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Artist: They Might Be Giants
Song: I Palindrome I
Album: Apollo 18
( This is the riff played in the background durring the verses.)
E----------------------|----------------------|
B-3-1-0-----0-1-0-1-0--|-3-1-0-------1-0------|
G-------2-0------------|-------2-0-2-----2-0--|
D----------------------|----------------------|
A----------------------|----------------------|
E----------------------|----------------------|
Verse 1:
D G Em A B G Em A
Some day mother will die and I'll get the money
D G Em A B G Em A
Mom leans down and says, "My sentiments exactly
Bb G A
you son of a bitch" I palindrome I
Chorus:
B G Em A
(I palindrome I) I palindrome I
(I palindrome I)
Bm D G D Em G A
And I am a snake head eating the head on the opposite side
(snake head) (snake head)
G D
I palindrome I (man o man)
Verse 2:
See that bulletproof dress hanging from the clothesline
see the medical chart with the random zig-zag
Now I'll help it decide I palindrome I
(Chorus)
Bridge ( The bass is weird here. Maybe the flatted third? ):
G A B A(bass C#) D Em D(F#) G
"Son I am able," she said, "though you scare me." "Watch," said I,
A B A(C#) Bm(D) Em D G A
"Beloved," I said, "watch me scare you though" Said she: "Able am I, son..."
Verse 3:
See the spring of the grandfather clock unwinding
(egad, a base tone denotes a bad age)
see the hands of my offspring making windmills
(egad, a base tone denotes a bad age)
Dad palindrome dad. I palindrome I
(Chorus)
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Tab Discussion, Comments, and Critiques
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Punk Rock Princ Wanna Be |
#1 by Punk Rock Princess at Apr 16, 1970 at 3:42 PM EST |
| I always thought the "snake head eating the head on the opposite side" referred to AURYN, the amulet/symbol on the cover of The Neverending Story, depicting two snakes eating each other's tails and forming a closed circle with their bodies. But now that I think about it, that's more tail-eating than head-eating, so maybe I've been off base all this time. Isn't it silly when that happens? | |
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Max Wanna Be |
#2 by Max Contreras at Sep 19, 1972 at 12:07 PM EST |
| tee hee, you're clever..... | |
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Kyle Average |
#3 by Kyle Lester at Mar 28, 1973 at 2:45 AM EST |
| This song is filled with palindromes, and a somewhat twisted meaning. The first one, "I". I is only a single letter, so it is a palindrome. I is still I both forward and backward. The title, "I Palindrome I" is a palindrome if you consider each word, instead of each letter. Mom, dad, and I are palindromes. While not exactly a palindrome, the irony of your mother calling a son of a bitch, well...if you're HER son...anyway, the idea is that they are both waiting for the other to die so they can collect insurance, inheritance, etc. Next, is man-o-nam. Man of VIETnam? *shrug* It's still a palindrome. The bulletproof dress hanging from the clothesline is hanging there because it was not worn! As a result, someone is in the hospital, presumably the narrator's mother. The medical charts random zig-zag gets some personification, IT is deciding whether the mother will live. The son can "help it decide" by either killing her outright or by disconnecting her life support. The "Son I am able" verse is a palindrome word by word. It could mean that the mother says she doesn't need any support from her son (Son I am able) but she fears he will kill her (though you scare me). The son basically says "Watch! I'll scare you yet!" The next palindrome is "Egad a base tone denotes a bad age". It is a palindrome by letter. Lastly, we have "Dad palindrome Dad", another palindrome by word. | |
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Nick Average |
#4 by Nick Vanderstelt at Apr 30, 1973 at 1:51 AM EST |
| I think the man-o-nam is actually about the narrator's father. Maybe he died in Nam and that's what destroyed the family and maybe the money from his death is what they're talking about. | |
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spence Average |
#5 by spence o'brien at May 16, 1974 at 12:11 PM EST |
| Real World Occurance: Every so often a snake is born with two heads (very rare). However the snake doesn't stay that way for long, as one of the heads will bite the other off eventually. I think the metaphor relates to the mother and son both being heads of the family and one has to kill the other. | |
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Dakota Average |
#6 by Dakota Keyes at Sep 25, 1977 at 5:56 AM EST |
| My thinking on the snake head eating the head on the opposite side, is from the thought of a snake eating its own tail and around until it swallows itself. Completely nonsensical, but I remember seeing it portrayed in cartoons. So when the lyric says the snake eating the head on the opposite side it's eating it's own head only from the back side (opposite side). This meaning would be that the mother and son (in this case the son because that is who is narrating) are trying to kill the other one but in doing so are killing themself as well. | |
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cody Average |
#7 by cody champion at Aug 17, 1979 at 11:21 PM EST |
| angryrobot: i've been trying to tell people this forever. (" the beauty of all TMBG songs is how they take really ugly truths about the world") thank you for agreeing | |
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ToRRi Average |
#8 by ToRRi L at May 11, 1981 at 12:06 PM EST |
| Well, I read that the Johns said that the man-o-nam part is just a letter palindrome, not man of Vietnam. But, I think that they did say it was about a mom and son waiting for the other to die, or actually attempting to murder the other. I thought of the "snake head eating the head on the opposite side," as being like the oroborous(like on Millenium and the WoT Aes Sedai rings) with a head eating another head on the other side, instead of the tail, sort of showing that one of the two is already starting to kill the other, but most likely, will kill his/herself in the process. | |
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Ulti` Average |
#9 by Ulti` 89 at Jun 21, 1984 at 1:48 PM EST |
| I love TMBG. Anyway, the bit saying "Mom leans down" implies that the son is probably a small child, making this song a bit more twisted. Good song. | |
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I fought the la Average |
#10 by I fought the law and the law kicked my ass I never learn do i...?? at Jun 25, 1985 at 3:13 PM EST |
| EmothicA, how is that a palindrome by letter? a palindrome by letter is like "race car", when spelled forwards and backwards is the same. That verse spelled backwards is: "nos I ma elba ehs dias hguoht uoy eracs em hctaw dias i devoleb i dias hctaw em eracs uoy hguoht dias ehs elba ma i nos" so by letter this isn't a palindrome, as far as i understand! | |
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Tommy Wanna Be |
#11 by Tommy Tang at Jun 17, 1986 at 10:09 AM EST |
| I love the fact that the situation is the most obvious palindrome (not really, but somewhat), of them all. Mother brings Son into this world, Son takes Mother out. | |
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Kenny Lead Player |
#12 by Kenny Berg at Nov 16, 1989 at 8:45 PM EST |
| I don't think the Johns commonly write songs protesting war or on very many political thoughts, but I wouldn't say there is no meaning in their music. It's fun, witty, and introspective, often. Anyone who's is boozing it all the time couldn't come up with all the irony and wit in their music. | |
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Daniel Average |
#13 by Daniel Gordon at Jan 8, 1990 at 8:32 AM EST |
| cpromt- you mention how "Son I am able," she said "though you scare me." "Watch," said I "Beloved," I said "watch me scare you though." said she, "Able am I, Son." talks about whether or not the sone will kill/scare his mother, but i didn't see you mention that it was a palindrome by letter also! just thought i'd add that! | |
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I fought the la Average |
#14 by I fought the law and the law kicked my ass I never learn do i...?? at Oct 18, 1990 at 4:22 PM EST |
| A serpent eating its own tail is the symbol of eternity or infinity, depending on how you look at it. | |
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December Underg Average |
#15 by December Underground at Dec 20, 1992 at 6:06 AM EST |
| this song is an expression of pure genius. not 2 mention that it is hugely entertainig | |
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LJ Average |
#16 by LJ at Dec 17, 1995 at 5:14 PM EST |
| it's not about deep meaning; the song is cryptic, with non-traditional imagery, so puzzling out a mundane meaning can be a challenge in and of itself. that's what people are speculating. (except for the snake-tail bits; they aren't in the song, though) and remember: rats live on no evil star | |
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gosh, frickin i Wanna Be |
#17 by gosh, frickin idiot! at Jul 10, 1996 at 4:03 AM EST |
| I'm with Belthazar, while highly entertaining and at times very smart, They Might Be Giants don't really have much in the deeper meaning area. | |
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Daniel Average |
#18 by Daniel Johnson at Nov 30, 1997 at 3:03 PM EST |
| Are you kidding? When E! True Hollywood Stories comes out for They Might Be Giants, as The Onion suggested, they'll probably just talk about their horrible Pac-man addiction in the 80's. | |
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Tyler Average |
#19 by Tyler at Dec 2, 2002 at 8:39 AM EST |
| i highly diasgree with kenba!! if you listen only a small collections of songs you won't notice any deeper meanings. man -o-nam is a bit far off,(its just a letter palidrome) but yes this song is about a son waiting for his mom to die. check out some other songs like the end of the tour for example. its about killing somebody in a car accident, birds fly is about getting arrested for comitting a crime, s-e-x-x-y is either about transvestitism or a chromosone disorder, they'll need a crane is about ending a relationship ruined in part by alcohol. thats why i love tmbg so much. their music is great, they're funny people, and they can so casualy throw in songs with hard to notice story lines. | |
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Dan Average |
#20 by Dan Johnson at Mar 23, 2003 at 6:29 AM EST |
| i think ur all looking a little too far into he fact that the entire band likes booze A LOT! | |
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Daniel Average |
#21 by Daniel Johnson at Mar 9, 2004 at 5:26 AM EST |
| Could I have put it better myself, I think not! Now, Dad, see: Logo-Lee's Dad won | |
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Kyle Average |
#22 by Kyle at Mar 13, 2004 at 5:40 AM EST |
| This is a song about the possibilities of good and evil. It's about choices. And the ending is perhaps a life affirming jump to the next reality where the singer now has his own family. It's all speculative. It's important to understand that, by talking about matricide jokingly, the Johns are not subtly advocating matricidal attitudes. If anything, they are harbingers of the primal spiritual truth that if you don't cop to spiritual possibilities, you'll get blindsided by them. | |
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Cory Wanna Be |
#23 by Cory at Apr 21, 2004 at 6:59 AM EST |
| Just a note for those people saying "It doesn't mean that, you're looking too deep into the song, TMBG aren't presenting hidden messages"... keep in mind that the heading above the text box which we all type these comments says "What does this song mean to you?" By definition, we're talking about opinions and personal interpretations, not right and wrong. | |
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Vicky Average |
#24 by Vicky Barnard at May 24, 2005 at 12:27 AM EST |
| the beauty of all TMBG songs is how they take really ugly truths about the world (that a son would care so little about a mother that he only values her for her bank account) and make it into a fun little song that you can whistle to. It's the secret to a bitterless existence. Just like George Carlin says: Life is a freak show and when we are born we all get a ticket. Enjoy the show. | |
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ashley Wanna Be |
#25 by ashley pudding at Aug 14, 2007 at 3:48 PM EST |
| xcosx mad an EXCELLENT point about that palindrome of life. Excellent work by the johns, one of my favorite songs despite its... enigmatic meanings... | |
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