Hall of Heads: Twang, Terror, and TMBG

Return to Oz, Reverb, and the Hall That Still Haunts Me

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Back Cover, Apollo 18 (released 1992)—Get it on vinyl directly from the band. CLICK HERE

I’ve never been surfing—on account of my deep, unwavering fear of the open ocean. And yet, I love surf music. While you may not think of They Might Be Giants in those terms, make no mistake—“Hall of Heads” is pure TMBG-flavored surf music.

Imagine if Duane Eddy was ghostwriting for Danny Elfman, and Elfman was way into MIDI samples. That’s more or less Hall of Heads. And I love it.

Released in 1992 on Apollo 18, this song hit me at a time when I felt like I had just “discovered” surf guitar music—and I was instantly obsessed. The first time I heard it, I was reminded of Eddy’s Rebel Rouser—that low-register, reverbed guitar sound with the trademark tic-tac-twang. Like any good surf track, the first half is instrumental, driven by a snare-prominent, steady rhythm.

But TMBG doesn’t just play with the surf sound—they fuse vintage pop culture DNA with a MIDI-powered sense of mischief. They’re not imitating surf music; they’re weaponizing it into something stranger and darker.

Musical Dissection

The chords in this opening section are unusual for surf: E♭m, B♭m7, Dm, Cm, and A♭m. After some scale sleuthing, I found that E♭ Phrygian Dominant fits surprisingly well—a scale often used by Dick Dale, the “King of the Surf Guitar.”

That, paired with the military-style snare rhythm, gives the song an anxious pulse. It doesn’t feel like surfing under blue skies—it feels like surfing away from something. The tone is spooky, theatrical, and charged with dread.

When I hear Hall of Heads, not only do I have feelings of unease from the tones but it also due to the memory of a scary kids movie that my mind conjures when I hear it.

Listen to “Hall of Heads” by They Might Be Giants — a slow-burning, surf-tinged track with eerie twang and MIDI menace. (From the 1992 album Apollo 18.)

Core Memory Unlocked: Return to Oz and the Hall of Heads

I know this makes me sound like an old dad yelling about how he used to have to call the theater for movie times, but the children’s movies I grew up with felt dangerously imaginative. Not necessarily better—but definitely more trauma-forward. One movie in particular haunts me: 1985’s Return to Oz. Specifically, the part with Princess Mombi.

I’ve never read the Oz books. Like most people, my reference point was Judy Garland in ruby slippers. So six-year-old me was thrilled to see the sequel.What I got in that movie theater would be nightmare fuel for many bedtimes to come.

Here’s what I remember: Dorothy is sent to find a woman named Mombi by a humanoid nightmare on wheels. (Like he had wheels for hands and feet. Mask on the top of his head.) I'm pretty sure his name was something like “Wheelie.” I’m not looking it up. He was terrifying.

Much like our federal government for absolutely no reason, this Wheelie was threatened by Tic-Toc—a wind-up mechanical soldier. The Wheelie sends Dorothy & Friends to seek out Princess Mombi. At one point, Dorothy walks down a long hallway lined with glass cases containing human heads. Living, decapitated, human heads.

There was a moment where Mombi opens one of these cases, and exchanges her head for one in a case and Mombi wants nothing more than to add Dorothy’s young head to her collection.

And then—this part is real or possibly a dream I invented—the heads start screaming to alert Mombi that Dorothy’s snooping around. Mombi opens a case, selects a head, pops it on like a hat, and comes after Dorothy... who she very much plans to decapitate and display.

I just found the exact clip that I remembered. It’s every bit as unsettling now as when I was six.

Watch the infamous “Hall of Heads” scene from 1985’s Return to Oz. Princess Mombi swaps out her head from a glass case while others scream in the background—a moment burned into the brains of many '80s kids.

Whenever I hear it, I think about how much I love surf music. I think about Dick Dale and Duane Eddy. But I also think about Princess Mombi. And the decapitated heads she collected in glass cases. And the memory of the fear that lived in my chest long after I left that movie theater.

Your Turn:

What’s a song that instantly teleports you back to a weird or terrifying childhood memory? You have permission to trauma dump—let’s compare.

Comment below or reply to this email.

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