Twisting

Blow out your pilot light and make a wish.

I dare you not to tap your feet or bob your head to this song. ‘Twisting’ is the 8th song on the album Flood by They Might Be Giants and it is a God damned rock n’ roll classic.

While my best friend David and I were musical, we did not have that stereotypical garage band experience in high school. He played the trumpet IN band in school and I stopped playing saxophone in junior high in favor of the guitar.

He got his hands on an accordion which I was very envious of and started taking lessons from, I think, his grandma. This was our opportunity to learn and perform some They Might Be Giants songs. Not in the garage though; it’s cold and there’s spiders in there.

A Different Kind of Practice Space

Instead, we chose his bedroom. There’s heat, a couch - carpeted floor. What were these garage band kinds doing? Have you got your own garage band experience to share?

I’m almost certain that ‘Twisting’ was the first song we learned. It has a great mix of keyboard and guitar parts and it’s pretty simple. Did we ever perform it for any other living soul? Of course not. Listening to this song always transports me back to those days. I can’t say times were simpler then, but the song makes me reminisce and long for the days when my best friend was just a 20 minute car ride away.

Listen to ‘Twisting’ below and if it’s your first time (or haven’t heard it in a long time) let me know what you think about it in the comments.

This is a safe space right? The first time I ever heard the phrase “twist in the wind” was in this song. Nowhere else in my life did I ever hear or see it until recent years when a comedian named Johnny Pemberton released a special called, ‘Twisting In The Wind.’

“Oh,” I thought, “that’s so cool that he is a They Might Be Giants fan.”

The Idiomatic Revelation

It never occured to me that to ‘twist in the wind’ was some sort of idiom that is used colloquially that I didn’t know as a teenager or grown adult. It completely escaped my schema.

In case you are a dumb-dumb like me, the purpose of this phrase is to allude to being hanged by the neck and then left for dead in a suspended state.

twist in wind

1. (idiomatic) To be unassisted and without comfort in a situation likely to result in distress or failure.

If you’ve heard of ‘hang out to dry,’ ‘left holding the bag,’ or ‘leaving someone high and dry,” then you' get the idea. I’ve used all three of those last examples in my life but listening to this song, I never in all my years connected ‘twisting in the wind’ to mean the same thing. I honestly though it was a positive turn of phrase where she really did want to see our guy again; illustrating the on again/off again nature of tumultuous relationships. But no, it was more like:

She's not your satellite. She doesn't miss you. So turn off your smoke machine And Marshall stack.

She doesn't have to have Her Young Fresh Fellows tape back now. But there's not a lot of things that She'll take back.

and then (inserting the definition for clarity)

She wants to see you again. She wants to see you again -

Slowly twisting while hanging from the neck and left for dead in the wind.

A Final Breakup

This is a song about a final breakup, no doubt. The dividing of belongings (or refusal to do so), setting your goldfish free which is essentially killing them, and blowing out your pilot light which is going to mean no hot water. Also, have you ever lit a pilot light? To me; terrifying. One party wishing the other to be left in a perpetual state of distress, unassisted in their absolute failure. Break up.

I have listened to ‘Twisting’ at least 20 times in the last 2 days while writing this post and I will likely listen 20 more times this week after it’s published. The song is perfect. It’s tight, clean, simple, and lives on multiple playlists of mine. Needless to say, this is a no-skip song right here.

What I’m rediscovering through writing

One of the most gratifying parts of writing this newsletter has been the opportunity to listen to songs I’ve heard so many times they’d become nostalgic listens more than they were genuine song appreciation if that makes sense. This newsletter has given me the gift of listening with context and rediscovering the amazingness of these songs all over again. Sometimes, even something that I completely missed all these years.

'Twisting' is more than just a song for me; it's a bridge to cherished memories and new understandings. It reminds me of simpler times, unexpected discoveries, and the timeless connection between friends and music. What does 'Twisting' mean to you?

Bonus Stuff

There’s a discord for this newsletter! Here’s a recent link to join if you’re a discord kind of person.

https://discord.gg/42xQaAfE

I’ve got custom tmbg emojis, recent tmbg news, tweets, tiktoks, and found song covers and more. This is also where future live listening parties will happen beginning in August. Come be one of the Fingertips and Join Us!