History: Meet James Ensor

They Might Be Giants: Meet James Ensor

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There’s a common misconception that, to be of artistic merit, a work must announce itself with a measure of significance derived directly from its subject matter. Associations have emerged in the minds of many a cultivated music listener, and we commonly designate a catchy pop song by a dedicated nomenclature. While not a complete list of terms, these are the songs most likely to be described as having baselines that are “bouncy” and melodies that are “playful,” ignoring other conventions of songcraft and skill associated with making music that people like listening to. And then there’s the term that remains the ultimate destroyer legitimacy. Real art, it will be said, isn’t just “quirky.” And They Might Be Giants have always been called quirky.

The rejection of "quirky" is really a convoluted way of (wrongly) arguing that upbeat songs without explicitly heavy subjects are exercises in frivolity, and those who claim such things point to a certain and specific kind of audience begged because of that fact. And since it is implicit in this claim that grown-ups care about more in their listening habits, They Might Be Giants may as well have signed the death certificate of their own cred when they began actually making kids music (two albums so far) and deriving a significant portion of their income from appearing on countless soundtracks of family-oriented programming…

But They Might Be Giants are much more than just another “quirky” band. John Flansburgh and John Linnell of TMBG present for your consideration “Meet James Ensor,” a track from 1994’s John Henry that’s remarkable both for the composers’ economy and insightfulness. In three refrains and two verse sections, Flansburgh invokes not only the story of Belgium’s famous painter, but the arc of European expressionism itself in the 20th century.

Once arguably the most exciting and celebrated art movement in the world, by the turn of the 20th century most work by the original expressionists was decried for being redundant, and no longer appealed to the fickle tastes of high art’s patronage. Ensor’s life was wracked by depression after his family forbade him to marry the woman he loved. He grew to believe that an untreated ulcer was a punishment from God, and his self-loathing and borderline mania plagued him through most of his remaining years. Meanwhile, Ensor and his contemporaries were made casualties of the same fate that most traditional mediums of art met in the mass media age, relegated to unglamorous, musty museums if not simply junk stores and landfills. They Might Be Giants cover essentially all of these bases in barely more than 90 seconds, and this is what makes “Meet James Ensor” seem quirky. Its subject is purely an anachronism, and the tribute’s deliberate lyrical turns go unappreciated by the average modern listener. Flansburgh’s invites the audience:

“Dig him up and shake his hand, appreciate the man”

But most will fail to recognize a play on the recurring motifs of death and reanimation present in the artist’s most important works. Ensor’s own self portraits frequently included insects and depicted decaying skeletons wearing clothing, often while posed in the act of painting. It’s all really kind of ironic, since They Might Be Giants’ primary audience as “quirky” popsters are claimed to be adolescents, but these are kids that haven’t taken college art history classes and therefore won’t get the references- references that presumed to have the greatest appeal to the age groups that find the walking dead freaking awesome.

But you, the educated and sophisticated listener, like zombies too! Don’t you? And tributes to forgotten, underappreciated visionaries? In a simple, catchy package TMBG can give you all the angst and sadness of both some beautiful and influential artworks and the tortured man who produced them. They just wish you’d give them the chance and listen. I mean, why can’t smart, grown men make music for people like themselves? And when did you stop appreciating a “quirky” pop song?