This incredible 42-minute-long video identifies "all of the musical/lyrical/poetic references and samples in released They Might Be Giants & solo project songs," according to its creator, Archivist Jon Uleis. He shares that it took him months to gather the "over 100 examples" starting with songs released in the early 1980s.
Some additional notes he shared on YouTube:
Many of these references will likely never be confirmed by TMBG, but I've tried including ones that feel intentional.
Non-TMBG clips I've included in this video are meant to represent the most well-known version of each song (that the Johns were more likely to have been exposed to), and I've noted the original writers of each included song in the end credits. The years I've specified for these songs are typically when the song was first released by the relevant performer. Some clips have been further edited for timing/content to highlight relevant parts of songs. Dates for Dial-A-Song tracks are best guesses from TMBW.
What's not in this video? Cover songs like "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" and "New York City." Uleis says a video of those may come at a later date.
Screengrab: CapitalQ / YouTube
(Reddit)
