"Doctor Worm" is a song by

They Might Be Giants They Might Be Giants (often abbreviated as TMBG) is an American alternative rock band formed in 1982 by John Flansburgh and John Linnell. During TMBG's early years, Flansburgh and Linnell frequently performed as a duo, often accompanied by a d ...

. It first appeared on the primarily live album '' Severe Tire Damage'', being one of only three studio-recorded songs on the album. It was also released as a single and featured in a music video directed by band member

John Flansburgh John Conant Flansburgh (born May 6, 1960) is an American musician. He is half of the long-standing Brooklyn, New York-based alternative rock duo They Might Be Giants with John Linnell, for which he writes, sings, and plays rhythm guitar. Common ...

Details

The lyrics describe a worm learning to play the drums better. They invent a stage name for themself ("Doctor Worm"), and the song's narrator also describes their friend, a bass-playing

vole Voles are small rodents that are relatives of lemmings and hamsters, but with a stouter body; a longer, hairy tail; a slightly rounder head; smaller eyes and ears; and differently formed molars (high-crowned with angular cusps instead of low-c ...

known as "

Rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

Vole". Discussing the lyrical inspiration, Flansburgh said, "For a long, long time we have been riffing on the song ' Dr. Love' by the band

Kiss A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...

. And I think just the weirdness of the conceit of that song was kind of rolling around in John Linnell's head. I know a million, billion times we've talked about the song 'Dr. Love'. It's such an absurd song. So I think 'Dr. Love' was kind of the springboard for the idea behind 'Dr. Worm'." The song placed as #13 on the

Triple J Hottest 100, 1998 The 1998 Triple J Hottest 100, announced in January, 1999, was the sixth such countdown of the most popular songs of the year, according to listeners of the Australian radio station Triple J. As in previous years, a CD featuring 36 of the songs ...

and appears on the compilation CD.

Music video

The music video directed by John Flansburgh, shot in black and white, features the band performing the song in an apartment office surrounded by medical paraphernalia. An alternate music video for the song directed by the cartoonist Kaz was featured in an episode of the

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

KaBlam! ''KaBlam!'' (stylized as ''KaBLaM!'') is an American animated sketch comedy television series that ran on Nickelodeon from 1996 to 2000. The series was created by Robert Mittenthal, Will McRobb, and Chris Viscardi. The show was developed as a fu ...

''. In the video, Doctor Worm (an actual worm in medical attire) earns the respect of a musical group in search of a percussionist.

Cover versions

*In 2006, Jason Trachtenburg of

Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players The Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players were an American indie-rock/art pop family band. It consisted of main vocalist Jason Trachtenburg, his wife Tina, and their only child, Rachel. Overview The band's members consisted of father, Jason T ...

covered the song for the They Might Be Giants

tribute album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records coll ...

, ''Hello Radio''. *In 2011,

Relient K Relient K is an American rock band formed in 1998 in Canton, Ohio, by Matt Thiessen, Matt Hoopes, and Brian Pittman Board Message during the band members' third year in high school and their time at Malone University. The band is named after ...

covered the song for their

cover album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

, ''

Is for Karaoke ''Is for Karaoke'' (also known as ''Relient K Is for Karaoke'') is a 2011 cover album by American rock band Relient K. The first seven songs were released on July 28 as ''Is for Karaoke EP'', and on October 4 the remaining songs were released a ...

''. In the cover, the band altered the lyrics "Rabbi Vole" to "Rabbi Warne", as a reference to

John Warne John Warne is an American musician who has been active since 1996. He is best known for being the bassist for the Christian rock band Relient K as well as being a founding member of the Christian punk band Ace Troubleshooter. His hometown is Min ...

, Relient K's bassist.

References

External links

Doctor Worm at This Might Be A Wiki
1998 songs Fictional rock musicians Fictional worms Songs about drums Songs about fictional male characters Songs about invertebrates Songs about mammals Songs about musicians Songs about physicians Songs written by John Flansburgh Songs written by John Linnell They Might Be Giants songs {{1990s-rock-song-stub