Purple Toupee

How a Song Without Answers Became a 30-Year Companion.

I’m sitting at bar right now at my favorite Ramen spot in my neighborhood. I’ve been listening to this song on repeat, trying to hear it with fresh ears. Harder said than done when you’ve been listening to it for 30 years. After all that time, I’m realizing that I surrendered any hope of “understanding” this song. Instead, I just enjoy it thoroughly.

The Eternal Enigma of a Purple Toupee

Questions surrounding its meaning have gone un-searched for and unanswered.

Questions like:

• A toupee that you wear on your head?

• Which is somehow different than a wig?

• And that toupee-not-a-wig is also purple?

Purple Toupee by They Might Be Giants is the 3rd song on their Lincoln album and it has always been a feel-good rocking number that I never understood the meaning of. It is quite possible, like many of their songs, that there isn’t supposed to be a meaning for it. It could just be full of fun references that sound cool and clever together.

A Journey Through Time and Lyrics

There certainly are a lot of references in this song that teenage me understood in the 90’s as being from roughly sometime in the 60’s. Maybe I didn’t exactly know what was being referenced specifically, but I understood that referencing was taking place. Off the top of my head I can recall hearing lines about a book depository where they crowned the King of Cuba. I assumed this was a reference to JFK’s assassination.

Other phrases that I felt were referencing a certain era were Martin X (instead of Malcolm I guess?), Expo ‘67, and Selma and some blacks (I always felt that even in the 90’s this line didn’t sit right with me and I still feel that way.) So, is this song telling a story about civil rights in an ever-evolving socio-political landscape? Is the “Purple Toupee” a deep violet color of hair on the head of a person who is suffering a gunshot wound to that head? Is this why the Purple Brigade is “marching from the grave?”

There is also the very real possibility that this song is about a literal purple toupee that you put on your head. I’m kind of at a point in life where I just assume this song is about nothing really but SOUNDS like it’s making a strong statement. It ends with a series of “La la la las” that make my full-haired head and heart sing out loud though. Just before we hear the “la la la,” a crunchy electric guitar does an almost Shepard Tone and we’re off to the races.

Purple Toupee is a fantastic and quintessential TMBG banger.

Embracing the Unsearched Questions

As the last breaths of accordion are punctuated by forceful plucking of electric guitar strings, "Purple Toupee" fades into the background of my cozy ramen spot. I'm reminded of how rewarding it is to embrace the mysteries of songs and life alike. For 30 years, this song has been a constant companion, a puzzle I've stopped trying to solve, choosing instead to bask in its unexplained brilliance.

Whether it's revisiting "Purple Toupee" with fresh ears or sharing your own enigmatic favorites from They Might Be Giants, jump into the comments and share your own stories of confusion, revelation, and joys of simply enjoying a song without needing to unlock its secrets. Who knows? In sharing, we might just find the answers we stopped searching for.

The Call to Musical Reflection

Are you ready to embrace the mystery and share your moment? Let's keep the conversation alive and revel in the music that shapes our lives, one unsearched question at a time. Share in the comments.