The Bells Are Ringing: The Seduction of Order
musical rounds, hive minds, propaganda, and the seductive appeal of social order.
Anyone visiting a Shari’s in Puyallup, WA between 1996-1998 after 10pm was going to find me sitting at a table with my closest friends and a cast of much older - I don’t know - college kids? I’m fairly certain most of them were not in college (private, public, or community).
They were fans of goth music, ren fairs, and discussing philosophy with a few teenagers until the sun came up. They are also key in my development as an anti-capitalist.
Enter the infinite cannon
The Bells Are Ringing is the final track on Factory Showroom by They Might Be Giants and it’s an incredible finale. We start with handbells played by session musician, Amanda Homi. Could the gang have easily used a keyboard to create that sound? Sure but why not have the true rich and ringing tones of a talented handbellerist? Handbellist? Handbell player?
Come to think of it, she might be a percussionist.
After our first pass through the chorus, which comes before the verse, we are treated to hearing it again but this time as a round. I learned today that this is also referred to as an infinite canon. Much, much cooler sounding. A round is when multiple occurrences of the same melody are happening at the same time but beginning on different beats.
Handbells are often played with this same musical round technique in hymns or you might be thinking of a certain Christmas song, with this same musical round technique. Which I think are also hymns?
A mere sixteen seconds into The Bells Are Ringing and it becomes apparent that the vocals will be mimicking the classic format of the musical rounds of the bells. John Linnell is a true melodic mad man.
There’s another layer being performed that adds to the depth of the song’s message. To understand that, I need to talk a little bit more about my time spent in those Shari’s booths in high school.
The Shari’s Seminary
Some of my fondest memories from my high school era are staying at the laser tag/arcade after hours followed by driving over to Shari’s to talk about rivalries with groups like the Rosicrucians and Jesuits, the teachings of the Ordo Templi Orients, the long reach of the Freemasons and of course, the Illuminati.
These large table discussions are what first inspired me to read the Communist Manifesto. I remember seeking it out at my public library as if I was seeking forbidden knowledge.
When I heard The Bells Are Ringing for the first time this lyric stood out immediately:
The bells explain what they’ve been lacking all along
They were disorganized and that was what was wrong
That’s it! I thought. This song is all about Communism. How cool? My favorite band have the same set of life principals as me! I kind of didn’t think about it much more after that. I just really loved this beautifully written song.
I was in the hospital while listening to this and had to text one of my kids immediately with whom I had just finished season one of Pluribus.
Spoiler alert for Vince Gilligan’s Pluribus.
In Pluribus, scientists discover a signal coming from FAR AWAY in space. Using that signal, they engineer a viral RNA sequence which eventually spreads across the planet and turns anyone infected into one hive mind. A shared conscious that seems to be connected via that same space signal. A literal sound.
The bells are ringing, The song they’re singing
The sound is bringing the people ‘round
They hear the instructions, They follow directions
With almost every human being acting as one, a single shared goal, a lot of problems were getting resolved; and quickly. There was no “what about me?” or “How do I get what I want?” Because there was no I. Just the understanding that humans were in this together along with the entire planet.
Why is that? What was wrong before the hive mind? It’s because as a whole, the species was physically, ideologically disorganized.
Ok, look. I’m getting too deep in the weeds on this Pluribus thing but stay with me.
A woman named Carol is not affected and not part of the hive mind. So, of course from her perspective, everyone has lost their individuality and agency, and that is affecting her own, and is therefore bad. In that sense, Carol is the defector. The one who is not affected.
A girl with cotton in her ears
Is shielded from the bells' effect
In the show, the hive mind is openly trying to solve how to get Carol to be part of the hive. How to get her mind to react appropriately to the signal.
As if by hidden signal, The people turn to face her
One thousand eyes are staring, They pull away her earplugs
The band describes The Bells Are Ringing as this:
“A song about the seductive appeal of social order (as opposed to individual freedom), and an expression of the terrifying and exciting power of propaganda.” - from A Guided Tour Of Factory Showroom
It isn’t about Communism.
Joining the Round
Remember when I was writing about musical rounds? Before I went on about Pluribus for nine hours?
A musical round only works when everyone agrees to enter at the right moment and to be part of the whole and not seeking solo praise or affirmation. The beauty of it is undeniable. So is the surrender it requires. The Bells Are Ringing lets us feel that surrender in real time. It shows us how intoxicating it is when chaos resolves into pattern, when disorganization suddenly has a conductor. That doesn’t make the conductor right. It just makes the music (or message) powerful.
Those nights at Shari’s felt like that. We believed we were tuning ourselves to some larger frequency, uncovering hidden order beneath the mess of the world. Maybe every generation does that. I’m pretty sure every movement does. The trick isn’t pretending the bells aren’t seductive. The trick is remembering that someone is always ringing them and deciding, consciously, whether you’re joining the round or keeping the cotton in your ears.
You’re reading one of my Factory Showroom essays. An album full of oddball beauty, quiet heartbreak, and some of the band’s most elegant songwriting.
See all Factory Showroom posts - Start Here
Dive deeper into TMBG lore at TMBW.net (fan-run and fantastic)
So long, Factory Showroom. My favorite album ever.
The final verse of this song is always such a beauty to me. There's around 5 different lines going on, vocal and instrumental, and they all add up to an immaculate sound that isn't crowded, but layered in an almost hypnotic way. Which, I suppose, follows the ethos of the song. The way the harsh drum pattern ends the song & the album is so ominous, but almost addicting.
Makes me want to dig up some books about secret society intrigue! TMBG covers some similar ground on their newest EP, Eyeball ... giving up your independent thinking to follow propaganda. Guess you've got a while before you get to that LOL.