Music / Lincoln

Kiss me, son of God!

"Ana Ng and I are getting old
And we still haven't walked in the glow
Of each other's majestic presence
Listen Ana, hear my words
They're the words that you think I would say
If there was a me for you"

—Ana Ng

Lincoln is the second studio album by They Might Be Giants, released by Bar/None in 1988. The album was named after Linnell and Flansburgh's hometown of Lincoln, Massachusetts, and was just as well-received as its predecessor. It is best known for the tracks "Ana Ng", "Purple Toupee", They'll Need A Crane", and "Kiss Me, Son Of God".

Tracklist

1. "Ana Ng" (3:23)
2. "Cowtown" (2:20)
3. "Lie Still, Little Bottle" (2:06)
4. "Purple Toupee" (2:40)
5. "Cage And Aquarium" (1:10)
6. "Where Your Eyes Don't Go" (3:06)
7. "Piece Of Dirt" (2:00)
8. "Mr. Me" (1:52)
9. "Pencil Rain" (2:42) ^note  Originally the final track of side 1 on the LP
10. "The World's Address" (2:24)
11. "I've Got A Match" (2:36)
12. "Santa's Beard" (1:55)
13. "You'll Miss Me" (1:53)
14. "They'll Need A Crane" (2:33)
15. "Shoehorn With Teeth" (1:13)
16. "Stand On Your Own Head" (1:16)
17. "Snowball In Hell" (2:31)
18. "Kiss Me, Son Of God" (1:52)

This is the Spawning of the Trope And Aquarium:

• Achievements in Ignorance: The lyrics to "Purple Toupee" involve a series of half-informed phrases of events going on from the sixties onwards, and ultimately becoming self-important because he is wearing the titular "toupee", an analogy of graduating college (the "purple toupee with gold lamé" is a graduation cap) without knowing much more than one started from.
• Addled Addict: "Lie Still, Little Bottle" is from the viewpoint of one, with delusions of the pills talking to him and desperate to try and sober up (with the implication that black coffee isn't even enough to fake it).
• The Alcoholic: The narrator of "They'll Need A Crane" implies Gal becomes one after her marriage starts deteriorating.
• Anthropomorphic Vice: In "They'll Need A Crane":
  Gal thinks Jim Beam is handsomer than Lad.
  He isn't bad.
• Anti-Christmas Song: "Santa's Beard", where the narrator's best friend dresses up as Santa and seduces his girlfriend.
• Anti-Love Song: "I've Got A Match" and "They'll Need A Crane". "Ana Ng" has shades of this as well, as it's implied that the titular Ana and the narrator have never met - or worse, that she doesn't even exist.
• Freudian Slip: In "They'll Need A Crane", the narrator tells his girlfriend about a restaurant they should check out "where the other nightmare people like to go", only to backspace and say that he meant "nice people". Not helped by his nonchalantly saying "I don't love you anymore" right before (suggesting that he missed the point and thought she was upset by the "nightmare people" bit rather than "I don't love anymore").
• Looks Like Jesus: In "Kiss Me, Son of God":
  I look like Jesus, so they say
  But Mr. Jesus is very far away
• Manly Tears: In "You'll Miss Me":
  It must be raining
  Cause a man ain't supposed to cry
  But I look up and I don't see a cloud.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: At least one reviewer at the time the album came out took "Kiss Me, Son of God" as a possible satirical swipe at Fidel Castro.
• Non-Appearing Title: The album title appears nowhere in any of its eighteen tracks.
• Nostalgia Filter: "Purple Toupee" is a caricature of '60s nostalgia, which was in vogue at the time, by having the narrator misremember events from that decade.
• Performance Video: "They'll Need A Crane" pokes fun at this, featuring John and John playing with a group of senior citizens pantomiming the keys and rhythm tracks.
• Sampling: The middle section of "Snowball in Hell" is a conversation between two Traveling Salesmen taken from a 1961 motivational album called How to Master Time Organization.
• Rearrange the Song: "Kiss Me, Son of God" was first recorded for the "(She Was a) Hotel Detective" EP single in 1988, with the Johns backed only by Linnell's accordion. For this album's re-recording, they recruited fellow New York band The Ordinaires to do a light string-and-brass laden backing that turns up the Lyrical Dissonance. For live performances, though, the Johns stick with the accordion arrangement.
• Shout-Out:
  • In "Ana Ng", the line "Make a hole with a gun perpendicular / To the name of this town in a desk-top globe" is a reference to a gag from Pogo, while the line "All alone at the '64 World's Fair / Eighty dolls yelling 'Small girl after all'" is a reference to "it's a small world".
  • The chorus from "Cage and Aquarium" makes a reference to "Aquarius" from Hair.
  • "You'll Miss Me" quotes "Raindrops" by Dee Clark.
  • "Where Your Eyes Don't Go" name-checks Kurtis Blow.
• Subverted Rhyme Every Occasion: "Kiss Me, Son Of God" sounds like it's setting up to rhyme "true" with "you", but instead it goes in a different direction.
  Now you're the only one here who can tell me if it's true
  That you love me, and I love me
• Take That!: "Purple Toupee" is a jab at '60s musical revivalism, featuring a speaker as obsessed with—and clueless about—the 1960s as Linnell saw the revivalists to be.
• Villain Song: "Kiss Me, Son of God" is about a guy bragging about how he built an empire from "the blood of the exploited working class" and doesn't seem to care that he alienated all his friends doing so.
• Villain with Good Publicity: The narrator of "Kiss Me, Son of God."
  I built a little empire
  Out of some crazy garbage
  Called the blood of the exploited working class
  But they've overcome their shyness
  Now they're calling me your highness
  And the world screams "Kiss me, Son of God"