We Want a Rock

and also some prosthetic foreheads (to wear on real heads obviously. Everyone is doing that.)

Out of the entire discography of They Might Be Giants, there are 5 songs that feature a banjo and We Want a Rock is one the best. The song is also one of 3 songs on this album to feature a violin which makes Flood maybe the most violin heavy album they have.

With 19 tracks though, that’s only a violin concentration of just 15.79%. Who knew this post would be so violin math heavy? I certainly did not.

I listened to this album SO MUCH when I first owned it that I wore out the cassette and had to buy another one. Probably too much rewinding. I had a stereo that liked to eat the tape which was probably most of the problem.

Remember when your music would garble up and when you popped open the cassette door, the magnetic strip would be all over the place? You’d search for a pencil in a panic so you could wind your lifeline back into good health?

Songs and Sleep Disorders

As a young person plagued with chronic anxiety, I had a terrible time falling asleep at night. The plan was to always be asleep before my parents went to bed. I had less scary thoughts at night when there was a tv on in the other room or I could hear their quiet voices.

The Silence was deafening. That is until I got Flood. I’d listen to this with my Walkman and fall asleep to my new lifelong favorite tunes at a low volume every night.

Sometimes, I’d still be awake when my parents went to bed and I learned that by the time I was on Side B of the cassette, I was likely not going to fall asleep in time to avoid that quiet fear I’d feel inside.

I knew I was past my desired “be asleep” goal when I heard We Want A Rock, the last song on Side A of the Flood cassette. When I listen to this song today, I still get glimpses of that bedtime anxiety.

The song is forever linked in my mind as the harbinger of stayed-up-too-lateness. The endless fade would conclude with the sound of the Walkman’s turning gears, followed by a final CLICK as the auto-stop engaged. My cue to flip the cassette—and feel anxious.

Feeling a little folksy

Violins, banjos, John Linnell adding what still seems like a little extra tinge of country twang to the vocals made this song feel very folksy to me on first listen. I remember not being too sure if I was into it at first. Then those lyrics just pulled me right in. There is a level of absurdity to them that I was (and remain) very into.

If I were a carpenter, I'd hammer on my piglet

I'd collect the seven dollars and I'd Buy a big prosthetic forehead and wear it on my real head

Everybody wants prosthetic Foreheads on their real heads

Wearing a fake forehead on top of your real forehead informed me as a creative thinker forever. If someone were to ask me about a neighbor who is constantly hammering in their home what I thought the neighbor was building, my first thought would be that they are building “a smaller replica of their home inside their home.” Like a 3/4 scale home inside the home. I can’t help but think this way of thinking came from this song.

I know that this track has more than a handful of cultural or of-its-time musical references but I didn’t know them at that age and so they aren’t part of my listening experience then or now. From its folksy flare and Linnell-on-Linnell harmonies, ‘We Want a Rock’ is a timeless Flood classic that I rarely skip in favor of singing out loud while driving.

Still resonating beyond the absurd

It is more than just a quirky, absurd song with a catchy banjo riff—it's a song that resonates on multiple levels. It’s a humorous reflection on the absurdity one person having a very specific problem while declaring that everyone has that problem and at the same time, it’s also a nostalgic time capsule, forever linked to the comforting (and sometimes anxious) rituals of my childhood.

Listening to this song today still takes me back to those nights with my Walkman, balancing on the edge of sleep and anxiety, with We Want a Rock playing like a familiar lullaby. It's a reminder that music isn't just about what we hear—it's about the memories and emotions we attach to it. And for that, We Want a Rock will always hold a special, slightly offbeat, place in my heart.

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