The Guitar (The Lion Sleeps Tonight)

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An Anthemic Opening

The A-string of a bass guitar is plucked twice as a trumpet calls out—harkening the musical composition about to follow.

A quick tapping on the drums, followed by a crisp electric guitar strumming, fills the space around you, and you’re off.

The album? Apollo 18.
The song? The Guitar (The Lion Sleeps Tonight).

The record label insisted on the subtitle in parentheses due to its borrowed theme from The Tokens' song—even though it doesn’t use the exact lyrics. For the sake of this post, let’s just call it The Guitar.

1995: A Backyard, A Stereo, A Song

It’s the end of summer, and my best friend and I are making final preparations for a party at his house. The outdoor stereo setup—a hodgepodge of speakers, CD players, and extension cords—has been meticulously arranged.

After three years at a different junior high from my best friend, I’m finally about to match faces to names I’ve only heard about. This party marks the last days before we merge worlds as high school sophomores.

Then, The Guitar blasts across the property.

I know every audible nook and cranny of this song.

Have you ever loved a song so much that sharing it with someone feels like sharing a part of yourself? Like, listening to this track is equivalent to knowing me better? That’s how I feel about Apollo 18, but especially this song.

Skipping The Guitar is unheard of. It runs through my head almost daily.

A Chord Progression Burned Into Muscle Memory

The guitar itself riffs on a simple chord progression that I worked hard to learn as a beginner player:

A7 - C#m7 - Bm7 - E7 (as shown in the official video, which I did not have the benefit of seeing prior to learning the song.).

Now, I automatically play it every time I pick up a guitar. What’s that? You only have a bass guitar? No worries—I can play the bass part of this song too. If I owned any other instrument in this song, I’d probably know its parts by now.

Watch the Very Cool, Official Music Video

The Rhythmic Puzzle of ‘The Guitar’

One of the friends I made at that backyard party happened to be a much more skilled guitarist than me. He could fly through lead parts thanks to religious scale practice.

Yet, he struggled with the rhythm of this song.

I remember playing it for him, then having him play it back—rigid, stiff, just a little off. He didn’t hear the difference, and that baffled me. How could someone so technically proficient not grasp the feel of it?

I think about that moment every time I hear The Guitar.

Seeing TMBG on TV for the First Time

TMBG sightings on TV were rare for me. One day after school, while scrolling the TV guide, I saw it—They Might Be Giants were set to perform on TBS’ House of Blues show.

My nervous system flooded with excitement. This was monumental.

I probably called my best friend to alert him, and then, on a Friday night in ‘95, I perched on the edge of my bed, waiting for them to be announced.

When you’re a teenager, anyone over 21 looks ancient. Up until this moment, most musicians I’d seen on TV or in magazines might as well have been in their 30s or 40s. Even their stand-in bass player for this live performance looked like he could be my dad.

But not the Johns.

John Flansburgh and John Linnell didn’t appear much older than me. Their music was new and interesting in all the right ways. Their humor spoke to me.

And, honestly? They dressed like me and my best friend—plain t-shirts, jeans, and Airwalk-style skate shoes. Linnell even had the same haircut as both of us. Just last night, while talking to my wife about the band, she mentioned that I was the same as age as them. I had to correct her and say that John Linnell is 20 years older than me. The same age as my mom, in fact. She had also assumed that the Johns and I were the same age. So I wasn’t crazy is my point here.

That night, they played two songs: No One Knows My Plan and The Guitar.

Hearing The Guitar live, on TV, cemented something. This wasn’t just a band I liked—this was my band.

Later that year, me and my best friend finally got to see TMBG live in Seattle for their John Henry tour.

I don’t think they played The Guitar but there they were, on the stage just feet away from us—looking sort of like us.

I flashed back to that House of Blues performance. The moment I first saw them, first really felt connected.

Now, every time I hear The Guitar, I think of that night.

The Outer Planet Mix: A Song Reimagined

The Guitar got its own EP, which featured some incredible tracks. But the crown jewel for me was the Outer Planet Mix.

There’s also an Even Further Outer Planet Mix, but just one Outer was enough for me. It’s a psychedelic, dance-infused version—perfect for putting on headphones and drifting away.

Final Thoughts: The Guitar as a Personal Anthem

Songs attach themselves to us in strange and beautiful ways. For me, The Guitar is woven into teenage friendships, backyard parties, and that pivotal moment of seeing TMBG for the first time.

It’s a song I can’t skip. A song I can’t not play when I pick up a guitar.

Maybe you have a song like that too—one that’s become part of your identity.

Your Turn: What’s Your Personal Anthem?

What’s a song that feels fundamental to who you are? The one that, when you hear it, takes you back to a specific time and place?

Drop a comment and let’s talk about it.

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