Interpretations:Ana Ng

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Well, what do I think its about.

Cold War. China for Ana Ng Cold War. United States for the singers Point of view The struggle feels like its never going to end.

All alone at the '64 worlds fair. (Same year as china's 1st nuclear test) 80 dolls yelling small girl after all (All of his superiors telling him his contact is someone small) DuPont pavillion (The place where she's waiting) Why was the bench still warm, who had been there (The other person telling the infromant what she can and can't say) And in back of the edge of hearing theese are the words that the voice was repeating (The voice is his informant telling him what to say, possibly over a mic) The Line that repeats after it is what the informant tells his him to say, and over time he begins to believe it (as does she) When he was driving he realized he loves her and she loves him, the "I dont want the world" line is what he realizes it is, between 2 countries, one wanting the other. But thats not what she wants They dont need me here and I know your there (After he looses his job, or it is no longer needed, he thinks about here again) Everything sticks like a broken record (For her, she realizes more and more that she loves him also) And the truth is they never learned anything about the other nation because of how much they began to fall in love.

They met, fell in love and were told to play that to their advantage. But over time they realized they really did love each other. When thier superiors found out, they reassigned them. They went about other works, but the memory of the other still played heavily in their minds. He was driving and realized it, she was just living out her life when she realized it. The story ( i assume) has a happy ending when they meet each other again after a long wait.

A cold war love song. Perhaps the best riff they've ever managed it's got it all the giant themes: dislocated love; paranoia; and hopelessness. What makes the Giants not the Smiths is that Linnell sings it like its a regular pop record. When one compares this song with what a band like REM were producing at the time "Stand" or "End of the World as we know it" one wonders if there is any justice in the world. This is the song that should have been a number one in the real charts, not just the college chart. (Mr Tuck)

Ana Ng (the most common Chinese name the Johns found in the Phone book when writing the song) is a woman on the exact opposite side of the world of the singer. The first couple of lines introduce this poetic idea: "Make a hole with a gun, perpendicular/ to the name of this town on a desktop globe/ exit wound in a foreign nation/ showing the home of the one this was written for." In the rest of the song, John (one of 'em) sings more about their relationship, though they "still haven't walked in the glow of each other's majestic presence." (Being the dork TMBG fan that I am, I checked what was on the opposite side of the globe, from Brooklyn, New York, and it's the middle of the Indian Ocean... hey, maybe Ana's a fish [I doubt it]) ~MC

Try Lincoln, Nebraska? 68.114.69.217 00:41, 24 June 2007 (UTC)

For the curious, I made a world map (years ago) that superimposes a world map over another, showing what is opposite to anywhere.

http://www.thorx.net/wiki/Image:Worldmap-upsidedown.png

The Johns claim that the song is not written from their own perspective but rather from someone's who actually does live opposite of Vietnam.

I agree that this is a gorgeous song of hopeless romance -- the idea that The One is diametrically opposite you on the planet is one of the most depressing, and beautiful, I've ever heard in music -- but I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that this song is also about the futility of human endeavor in general. For all your planning, Linnell seems to suggest, for all your grooming and searching and wanting and hoping, your true love, by sheer accident of birth, might still be on the other side of the world. You can't do anything about it. Certain lines seem to support this idea -- the storm tangling up the wires, for example, is a pretty perfect metaphor for how uncontrollable events defeat the attempts people make to connect with each other. The scene in the video of hands adjusting what looks like a surveyor's instrument -- the person turns the device carefully, goes to make some fine adjustment, and the lens falls off, the hands recoil. Another image representing the transitory nature of what man does, how all his works crumble. And of course there's that last lyric -- "And the truth is, we don't know anything." Man oh man. Only They Might Be Giants.

I read somewhere that the John's were inspired to write this song when they saw a cartoon where a cupid shot an arrow through the Earth. I've also heard the same story, but a gun was shot instead.

I believe the gunshot cartoon was from a Pogo comic. Pogo was also the source of Lines Upon A Tranquil Brow.

I'm pretty sure that the "Eighty dolls yelling 'Small girl after all'" is a reference to the "It's a Small World After All" boat ride, and someone (possiably Ana?) thinking that the dolls are singing about her.

The "It's a Small World After All" attraction, later moved to Walt Disney World, was created as a UNICEF exhibit for the 1964-65 New York World's Fair. The ride features scenes from nations around the globe. The singer contemplates the many other places his "true love" may be found. (Perhaps China, but she could be anywhere, even the DuPont Pavillion.) It's more depressing when you consider that he is "all alone" in a ride very similar to a classic "Tunnel of Love."

I'm gonna agree here and say that it's flipping it. Saying "It's a small girl after all." Is putting into perspective the fact that if your one true love is on the other side of the world the world is not, in fact, small. It's pretty big, and the girl is small in comparison.

I'd say this song has been pretty well summed up by everyone previously. There is one thing missing, though, and it's one of my favourite parts of the song. When he's at the World's Fair, the bench is still warm: his True Love was there, at that very bench, and he just missed her!

"Like a whirlpool, it never ends": from Tommy Roe's '69 hit single "Dizzy". I used to ride my rocking horse to that song, maybe the Johns did too.

Ivo

Interesting tidbit. A friend who plays Kingdoms of Loathing alerted me to this, which is apparently the final fight before you reach ascension, whatever that means.

You're fighting a Giant Desktop Globe

This is a massive, full-color rendering of the entire planet, made to sit on an equally massive desktop. It spins menacingly, perpendicular to its shiny metal axis. Certain continents look much more threatening than others, but the overall effect is startling.

To defeat it, you need to use the NG. No idea what an NG is, but here's the text my friend sent me:

You use the NG.

You wind up the NG and let it fly. It makes a hole perpendicular to the name of The Seaside Town, with an exit wound in a foreign nation. It splits cleanly into two halves. You don't want the whole thing, or even your half, so you leave it and continue on.

Ascension is the last and final world you can reach in Kingdom of Loathing. I heard not many clans have made it that far. I guess the NG is an item he whas carrying along on the moment he fought the Giant Desktop Globe, wich he had to use. But I dont play it, so dont take it for true. As for the rest, the constellation is creepy, but does not support the interprations of the lyrics of the song. Interesting, though.

Hello. I'm a player of Kingdom of Loathing. Today I'll be answering your questions about the NG item.

There are five letters that players can collect. W, A, N, D, and G. Players can combine many of the game's items to create new items, and use the five letters to spell out two words, wand and wang. Since you can combine only two items at one time, the words have to be spelled in increments, wa and nd or ng. The NG used to be a useless item until Ascension was developed, and the Desktop Globe enemy implimented.

The creator of Kingdom of Loathing is a big fan of They Might Be Giants, and has inserted references to them basically anywhere he can.

By the way, spelling out wang gets you an item called the wang, it's like a word processor that corrects bad spelling in the in-game chat system. (Based on an old computer system called a wang.) Spelling wand gets you the wand of nagamar, which is necessary to win the game. Not that it's important.

Hmmm. I see someone deleted my post, but thats ok...

Kingdom of loathing thing is dead on. I'm used to hearing the live version during which the line "I don't want to whole world, i just want your half" is substituted with a gargely sound...I found out what was "painted on the bridgeThink about it. You don't want the whole thing. You're not asking for the world, it doesn't even matter, nothing in the world matters, it's such a "small girl after all", but if I can have the part of the world you're on, than maybe, just maybe, I'll have a better chance of finding you." And, quoting a few posts up "I've also heard the same story, but a gun was shot instead." Now you've not only got the whole first chorus, but that bridge part as well. It does too support the rest of the song! Life seems like a game sometimes to me.... and one more thing, in the game "It makes a hole perpendicular to the name of The Seaside Town" Vietnam IS on the south side of the South China sea. So if this was written for a girl living in Vietnam, as an earlier post says, you'd have to be nuts to not think the game had something to do with it. The chances of this all being by accident are as likely as finding The One.

It's about someone who wants the unattainable, but can't have it. He makes it out to sound like he's the victim here, but really he's just a complainer. "I don't want the world, I just want your half." He wants whatever he can't have, be it a girl he'll never meet or the half of the world he can't own, regardless of however much he actually has.

I also play the Kingdom of Loathing and when it says The Seaside Town, it means a location in the game called "The Seaside Town". The location of this mythical land is unknown, so I doubt any ingame text is related to Vietnam.

Kingdom of Loathing is full of TMBG references. They seem to be Jick (the game's creator's) favourite band.

Just pointing out, according to the upside-down map posted above, the country opposite Vietnam is Peru.

Am I the only one who is reminded of Weezer's "Across The Sea"? (Although of course, "Ana Ng" predates "Across The Sea" by eight years)

referencing "i don't want the world, i just want your half"...i read a comment from the john's that said it came from an argument over money with one of his friends.

Okay, we've pretty much settled on what's the song's story is about, so I'll just say how I feel when I listen to it.

Even though a bunch of other people have already said this, I must say: I absolutely love this song because, to me, it settles the age-old debate of soul mates. Is there one true love and soul mate somewhere out there that both of you will know it is your destiny to be with as soon as you two meet? Or is there simply so many people on the Earth, that it's impossible, since chances are you'd never meet this soul mate, and the whole thing is pointless.

But Ana Ng solves the problem. There is a soul mate for you out there, somewhere, anywhere, even on the other side of the world, that both of you would know you're destined to be with as soon as you meet. But you'll never meet them. And you don't know they exist. And you never will. And that's what makes it so beautiful. This imcompleteness you feel when you realize you've wasted your time. If you feel so sad that you'll never meet this one, true love, this feeling of sadness and imcompleteness is like a testiment to your love, that shows you that you could only feel this sad if there was a chance you had done all you can to fufill your destiny. And no matter what you do, when you die, and you're not with the one person you love more than anyone you could imagine, and they feel the same, you get that amazing feeling of emotion. And you know, in your heart, that even though neither of you knew it, or will ever know it, there is someone out there who loves you more than anyone could. VolatileChemical

P.S. Aren't we supposed to sign our posts?

Interesting point, when switching between the many song options in Sounds on the original tmbg.com [1] you run across Ana Ng and Nixon says "Ah, my historic visit to China." Doesn't this imply that this song is about China? I suppose it could be the Oriental origin of the name but It could be something. When I was young everyone talked about digging a hole to China as if it where just on the opposite side of America. --Holdhurst 17:24, 16 Feb 2006 (CST)

I. Love. This. Song. Maybe I am a stereotypical TMBG fan, but this is beautifully written. Lemme take a shot at picking it apart. =)

Well. I believe the song is about lost love. Don't we all believe that? So. The narrator is never gonna see this Ana Ng girl again. He's in love, he can't stop thinking about her, she's probably like, "Who's this (name) guy again?" Just a small summary.

The "...painted on a bridge..." part symbolizes his thoughts-- the smallest things trigger the biggest thoughts. To me, Ana Ng sounds like a foriegner (definitly, "her" name was in a Chinese phonebook, right?). Who knows how the narrator met her, but still. He's never gonna see her again, and he's sad/angry.

This triggers the "They don't need me..." thing. Obviously, he's angry, then gives into his love and longing, which is the "And the truth is we don't know anything" because he gives up hope, or he's reflecting, saying like, "You never know."

What an ameture interpretation! Sorry guys. I'm pressed for time here. --Lemita 19:48, 23 Mar 2006 (CST)

I think this song is about a love that somehow died. Even though the narrator lives on the oposite side of the world from Ana. In the beginning of the song, narrator is thinking about Ana and how everything there is different from where he currently lives.

Who was at the DuPont Pavillian?

Why was the bench still warm? Who had been there?

Here, it sounds like Ana and the narrator made a date. But, when he gets there, he discovers that she is cheating on him.

I don't want the world, I just want your half

The narrator I think then gets in a fight with her. He's expressing how he feels to Ana and she isn't listening at all.

They don't need me here and I know you're there

The narrator has broken up with Ana now. He's given up on her and has accepted that they can never be together, no matter how much he wants to be with her.

Wow, that was really long... and sad.- (Firefly) 22:03, 11 Jun, 2006 (EDT)

cuppacoffee I'm going to have to disagree with you on the "Listen Ana here my words they're the ones you would think I would say if there was a me for you" part. read it very carefully. There the words you would think I would say if there was a me for you. if there was a ME for You. o.k.? I think that Ana is breaking up with the narrarator and he is pleading that they were meant for each other. Slipp

this song's about one person living somewhere, and the other living in asia(i forget which country). there's a bunch of random crap in the middle to fool us up and the last line before fade-out kinda sums it up. "and the truth is we don't know anything." How could this song be about war? jdc

The song has multiple meanings, as is often the case with poetry. The verse about the '64 Worlds Fair is most certainly about the Vietnam War as well as depicting someone just barely missing a chance for love.

"All alone at the '64 World's Fair"

1964 was the year the Vietnam war officially started after the Gulf of Tonkin incident. Except for participation by Australia and a few other allies, the US was pretty much "all alone" in the endeavor and in opposition to world opinion. (side note: most of Europe along with Canada, Australia and the Soviet Union also did not participate in the '64 World's Fair in NY due to rules violations by the US. Another metaphore for the US isolation at the time. The theme of the '64 World's Fair was "Peace Through Understanding")

"80 dolls yelling "Small girl after all""

The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which gave president Johnson sweeping powers to conduct the war, passed by 80 votes in the Senate. Vietnam is a small country and it was inconceivable that the US military might would be incapable of subduing such a small, third-world country. The idea was that the US would take on the communists in this small scale conflict rather than facing them head on. Hence, "Small girl after all".

"Who was at the DuPont Pavillian?"

The DuPont corporation manufactured Agent Orange and Napalm during the Vietnam War.

"Why was the bench still warm? Who had been there?"

US intervention in Vietnam began shortly after France withdrew after losing the French Indochina War following more than 100 years of colonialism.

Now, contemplate the line "It's like a whirlpool and it never ends" __________________________________________________________

VolatileChemical almost had it but he forgot the second verse.

"All alone at the '64 World's Fair Eighty dolls yelling "Small girl after all" Who was at the Dupont Pavilion? Why was the bench still warm? Who had been there?"

The narriator and the soul mate go to the '64 world's fair,which John went to as a child and loved. The narriator gets off the "Small World After All" ride, which was built for the '64 world's fair, and sits an a bench which his soul mate was sitting on a few seconds before him. This was as close as he ever gets to her. Nathan

No one has mentioned how I see this song...It's a song about a girl that lives a long way away (obviously). But it's not a pure song like everyone is saying. The author wants to be with Ana, and she claims to want to be with him. But when it comes down to it, he suspects she's cheating on him. "Why was the bench still warm? Who had been there?" Although they have seen each other (at the World's Fair in particular), they haven't been a couple together. "Walked in the glow of each other's majestic presence" being a metaphor for a relationship. Ana is driving him crazy with her constant chatter while they are apart - "her voice is a backwards record, it's like a whirlpool and it never ends", but when they are together, he suspects she doesn't love him at all, and that possibly, she's playing the same game with lots of other guys. "That time when the storm tangled up the wires." *This* is why he is trying to tell her that he isn't meant for her - "if there was a me for you". He's saying "Listen, I think about you all the time, I'd love to be with you. But this won't work, you're over there, and I'm over here. You're playing me for a fool."

As an aside...

I used Google Earth to determine where, exactly, the place that is on the exact opposite of the world from Brooklyn is. It's in the middle of the Indian Ocean.

--24.13.107.255 07:05, 11 December 2006 (UTC)It's about a war that didn't officially exist, a woman who sort of did (Ng=Smith). It's about growing up when A Certain War was accelerating. World events intertwine with personal feelings & experiences whether we want them to or not, then the whole thing gets distorted by memory.

I don't think the narrator ever met anyone named Ana Ng. She is a romantic concept. It must've been a drag hitting puberty in the late 60's. Would you like a little side of drama with your drama?

So summary: young man drama, 1960's drama, feeling helpless & useless & maybe a little guilty, escapist fantasy in the form of a woman in a very different culture.

One of the best TMBG songs ever. We certainly can agree to that. I've listened to it since it was released and to this day I do not fail to rock out.

-Pilgrim

I originally thought that it was guy who thinks his true love is on the other side of the world, taking it literally. But one night, I realized what it meant. It's about a guy who is in love with a girl, maybe she's famous, maybe he has never seen her, but he feels (emphasize "feels") like she is on the other side of the world. "And her voice is a backwards record" could mean either that she is foreign or that her voice is so graceful and mystical like a backwards record and "it's like a whirlpool and it never ends" is saying that her voice is constantly "whirling" through his head nonstop. "Ana Ng and I are getting old and we still haven't walk in the glow of each other's presence" is his fear of either him outgrowing the love, or is expressing his counting off the days he had without her. "Listen Ana, hear my words, there the ones you would think I would say if there was a me for you" is saying that what he saying is infact for her, and he would say it if she knew he existed. "All alone at the '64 World's Fair, eighty dolls yelling "Small girl after all" is saying that hid brain relates everything to her. "Who was at the Dupont Pavilion? Why was the bench still warm? Who had been there?" goes deeper into that by saying that he feels as if her presence is near, even though at the same time he feels like she's at the other end of the world. The bus depot line is hard to interpret, but I'll edit this when I figure it out. "And in back of the edge of hearing, these are the words that the voice was repeating:" is saying once again that he cannot get her out of his mind. "I don;t want the world, I just want your half" is saying that he doesn't want to rule the world, he just want's to be with her. "They don't need me here and I know you're there" is saying that he isn't loved where he is, and he sees no reasons against leaving. "Where the world goes by like the humid air" is saying that if he could be with her there, time would pass by gracefully. "And it sticks like a broken record; everything sticks like a broken record; everything sticks until it goes away" is saying that everything about her sticks (and repeats) in his mind. "And the truth is we don't know anything" is his realization that mankind hasn't got anywhere, and she would love him if she tried, but she probably won't. It's a very beautiful song. --Dunklekuh81

I think Ana Ng has been thoroughly examined for its superficial meanings and significance, but has been overlooked for its literary allusions. This might be a good direction to head in because the Giants, after all, are arts graduates. Has anyone, say, read the poem by Poe called Annabel Lee? Obviously the names of the loved ones to which each poem is written are similar, but there are some themes they share too: a man and a woman's perfect love and the intrusion of fate into their relationship. In the case of Annabel and the writer, they are prevented from perfect love by Anna's death (naturally, with Poe) brought about by God's jealousy at seeing two lovers so perfectly matched, while with Ana Ng, it's a constant, taunting interference involving near misses, bad weather, and the fact that Ana lives opposite him on the planet. Further exploration may yield even more in common between the two and then between Ana Ng and other significant works.

-Bo

Some good thoughts, and some people are way overthinking this. I think this song is about the difficulty of finding a "soulmate." That's why he places her on the exact opposite end of the world from himself and gives her an Asian name to go along with that. She could be someone in the same town, but because he hasn't met her she feels like she is a world away. I don't think it is a literal world away like most seem to suggest. Think of the chorus. "Ana Ng & I are getting old..." The singer ponders growing older without having someone to share his life with. "... I would say if there was a me for you." Going along with the idea of a soulmate, where everyone feels there is one right person for themselves. He's hoping that his soulmate will wait until she finds him rather than settling for someone else. I agree with a lot of the earlier posts about the "It's a small world" ride. The singer is feeling lonely, and he's in a ride talking about how small the world is, but he feels it is too big to find the one he is meant to be with, so he is hearing "small girl" (Intersting side note, one other ride that Disney took from the 64 worlds fair was "Great moments with Mr. Lincoln" connecting the song to the albums title). Also supporting the "soulmate theory" the Dupont Pavillion at the 64 world's fair featured music about "The Wonderful World of Chemistry," which could be an obscure reference to the "chemistry" that a couple has with one another (but that might be a stretch.) I think the reference t the bench being warm is not ominous, as has been suggested, but rather shows the degree to which he is searching. The bench is still warm, perhaps I just missed an encounter with my soulmate. Similarly, there are many references to repetition. "It's like a whirlpool and it never ends." "These are the words that the voice was repeating." "And it sticks like a broken record" These show that he is constantly thinking about who his soulmate might be and cannot get it off of his mind. (cf. Percy Sledge, "When a Man Loves a Woman").

"and the truth is we don't know anything" We may feel like we know who our soulmate is going to be, and where to look, but in the end it just happens that you find her or you don't - or alternatively we have this idealized concept of who would be our soulmate, but our idealized soulmate is probably noting like the person who is best for us."

Essentially, it is a love song, but not to a specific person, but rather to that someone who is yet to have been met.

Ana Ng

Interpretations:Ana Ng

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