin wrote:
This is my second favorite song about the solar system and the periodic table of elements.
 
Dig. Eric Idle's song is number one of course, but this is great too.

Nerds RULE!

Posted 15 years ago by cc_rider    [ Reply ]
mabye "Nine" by Loudon Wainwright III?

joan_c wrote:

And your first favorite would be....?? {#Ask}




Posted 15 years ago by Gartholamundi    [ Reply ]
smile is not exactly the word I'd use. Maybe "barf".   Beanie wrote:

Aw....c'mon!  Doesn't it make you smile at least a little, just because it's so absurd?

 


Posted 15 years ago by LennytheB    [ Reply ]
 LennytheB wrote:
Please, please, please, don't ever play this song again. It has me searching my keyboard for the channel changer!!!
 
Aw....c'mon!  Doesn't it make you smile at least a little, just because it's so absurd?

Posted 15 years ago by Beanie    [ Reply ]
Please, please, please, don't ever play this song again. It has me searching my keyboard for the channel changer!!!
Posted 15 years ago by LennytheB    [ Reply ]
 Papernapkin wrote:
This is my second favorite song about the solar system and the periodic table of elements.
 
And your first favorite would be....??  {#Ask}

Posted 15 years ago by joan_c    [ Reply ]
Well, this is a fun one of theirs that I've never heard before.  Me like-ee!  I'll give it an 8.  {#Yes}
Posted 15 years ago by joan_c    [ Reply ]
This is my second favorite song about the solar system and the periodic table of elements.
Posted 15 years ago by Papernapkin    [ Reply ]
crap
Posted 15 years ago by Tony0600    [ Reply ]

They should bring back School House Rocks with TMBG in the lead!


Posted 16 years ago by Wilmshurst    [ Reply ]
This song blows.


Posted 16 years ago by rtrudeau    [ Reply ]
Trey wrote:
Let's all just go back to Constantinople.
That's nobody's business but the Turks.
Posted 16 years ago by goldberry    [ Reply ]
sutcliff wrote:
music in a science class! What's next dancing? I can only hope.
"...She blinded me with sci-ence..."
Posted 16 years ago by snowcat    [ Reply ]
Suppose they have a milk-and-cookies rider in their touring contract?
Posted 16 years ago by snowcat    [ Reply ]
ScottishWillie wrote:
The Sun?........... Oh yes that thing we Scots see in the sky when we are on vacation.
reminds me of the quote from Michael Palin (i think) - the UK is the only nation looking forward to global warming ;)
Posted 16 years ago by lophrequa    [ Reply ]
kestrel wrote:
OMG I went to itunes to buy this. Playing it in Earth Science class tomorrow will verify my total lack of sanity.
music in a science class! What's next dancing? I can only hope.
Posted 16 years ago by sutcliff    [ Reply ]
OMG I went to itunes to buy this. Playing it in Earth Science class tomorrow will verify my total lack of sanity.
Posted 16 years ago by kestrel    [ Reply ]
ktnsb wrote:
That's not pedantic, it's informative, and I thank you for providing an example, and an implied definition of the term 'plasma'. A "pedantic" response would imply or state outright that anyone who called it gas was in dire need of proper education, upon which your shoulders the job must inevitably rest because no one else in sight has the training and intellect to perform it. You did nothing of the kind, because you're not a condescending ass, and merely want to share knowledge. That's a cool example for us all. You even capitalized "Sun".
I do believethat the Sun IS a gas under all of the pressure of it' gravity, which at the outer edges is burning and THEN expelling the charged Ions, known as Plasma.
Posted 16 years ago by Jelani    [ Reply ]
Let's all just go back to Constantinople.
Posted 16 years ago by Trey    [ Reply ]
TMBG is one of the very few groups who can ROCK YOUR FACE OFF and EDUCATE YOU at the same time. Go Giants, Go! c.
Posted 16 years ago by cc_rider    [ Reply ]
What an irritating song. This sounds like something that should be on "Bill Nye the Science Guy," not on Radio Paradise. Blech.
Posted 16 years ago by rtrudeau    [ Reply ]
WOW, this takes me back to college. Their live show is...interesting. But good.
Posted 16 years ago by alph    [ Reply ]
Cruithne3753 wrote:
Well I could be pedantic and say that the Sun is actually too hot to be a true gas, under that kind of temperature the atoms are stripped of their electrons making it plasma.
That's not pedantic, it's informative, and I thank you for providing an example, and an implied definition of the term 'plasma'. A "pedantic" response would imply or state outright that anyone who called it gas was in dire need of proper education, upon which your shoulders the job must inevitably rest because no one else in sight has the training and intellect to perform it. You did nothing of the kind, because you're not a condescending ass, and merely want to share knowledge. That's a cool example for us all. You even capitalized "Sun".
Posted 17 years ago by ktnsb    [ Reply ]
The Sun?........... Oh yes that thing we Scots see in the sky when we are on vacation.
Posted 17 years ago by ScottishWillie    [ Reply ]
Great stuff!!! Love this song!
Posted 17 years ago by redfern777    [ Reply ]
Yes! I love this song, even though it will be stuck in my head for days. B-)
Posted 17 years ago by pallasathene82    [ Reply ]
Well I could be pedantic and say that the Sun is actually too hot to be a true gas, under that kind of temperature the atoms are stripped of their electrons making it plasma.
Posted 17 years ago by Cruithne3753    [ Reply ]
Hehe... I was just reading this page when the song came on =)
Posted 17 years ago by Frater_Kork    [ Reply ]
Here's a link to the original song from a 50s album called Space Songs. www.acme.com/jef/singing_science/
Posted 17 years ago by Krash    [ Reply ]
trekhead wrote:
Why did I automatically figure this was them? 8
Because... who else would it be? LOL Gotta love TMBG!
Posted 17 years ago by Kristi    [ Reply ]
How cute.
Posted 17 years ago by Hannio    [ Reply ]
Nice astrophysics lecture. The music was pretty good, too.
Posted 17 years ago by AlienRelic    [ Reply ]