Careful What You Pack
From This Might Be A Wiki
| song name | Careful What You Pack |
| artist | They Might Be Giants |
| releases | Radio Sampler '07, The Else, Idlewild |
| year | 2007 |
| first played | April 26, 2006 (108 known performances) |
| run time | 2:40 |
| sung by | John Flansburgh |
Trivia/Info
- This song was originally written for the opening sequence to the movie Coraline but was not used.[1] John Flansburgh said of the band's contributions to Coraline[2]: "We contributed a lot of songs to [that] movie, and the whole movie just changed direction midway through. We were brought in very early, so our stuff has had every chance to be shot down." After the song was cut, the band managed to "reacquire it" for The Else.
- The line "The known, the unknown, and the underknown" refers to a 2002 statement from former US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld regarding evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. In 2020, Flansburgh stated:[3]
The song was written for the opening of the Coraline film, so "fear of the unknown" was all through the action in the script, and as the Rumsfeld expression was current and so mind-boggling it was inviting to do something that echoed it. (Side bar − although I find Rumsfeld essentially a high-functioning grifter, his expression is getting at something that is worthy of exploration − especially in global politics)
- The Johns on the song's opening intro[4]:
JF: The ping-ponging keyboard sound is just a delay on the [MOTU MX4].
JL: There's some backwards drums in there as well, as part of the sound. It's like a loop of a lot of different drums.
JF: The idea of electronic music equaling experimental music has completely gone by the wayside, and maybe that's fine. But for us, sort of bridging those worlds was actually kind of interesting.
- The performance on May 13, 2006 (link below) contained minor lyrical differences, presumably because the song was still a work in progress. These changes are:
- "Digging underground" instead of "Digging all around"
- "Lost in her exploring / it's a new year" instead of "Lost from the beginning / she's the new girl."
- "Who is watching her" instead of "someone's watching her"
- When played live, all the stage lights were traditionally turned off, and The Audience was requested to use their cell phones to shed light on the band.
Song Themes
Animals, Holidays, Insects, Plants, Time, TV And Movie Themes
Videos
- Watch it on
– Recorded live on May 13, 2006 (over a year before The Else's release) - Watch it on – Recorded live on May 16, 2007
- Watch it on – Recorded live on January 15, 2023
Current Rating You must be logged in to rate this. You can either login (if you have a userid) or create an account with us today. Careful What You Pack is currently ranked #86 out of 1085. (179 wikians have given it an average rating of 8.96) |
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