''Why Does the Sun Shine? (The Sun Is a Mass of Incandescent Gas)'' is an EP by

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

band

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 ...

, released in 1993. The EP is notable for being their first release with a full-band lineup, rather than only the two original members (

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. Commo ...

and

John Linnell John Sidney Linnell ( ; born June 12, 1959) is an American musician, known primarily as one half of the Brooklyn-based alternative rock band They Might Be Giants with John Flansburgh, which was formed in 1982. In addition to singing and songwri ...

) performing. It was also released as a single on 7-inch vinyl.

Songs

The title song is a cover of a song by

Hy Zaret Hy Zaret (born Hyman Harry Zaritsky, August 21, 1907 – July 2, 2007) was an American Tin Pan Alley lyricist and composer who wrote the lyrics of the 1955 hit " Unchained Melody," one of the most recorded songs of the 20th century. Person ...

from

Tom Glazer Thomas Zachariah Glazer (September 2, 1914 – February 21, 2003) was an American folk singer and songwriter known primarily as a composer of ballads, including: "Because All Men Are Brothers", recorded by The Weavers and Peter, Paul and M ...

's 1959 album '' Space Songs''. The lyrics for the refrain appear verbatim in the 1951 Golden Nature Guide ''Stars''. They Might Be Giants re-arranged the song in an

uptempo A variety of musical terms are likely to be encountered in printed scores, music reviews, and program notes. Most of the terms are Italian, in accordance with the Italian origins of many European musical conventions. Sometimes, the special mus ...

version for their 1998 live album, '' Severe Tire Damage'', and their 2009 children's album, ''

Here Comes Science ''Here Comes Science'' is the fourth children's album and fourteenth studio album by American alternative rock band, They Might Be Giants, packaged as a CD/DVD set. The album is (as the title suggests) science-themed, and is the third in their l ...

'', on which they added the self-penned "Why Does the Sun Really Shine? (The Sun is a Miasma of Incandescent Plasma)", which corrects several factual inaccuracies in the original song. It was also included on the soundtrack to the children's game show '' Carmen Sandiego: Out of This World'' (1994). The second track, " Jessica", was originally recorded by

the Allman Brothers Band The Allman Brothers Band was an American rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida in 1969 by brothers Duane Allman (founder, slide guitar and lead guitar) and Gregg Allman (vocals, keyboards, songwriting), as well as Dickey Betts (lead guita ...

for their 1973 album '' Brothers and Sisters''. The third track, "Whirlpool", is a song written by

band

Meat Puppets Meat Puppets are an American rock band formed in January 1980 in Phoenix, Arizona. The group's original lineup was Curt Kirkwood (guitar/vocals), his brother Cris Kirkwood (bass guitar/vocals), and Derrick Bostrom (drums). The Kirkwood brothe ...

, and can be found on their 1991 album '' Forbidden Places''. The fourth and final track, "Spy", is the lone original composition on the EP. It was later re-recorded for the band's successive studio album, '' John Henry'', released in 1994.

Music video

A music video for the song directed by Maciek Albrecht 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, a group of students are listening to a scientist talk about the sun, which makes its way to them and shines its brightest.

Track listing

CD *The 7-inch vinyl release contains track 1 on

side A The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

and track 2 on side B.

Personnel

– accordion, saxophone, bass clarinet, vocal *

– electric guitar, vocal ;Additional musicians * Brian Doherty – drums,

glockenspiel The glockenspiel ( or , : bells and : set) or bells is a percussion instrument consisting of pitched aluminum or steel bars arranged in a keyboard layout. This makes the glockenspiel a type of metallophone, similar to the vibraphone. The glo ...

*Kurt Hoffman – clarinet, saxophone *

Frank London Frank London (born 1958 in New York) is an American klezmer trumpeter who also plays jazz and world music. Early life London was born to a Reform Jewish family and grew up in New York and Connecticut. He started playing the trumpet in fourt ...

– trumpet *

Graham Maby Graham Maby (born 1 September 1952), is an English bass guitar player. He has recorded and toured with Joe Jackson since his first album, appearing on most of Jackson's albums and tours. He has continued to record and tour with Jackson even w ...

– bass guitar ;Technical *

– producer *

Patrick Dillett Patrick may refer to: * Patrick (given name), list of people and fictional characters with this name * Patrick (surname), list of people with this name People * Saint Patrick (c. 385–c. 461), Christian saint *Gilla Pátraic (died 1084), Patrick ...

– engineer, mixing

References

External links

*'' Why Does The Sun Shine?'' EP on This Might Be A Wiki *" Why Does The Sun Shine?" (song) on This Might Be A Wiki
Why Does The Sun Shine?
at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences {{Authority control 1993 debut EPs They Might Be Giants EPs Elektra Records EPs Songs about science