Song analysis- "I'm Impressed"

For illustration.

I'm Impressed is the first track on They Might Be Giants' new album, The Else. I didn't terribly care for it when I first heard it, but on further listening I've grown to really like it. What I didn't quite get from my first listen was the anti-war rhetoric that's included. It's not terribly overt, so I don't think it was a big miss on my part to interpret it very literally; I thought it was about a guy who was impressed by a film he was watching with terrifying special effects. However, the song has some decidedly military notes to it- the idea of a "Torpedo in a vest" barking orders, for example, is of course intended as some sort of member of military brass. And Generalissimo is, of course, very obvious.

"I find that my head's nodding yes though my legs are not following"- this I saw as the idea of a chickenhawk, someone who urges a nation towards going to a war without willing to participate or having participated himself. "I'm inspired by events to remember the exits in back of me" reminds me of those democratic senators who first voted for the war, but now wish to get some kind of exit plan.

"On the one hand he'll give you five good reasons to follow him." This is a message of coercion, the "five good reasons" are the fingers of the Generalissimo curled up into a fist.

"On the other hand you see nobody leaving the stadium"- this line I admit has been colored by my viewing of the video. The idea that, if you do follow the Generalissimo's orders, you're going to wind up dead anyway. It's the damned if you do, damned if you don't situation. Or the idea that if you go off to war, you're going to stay there for a while, perhaps permanently.

"When that torpedo from the west crushes buildings I'm impressed"- this line I see as having to do with the Shock and Awe campaign at the beginning of the Iraq War, the idea that the military is so impressive it's like a force of nature. But a tornado is also unguided, and destroys everything in it's path. Similar thought goes with the "Godzilla" line.

Then there's the "Torpedo in a vest barks his orders" line. This is the embodiment of a weapon in human form, a person who's so military that he has become like himself a weapon, with little other purpose in life. It's an alarming thought.

And of course, attention must be paid to the song's title. "I'm Impressed" has a double meaning. To be impressed means to be forced into military service, like the British navy did in ports in the 17th century. The song's lyrics are about being manipulated by propaganda into military service, through impressive and frightening images. So, while there's no actual draft for this war, the message remains the same: that coercion remains the primary motivator for instigating a war and driving the people to fight, and I don't think it's unfair at all to say that this song was likely inspired by recent events.

Near the end is a military drum cadence, which reinforces the militaristic theme.

And now for a few comments about the video. (Damn, it's hard not to say I'm impressed now that the phrase is stuck in my head.) I think it's damn good, particularly because it doesn't take the lyrics too literally and put them on screen. It's an interpretation of the text, and really, what is a better image of militarism than the Romans? Roman robots with tanks and airplanes, I love it. The robots I think are there to give the video the necessary ironic distance that They Might Be Giants provide to their material, and also helps us distance ourselves from the bloodshed occurring. But we still don't expect the blood, heaps of it, mounds of it, coming from robots. I think that's what makes the video so disturbing, we expect that robots will simply be chopped up like machines into metal shavings, but there's just so much blood and gore.

I've watched it many times, and I still think it's absolutely perfect for the song. It doesn't try too hard to relate to the current war, but instead delves into the past (and the future) in order to create a world that's different yet similar to ours, in order to show how little has changed. Today's military conflicts are like the gladiatorial combats of old, and one who propagates this violence will find it returned to their selves, as the generalissimo receives at the end of the video. And one can't help but think of Julius Caesar's assassination.

The one boggling thing to me is the generalissimo's wife. She appears for just about half a second, and seems to be something used to pacify the populace. It's an awkward little scene, as she looks back and sees the pile of gore on the arena floor, and the crowd suddenly stops cheering. I'm not quite sure what to make of it.