She’s Actual Size: Words May Appear Closer Than They Are

We take you to Brooklyn. . .

Welcome to the only newsletter bold enough to write about every song by They Might Be Giants. Dive into the archive, subscribe, and join hundreds of other subscribers in building a little empire out of some crazy garbage.

Theater Kid Blues and an Audience of Furniture

Many a teenage night was spent alone in my room, curtains drawn, gripping an invisible mic stand, belting out this song. A performance of the ages to an audience of bedroom furniture.

While lacking the arms to applaud, I could sense my computer desk was impressed at my vocal range. Six plus years of theater already under my belt. My bed was a sucker for dipping the mic stand down like I was dancing with a girl.

A song for crooners and lovers of swingy jazz numbers. This song transformed me into a lizard, and my bedroom into a lounge. I like to think my lounge lizard performer name would be Chase Lounge.

A Jazz Detour on the Road of Apollo 18

“She’s Actual Size,” the third track on Apollo 18, pivots from the heavy rock and pop-rock energy of the first two songs into a new groove altogether. Brushed high-hats, live drums, horn samples, and John Linnell’s deep, growling bass saxophone make this one vibey song.

It’s a song about being infatuated with a woman whose je ne sais quoi makes her seem larger than life.The lyrics: “She’s actual size but she seems much bigger than me” play with the familiar phrase from rearview mirrors: Objects in mirror may be closer than they appear.

Lincoln contains two deeply jazz-centric songs: Lie Still, Little Bottle, driven by a low, steady bass clarinet as Flansburgh quietly sings his sad tale, and You’ll Miss Me, a proto-emo-jazz number dripping with dramatic flair. Blend the two, and you’ll land right on She’s Actual Size street.

Here’s the song on YouTube video from TMBG’s official page but an easy way to hear this whenever you want is to jump over to tmbgshop.com and buy the album. Now, feast your ears on this glorious music.

Also, this song has one of my favorite live versions that I hadn’t listened to in a long time. Gone are the keyboard samples of horns. Now is the time for Brian Doherty on drums, Jim O’Connor on trumpet, Dan Levine on trombone, Graham Maby on bass, and Linnell still bringing in that deep baritone sax. It’s just - ah, I love it. Listen for yourself.

Flansy Belting out “She-he-heeeeeeeeee’s GOT. All the money-“ is my favorite part. Performing this song live, letting it breathe, allowing the horns to blast away; I feel like that’s where this song thrives the most.

Chase Lounge Still Has It

Even today, decades later, Chase Lounge still grabs the invisible mic in the shower, lip-syncing as if belting it out for a roaring crowd—imagining what a thrill it must be to perform this song live.

---

Did you enjoy this post? Get Even More TMBG Goodness with a paid subscription!

Paid subs get access to a monthly mini-zine loaded with TMBG flavor! Each volume is packed with illustrated song lyrics, music recommendations, rankings, silliness, and full-color designs.

Once the month ends, that issue goes into the vault, possibly forever. Don’t miss out.