One note spelled L I T E

February 2, 2017 7:39 PM

In these troubled times, sometimes a ray of joy can enter your life. Here's an unfortunately brief clip of 6500 British children singing Birdhouse in Your Soul. slyt
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln (38 comments total)

If you haven't revisited the Flood album lately, I cannot recommend it enough. TMBG's antimatter-grade darkness wrapped in light is so amazingly right at the moment.

Also this is fantastic.

Also I can't hear the word "filibuster" without mentally adding "vigilantly."
posted by Lyn Never at 7:43 PM on February 2, 2017 [30 favorites]

Full song
posted by enfa at 7:44 PM on February 2, 2017 [16 favorites]

I cannot agree more about the album. This brings back memories of wildly happy dancing.
posted by anya32 at 7:46 PM on February 2, 2017 [3 favorites]

This made me grin in spite of this week. Thanks for sharing. Birdhouse in Your Soul was the only song that made it through being used as the sound of my morning alarm clock during my freshman year of college (when I had to fumble around for my glasses and roll off a bunk bed to the ground to turn off or snooze the alarm) without diminishing my love for the song whatsoever.
posted by deludingmyself at 7:53 PM on February 2, 2017 [1 favorite]

Yes!!! I love this album SO MUCH, it was one of the foundational albums of my young adulthood. One of the biggest joys of the last year was putting on Flood while cooking dinner, the first time I'd listened to it in years, and discovering that my boyfriend knew all the words to every song, too, and we sang the whole album together at the top of our lungs. Several years ago I was able to see TMBG in Portland at a time I was seeing lots of live music, and they had THE most wildly happy dancing crowd of any show I'd ever been to. It was transcendent.

And Lyn Never, I do the same!
posted by stellaluna at 7:54 PM on February 2, 2017 [7 favorites]

Neither my wife nor I are big on going out to live shows (a shared character flaw, I know), but there was one we both agreed we couldn't miss--a chance to see TMBG perform all of Flood (along with a bunch of tracks of the then-recently released Science Is Real!) in Seattle. Truly a great night, and this video brings me right back to the joy we felt seeing them play.
posted by Inkslinger at 7:58 PM on February 2, 2017 [1 favorite]

Those kids made me smile so thanks. It's such a great song.

There is also a fantastic (to me) version at the end of this episode of WITS. It has Peter Sagal, Paul F. Tompkins and Open Mike Eagle. It looks like there isn't a separate clip on the site but it's the last thing in the show, so just pop to the end of the podcast at ~52:00 which is on the link.
posted by Clinging to the Wreckage at 8:04 PM on February 2, 2017 [1 favorite]

*tears of joy*
posted by bigendian at 8:21 PM on February 2, 2017 [1 favorite]

This is wonderful.

There is probably something better than seeing TMBG live and singing along with everyone else there at the top of your lungs to this song, but at the moment I don't know what that could be.
posted by rtha at 8:24 PM on February 2, 2017 [4 favorites]

This was the best part of my day.
posted by greermahoney at 8:26 PM on February 2, 2017 [1 favorite]

These guys have given me so much joy for the past twenty years (it's been just that long since I discovered them). Many of their best albums are available on their official Youtube channel, ParticleMen. Lately I've been listening to Join Us, which begins with "Can't Keep Johnny Down," a song that gives me the defiance I need to get up in the morning these days.
posted by Countess Elena at 8:30 PM on February 2, 2017 [3 favorites]

Should I mention I have a blue canary I specifically keep in an outlet by the light switch (lights on, lights off, in case you doubt it's a light, sorry...lite)?
posted by Samizdata at 8:51 PM on February 2, 2017 [11 favorites]

deludingmyself: "This made me grin in spite of this week. Thanks for sharing. Birdhouse in Your Soul was the only song that made it through being used as the sound of my morning alarm clock during my freshman year of college (when I had to fumble around for my glasses and roll off a bunk bed to the ground to turn off or snooze the alarm) without diminishing my love for the song whatsoever."

For a disturbingly long time, this was the MANDATORY road trip album for my friend Paul and I.
posted by Samizdata at 9:46 PM on February 2, 2017 [3 favorites]

Also, singing along was mandatory, once you knew the words. To the whole album.
posted by Samizdata at 10:21 PM on February 2, 2017 [1 favorite]

As delightful as hearing that work of genius again: reading, smiling, your righteous squeals of joy. Oh MetaFilter! Really, I'm not actually your friend. But I am.
posted by the quidnunc kid at 11:36 PM on February 2, 2017 [6 favorites]

Brilliant!
posted by OHenryPacey at 11:41 PM on February 2, 2017

i have a sudden craving for a shoehorn, the kind with teeth.
posted by not_on_display at 11:53 PM on February 2, 2017 [4 favorites]

not_on_display: "i have a sudden craving for a shoehorn, the kind with teeth."

Yeah, that's tough around here. But easier to find than a prosthetic forehead to wear on your real head. Stupid local stores...
posted by Samizdata at 12:32 AM on February 3, 2017 [4 favorites]

(Sad but true fact about yours truly - I once sculpted a prosthetic forehead as part of a 75% coverage facial prosthetic for a Halloween when I was in high school.)
posted by Samizdata at 12:35 AM on February 3, 2017

This is fantastic. Thanks.
posted by colfax at 1:32 AM on February 3, 2017

My daughter was there the following night. I think the choir was over 7,000 strong that night. Their version of John Farnham's 'You're the Voice' was pretty awesome as well.
posted by srednivashtar at 2:31 AM on February 3, 2017 [2 favorites]

So good! Thank you!

(Also for those in the US with Amazon Prime, Flood is available for streaming, as I happily learned this week)

filibuster vigilantly
posted by wheek wheek wheek at 2:51 AM on February 3, 2017

In high school we had a cat named Buster. I don't think he liked this song because whenever I heard it I had to run to find him and feel the Buster vigilantly. I still can't hear it any other way.
posted by kinsey at 4:44 AM on February 3, 2017 [4 favorites]

My niece and nephew were in one of the Birmingham Young Voices concert - seems like a fantastic idea and opportunity for kids and what an awesome song to learn!

Although my nephew asked me "exactly" how old I am when I told him I'd seen the Spice Girls at the same place when I was a kid. Damn kids.
posted by threetwentytwo at 5:10 AM on February 3, 2017 [3 favorites]

Mrs Parm's pop-music knowledge isn't exactly extensive, so I was surprised when I recently heard her singing "...blue canary in the outlet by the light-switch..." to herself recently. I was delighted to find out it was part of the Young Voices programme this year - she takes a group most years and it's always a massive, massive highlight for both the kids and the parents.

(it's also a massive headache for the teachers because 7,000 excitable children are not easily herded but it's worth it if they get to sing TMBG)
posted by parm at 5:22 AM on February 3, 2017 [2 favorites]

I have very mixed feelings about TMBG, who can be a little precious, let us say, but I have a live(?) version of "Birdhouse" from somewhere and it is always happiness.

I would also like it to be a Mycroft Holmes vid, if we are making requests from the universe.
posted by praemunire at 9:16 AM on February 3, 2017 [1 favorite]

This is excellent.

Relatedly, in case you missed it last year, Mefi covered the entire Flood album.

(MeTa thread, including links to individual tracks on Mefi Music.)

I'm also partial to the Carson-era* Tonight Show performance of "Birdhouse" with Doc Severinsen and his orchestra.

*Leno guest-hosted that night.
posted by Shmuel510 at 9:35 AM on February 3, 2017 [6 favorites]

> I'm also partial to the Carson-era* Tonight Show performance of "Birdhouse" with Doc Severinsen and his orchestra.

Everyone needs a phat horn section in their band.
posted by jeffamaphone at 9:54 AM on February 3, 2017 [1 favorite]

As the 90s were rolling to a close and all these "best of the decade" lists started appearing, I repeatedly and strenuously made the case that any list of great 90s albums had to include Flood. It was, after all, a brand new record for 1990. All to no avail, despite the fact that you can sing along and dance along to it, as well as quoting it in conversation to years to come to confused relatives.

Anyway, this recording takes a great song and makes it better. They even seem to have the dance sorted out! Thanks for both clips.
posted by YoungStencil at 12:50 PM on February 3, 2017 [1 favorite]

So weird! I have been obsessively listening Flood all week, for the first time in a decade at least.
posted by aabbbiee at 1:12 PM on February 3, 2017 [1 favorite]

I have found my people! I cannot hear anyone say "Istanbul" without singing silently, "...not Constantinople."
posted by bologna on wry at 3:22 PM on February 3, 2017 [4 favorites]

I have very mixed feelings about TMBG, who can be a little precious

SIGH. Everything is hated by someone. You're just mad because a woman came up to you and said she'd like to poison your mind.

I had nearly every TMBG song memorized at one point.

Someone above mentioned Can't Keep Johnny Down, a fanmade video for which I posted here some time back. Video.
posted by JHarris at 7:06 PM on February 3, 2017 [2 favorites]

bologna on wry: "I have found my people! I cannot hear anyone say "Istanbul" without singing silently, "...not Constantinople.""

Why'd they change it?
posted by Samizdata at 8:26 PM on February 3, 2017

Why'd they change it?

i can't say... people just liked it better that WAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY
posted by not_on_display at 9:26 PM on February 3, 2017 [5 favorites]

These days, all everyone talks about is you and your racist friend
posted by scruss at 6:14 AM on February 4, 2017 [4 favorites]

Flood was my first TMBG experience and I can honestly say it changed my life. A weird kid who had a crush on me gave me a dubbed cassette of it when we were high school sophomores and I listened to it obsessively... Birdhouse was of course my favorite song. And now my children love it as much as I do and I'm so proud of them.

Also, as a choral director, the idea of directing this many children gives me the howling fucking fantods.
posted by altopower at 10:16 AM on February 4, 2017 [3 favorites]

Lincoln helped me question my life, via absurdity and good composition.
Flood confirmed it all.
posted by not_on_display at 5:24 PM on February 4, 2017

Every now and then, I read about this whole are-they-trolling-are-they-not bullshit and I mutter to myself:

"Can't shake the devil's hand and say you're only kidding".
posted by nickzoic at 4:45 AM on February 5, 2017 [3 favorites]