Synopsis

In a rough, surreal performance piece, They Might Be Giants play out the song amid the industrial landscape of Brooklyn's waterfront. John Flansburgh and John Linnell appear alongside handmade props, oversized paper-mache hands, masks, cut-out faces, and other deliberately strange visual gags. The action is largely improvised, with the duo moving, gesturing, and mugging for the camera as the song's restless energy builds. Its lo-fi film texture and unpredictable imagery establish the offbeat visual identity that would become central to the band's music videos.

Factoids & Trivia

• This was They Might Be Giants' first music video. It was completed on July 15, 1986, several months before the release of the band's debut album.

• The video was made before the band had a record deal and was intended largely to promote their 23-song demo tape.

• The production was shot over two eight-hour days for approximately $1,750.

• A 16mm Bolex camera was used, and the film stock consisted partly of leftover footage from the movie "Married to the Mob."

• Filming took place in an empty lot beside the Con Edison plant near North 12th Street and Kent Avenue in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, close to the band's Williamsburg apartments.

• The action was mostly improvised. The main exceptions were several dance moves borrowed directly from New Edition videos.

• Some of the video's handmade props came from the band's live performances. The large paper-mache hands were made by John Flansburgh, while the cut-out head depicts newspaper editor and politician William Allen White.

• The video premiered on Nickelodeon's "Nick Rocks" before gaining exposure on MTV, despite the band having neither a released record nor a major-label contract at the time.

• The song's spoken "Memo to myself" section originated as an improvisation in the 1985 demo recording. Flansburgh's line about doing the dumb things he had to do was inspired by the memo pads that were popular at the time.

• The clip was later included on the home-video compilations "They Might Be Giants: The Videos 1986-1989" and "Direct From Brooklyn."

• The song appears in a chase sequence in the 1988 film "Tapeheads." It was also planned for the end credits of the original screenplay for "Being John Malkovich."

• IndieCollect created a 4K restoration of the film in 2022, accompanied by a newly remastered audio mix prepared by the band.