Quoth ASN <palptine@onramp.net>:

Spiralling Shape for some reason reminds me of the 'Thing', which is (at least I think it still exists) a big tourist trap out in Arizona or somewhere out west. The billboards stretched down the highway for literally hundreds of miles, enticing people to stop and see what this mysterious 'Thing' was.

Fogging the view, cupping face to the window,
In darkness you make out a spiralling shape.

I remember pressing my face to the glass as we finally arrived to see the 'Thing', after counting down the hours until we reached it. I'm not sure if there was anything like a spiral-shaped object there, since it was a long time ago...

Putting aside all reason you exchange
What you got for a thing that's hypnotic and strange

Basically, you -had- to stop at this place, since after reading billboards for it over the past 400 miles, you feel kind of hypnotized by it.

The spiralling shape will make you go insane
(Everyone wants to see that groovy thing)

If you didn't stop, you'd certainly go insane, since you'd never get to find out what mysterious object was to be revealed at the site of the Thing. And of course, everyone wanted to stop and see the Thing.

But everyone says it's great
And they heard it from the spiral in their eyes

Everyone wanted to stop and see what the thing was, because it had to be great and amazing if it could afford so many billboards! You could picture how great it was going to be before you got there.

Only one way to know
Go, go, go

Obviously, there's only one way to find out what's there: go!

Put out your hands and you fall through the window
And clawing at nothing you drop through the void

Now that you're finally here, you're kind of let down by the fact that it's just a big tent with a gift shop attached and a fast food place... =)

And now that you've tried it, you're back to report
That the spiralling shape was a fraud and a fake
You didn't enjoy it, you never believed it
There won't be a refund, you'll never go back

Well, you've seen the stupid thing (which was an Egyptian mummy when I went. I've heard that they've got a new Thing now.) You realize how easily fooled you were to stop in to the big tourist trap, and the Thing was only a ploy to get you to buy something from the gift shop or to get a burger at the food stand. You won't get a refund, and you won't go back now that you know that it's a gimmick!

Don't spend the rest of your life wondering

Again, the only way to find out what the Thing was was to stop and see for yourself =)

Well, that's my view of it. Either that, or it's about roller coasters =)

Quoth Josh Ward <callmeq@inil.com>:

This song is talking about records. You know, those spiralling things that make you go insane... Allow me to take this song apart:

Fogging the view, cupping face to the window
In darkness you make out a spiralling shape

You look in the tinted plastic at the record, and watch it spin.

Putting all reason aside you exchange
What you got for a thing that's hypnotic and strange

What you got is money.

The thing is the record player. The strangness comes from the fact that a record player is very unwieldly, when you can get a CD player, walkman, or even a minidisc player that can be hooked on your belt. Seems like an illogical choice to buy a record player.

The spiralling shape will make you go insane

When it skips, it stays skippi- skippi- skippi- skippi- skippi- <zip>ng. Makes me insane just thinking about it! (:

(Everyone wants to see that groovy thing)

This line of the song is what got me thinking about records. They have grooves, therefore, they are groovy. Everyone wants to see it, because most young people have never seen a record player. Advertisments very rarely offer on "LP or cassette" anymore, now on "CD or cassette"...

And now that you've tried it, you're back to report
That the spiralling shape was a fraud and a fake

CDs are better. Period.

Quoth Mark <sls3b@cc.usu.edu>:

I was reading a book the other day when I ran across a not-so complete interp of Spiralling Shape. If you haven't heard it, you only need to know the lyrics, which of course can be found at www.tmbg.org

Anyway, the name of the book was Flatland. It was written in the 1880's by, if I can remember right, E. Abbot. I suggest this book to anyone who may be interested in dimesions, as in the theoretical existence of a fourth dimension, or four-space. It's about a 2-dimensional being, a square(literally), who meets with a sphere, who must manifest himself in the square's 2-dimensional world as a circle. (If you're confused right now, it's because I'm trying to summarize a complex idea.) Anyway, the sphere eventually takes the square into the third dimension, where they look at Flatland from above. The square soon asks if they can go into the next dimension, and the sphere gets mad, claiming that 3 is the maximum numner of dimensions, and throws the square back to Flatland. At this point, the narrating voice of the square narrates, "Down, Down, Down." This instanly reminded me of TMBG's song, and I formed a new, yet very incomplete analogy to this song, with the sphere singing it.

Down, Down, Down you go.

(back to Flatland)

No way to stop.

(the square is unable to maneuver himself in three-space)

As you fall, hear me call,
"No, no, no"

("...there are only 3 dimensions")

That's all, the rest of the song doesn't really fit, but hey, I had fun with what did. Hope I didn't sound too much like a dolt.

Quoth Evan Chakroff <chakroff@ix.netcom.com>:

The Spiralling Shape is Windows 95:

Windows 95 will drive you insane. (With new "features" that have yet to be corrected.)

But everyone wants Windows 95. (Or so Microsoft would have us think.) Nobody knows how to run it efficiently, but they say it's great. Anyway, now that you've tried it you realize that it's no different from windows 3.1 really and you need to go buy windows NT.

ed. note: No, actually you should buy a Mac and forget the whole Windoze dilemma.

Quoth adam schaaf <PF1217@aol.com>:

After listening to Spiraling, I envisioned a man in a black business suit, white work shirt and a red tie walking around in an insane asylum. As he walked through the asylum, he would sing the lyrics (ocassionally passing by the band) telling of his own experience with the spiralling shape. This shape, possibly a horrifying eye-witness account or revelation of some terrible secret, drove the man to the brink of insanity. However, he feels it is his duty to go around and dissaude people from listening, or staring as the lyrics would have us believe, to what the shape has to offer. As the song progresses, the man sings the lyrics to the other inmates, and is eventually hauled off by attendants in a straight jacket. It's a very visual interpretation, and a bit hard to explain.

The Johns say:

TMBG wishes to make the case that not all of our songs have a single strict interpretation, but Spiraling Shape is generally about the fervent embrace and then abandonment of a cultural "bubble." It might be "smart" drugs, it might be virtual whatever, or it could simply be spin art. Steve Light adds his snazzy vibraphone to this swirling cut.

Quoth Paul E. King <5011.0836@trader.com>:

Been listening to Spiraling Shape now for a bit... have a weird take on it. There's a roller coaster here called Chaos (and I just *KNOW* They would go to a place like that when in town ). It's an indoor coaster that you can't tell what it's like from outside... so you go up in a dark passage to load. The main draw to it is that it's a 3-d coaster (you put on glasses that cause everything to look really weird. After the ride starts your cart goes in a circle around and around and fall to the ground where there's a face. Everyone says that it's a really great ride, but a lot of times you don't get the glasses and people hate it... even the people who like it don't when you don't get the glasses..

So, my weird-o take on it:

Fogging the view cupping face to the window
In darkness you make out a spiraling shape
Putting all reason aside you exchange what you've
Got for a thing that's hypnotic and strange

In the passageway (it's dark)

The spiraling shape will make you go insane
But everyone wants to see that groovy thing

Seems like when the advertising first came out (which was about the time TMBG was in Nashvegas) they were going on about how Chaos was insane.

Nobody knows what's it's really like
But everyone says it's great
And they heard it from the spiral in their eyes

People claimed to have ridden it first. It wasn't open yet.

This could lead to excellence
Or serious injury
Only one way to know:
Go go go

Get on it

Put out your hands and you fall through the window
And clawing at nothing you drop through the void
And even while screaming and writhing you reach for the
Spiraling one that would let you be free

Going down the circle, there's that big-ass face in the floor laughing at you. The carts are tipped sideways I believe, raising hands would point them inwards towards the face.

And now that you've tried it you're back to report that
The spiraling shape was a fraud and a fake
You didn't enjoy it you never believed it
There won't be a refund. You'll never go back.

You didn't get the glasses. You came to the park just to ride that ride. without the glasses it wasn't neat..

Quoth Jeff Meden <blade@ncweb.com>:

I think that Spiraling Shape is a song that tells a story about two people standing outside a building, and are looking in. One of the duo wants to go inside to get a better look at the 'spiraling shape' because everyone wants to see it. The other person doesn't want him to go in and tries to stop him and cries out for him to 'stop, stop, stop'. He warns that it is a trap and when the one goes in he trades something 'precious' for something 'hypnotic and strange', or he trades his well biegn for the knowledge of what's inside. He falls in and there is nothing the other person can do about it and he falls and ends up back at the top regretting that he wanted to see it in the first place. He realizes that going inside gained him nothing, and could have gotten him killed.

Quoth Dave Weissler <Dinggnid@ix.netcom.com>:

I think think that the spiralling shape is the "white light" that people say they see when they have a near death experience. And I think that the "groovy thing" is God.

First you enter a tunnel and you can't go back:

Down, down, down you go
No way to stop

The white light is seen at the end of a tunnel:

In darkness you make out a spiralling shape

Though people have had near death experiences say that it is great:

And nobody knows what it's really like
But everyone says it's great

Since people want to know about God they will not rest until they know:

The spiralling shape will make you go insane

And the same people that want to know about God also want to see God:

Everyone wants to see that groovy thing

Some people might attempt suicide to reach God. And there is only one way to find out the truth, by dying:

This could lead to excellence
Or serious injury
Only one way to know
Go, go, go

As I said some people might committ suicide by jumping off a building:

Put out your hands as you fall through the window...
Your terrified screams are inaudible drowned
In the spiral ahead and consumed in the shape

And as for the non believers who think heaven and God is fake:

And now that you tried it, you're back to report
That the spiralling shape was a fraud and a fake

And doctors say that the "white light" was caused by the brain:

And they heard it from the spiral in their eyes

Finally, You should enjoy life while you're on earth because eventually you will die:

Don't spend the rest of your life wondering

Quoth Dave Feuerman <dnf2@cornell.edu>:

I was immediatly struck that this song was about halucinagenic drug use. Halucinagens are mysterious, everyone says they're a wild ride, but nobody knows what it's really like. The song paints a picture of one trying to look through a foggy window at a tantalizing, amorphous figure. Inevitably, the person throws away what they have and ignores reason and what they have been taught, as they are entranced with the spiralling shape's mysticysm.

What he or she finds is a terrifying nightmare. Their life is forever changed, there is no undoing. After using drugs, one always regrets it, yet people still do it out of curiosity.

Note: the word "groovy" used in the chorus connotates the 60's and 70's with their LSD and other desiger drugs.

Quoth platybuS <tree@nlink.com.br>:

"Spiralling Shape" is about drug addiction.

Down, down, down you go
No way to stop
As you fall, hear me call
No, no, no
Listen to this warning and
Consider these
Simple words of advice
Stop, stop, stop

The singer has a friend who is trying drugs, maybe for the first time. As the friend takes the drug trip, the singer tells him not to.

Fogging the view, cupping face to the window
In darkness you make out a spiralling shape
Putting all reason aside you exchange
What you got for a thing that's hypnotic and strange

The singer's friend is now buying drugs. His own conscience tells him not to, but he goes ahead and gives his money for the hypnotic, strange drug.

The spiralling shape will make you go insane
But everyone wants to see that groovy thing
And nobody knows what it's really like
But everyone says it's great
And they heard it from the spiral in their eyes

Drugs will make you addicted, which is a kind of insanity. Everybody has, at one time or another, wondered what some kind of drug feels like. And the "everyone" that says that the spiralling shape is great are already addicted to it.

This could lead to excellence
Or serious injury
Only one way to know
Go, go, go

This, I think, is the friend thinking to himself.

Go ahead, wreck your like
That might be good
Who can say what's wrong or right?
Nobody can

This, now, is the singer talking to his friend. He doens't want him to do drugs, but he's not going to try to stop him. After all, what does he know?

Put out your hands and you fall through the window
And clawing at nothing you drop through the void
Your terrified screams are inaudible drowned
In the spiral ahead and consumed in the shape

Here, the friend is either having a bad trip, or is trying to go cold turkey. Either way, he is suffering greatly, and is apparently alone, because no one can hear his screams. Either way, he is completely consumed by the shape.

And now that you've tried it, you're back to report
That the spiralling shape was a fraud and a fake
You didn't enjoy it, you never believed it
There won't be a refund, you'll never go back

Apparently, the friend is now off the drugs. And he tells the singer and everyone else that they really ARE dangerous, and that he actually knew that all along. He never believed it would be otherwise. He won't get his money, or his peace of mind, or whatever of himself he lost with the experience, back, but he promises never to do drugs again.

Don't spend the rest of your life wondering

If you're REALLY curious, go ahead. Just don't say you weren't warned by everybody, including They Might be Giants.

Quoth Jordan Maynard <maynard@mail.sdsu.edu>:

While most interps. of this song inolve drugs, i tend to think that that reaction to this song is almost too easy.... not yet have i seen an interp. (did i miss one?) that suggests the coorespondence between a spiraling shape and a CD or LP. An LP is a "groovy thing" and its groove forms a spiraling shape as it starts at the outside and winds inwards... a CD is also a "groovy thing" albeit the grooves are a lot smaller, and a CD also spirals as it works outwards from the inside... so maybe they are speaking about the music industry in general? or it could be just drugs.

Quoth <vlad_drakul@geocities.com>:

Drugs, I think. "Putting all reason aside you exchange What you got for a thing that's hypnotic and strange" explains how you trade all of your money for the effects (hypnotic and strange). "The spiralling shape will make you go insane (Everyone wants to see that groovy thing)" means that you could very well go insane, but everyone wants to try it due to curiosity. "And nobody knows what it's really like But everyone says it's great" means that nobody's actually tried it, but they've heard it's cool.

the next verse:

This could lead to excellence
Or serious injury
Only one way to know
Go, go, go
Go ahead, wreck your life
That might be good
Who can say what's wrong or right?
Nobody can

means "Go ahead, try it! It doesn't matter what anyone else says, there's only one way to find out... go for it!"

"And now that you've tried it, you're back to report
That the spiralling shape was a fraud and a fake
You didn't enjoy it, you never believed it
There won't be a refund, you'll never go back"

means you tried it, it sucked, but you can't very well go back and say "I didn't like it" 'cause it's your fault anyway (see last verse)

Quoth Dwayne Stange <dstange@wwnet.com>:

This songs seems to me to be an anti-drug song, specifically LSD. The Spiralling Shape is the hallucination you see after using it (or so I would imagine, based on what acid users tell me.)

Down, down, down you go No way to stop
As you fall, hear me call No, no, no

A bad trip... once you've taken the drug you can't stop it.

Listen to this warning and Consider these
Simple words of advice Stop, stop, stop

Setting the user up for the message of the song.

Putting all reason aside you exchange
What you got for a thing that's hypnotic and strange

A reference to the escapist attitude that leads someone to trip.

The spiralling shape will make you go insane
(Everyone wants to see that groovy thing)

Here I imagine the angel and devil on opposite shoulders. The angel says "Drugs will poison your mind!" but the devil says "Come on, everyone is doing it!"

And nobody knows what it's really like
But everyone says it's great
And they heard it from the spiral in their eyes

People tell you to try it, that's it's intense and will open your mind to new dimensions, and that the only way to understand is to try it. (They learned from their own experiences.)

This could lead to excellence Or serious injury

Drugs are often heralded by users as opening your mind (excellence) but it could also do damage.

Only one way to know Go, go, go
Go ahead, wreck your life That might be good

Sure, go ahead, try it and see. Maybe you'll regret it and see why I told you not to take the hit.

Put out your hands and you fall through the window
And clawing at nothing you drop through the void
Your terrified screams are inaudible drowned
In the spiral ahead and consumed in the shape

A vivid description of a "bad trip."

And now that you've tried it, you're back to report
That the spiralling shape was a fraud and a fake
You didn't enjoy it, you never believed it
There won't be a refund, you'll never go back

After you did it, you're changed. You can never go back to the way you were before. It wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

Don't spend the rest of your life wondering

Before I read the lyrics here, I thought it was "wandering" which makes me think "Don't spend the rest of your life in a haze, burnt out from drugs." It almost seems to be encouraging someone to try it once and find out that it's bad rather than spend the rest of their life wondering 'what if?' but this doesn't sound like a very strong argument against drugs. The song kind of argues both sides though, so this could be the voice of the aforementioned 'devil on the shoulder.' Odd that it should be the last line of the song.

Sorry to quote so much of the song, but all the lyrics seem to fit this interpretation really well. I also think the word "groovy" reinforces the idea that it's about drugs; groovy, a word from the era of drugs and hippies. (Okay, i just reads the other intrepretations after i finished writing this and was disappointed someone had already thought of this idea, but that word I hadn't yet caught so I thought I'd add it to my interpretation.)

Quoth <Nenianna@aol.com>:

The song is about fidelity . There's a person, you see, and they are involved in a wonderful and long term relationship with another person, unfortunately though, the whole relationship is beginning to lose some of the fire that it once had. It is continually going "down, down, down". This person starts to become frustrated in their lackluster relationship and their clear windows begin to be fogged. They clutch their face to it and see far off in the darkness this beautiful and captivating person. They put all of their rational thought aside and chase this image of perfection. The second verse contains an argument with themself as he/she contemplates leaving their lover. The final determination is to GO! Predictably however the person falls through this meaningless void of empty promises and unfulfilled dreams.

Quoth <jaer@clinic.net>:

From the first time I heard this song, I thought of it as a way of saying, "There is no Heaven. We're reincarnated." Here, I'll explain...

"Down, down, down you go
No way to stop
As you fall, hear me call
No, no, no"

This part speaks of a person slowly dying as someone close to them is yelling "no!"

"Listen to this warning and
Consider these
Simple words of advice
Stop, stop, stop"

This segment is said by the person who just died after he's been reincarnated. He's saying, "Listen to the rest of the song and I'll explain my warning to you."

"Fogging the view, cupping face to the window
In darkness you make out a spiralling shape"

As he was dying, everything was foggy except for a bright light (the spiralling shape)

"Putting all reason aside you exchange
What you got for a thing that's hypnotic and strange"

During his life, he had given his life to Jesus. (exchanging what he had for something hypnotic and strange)

"The spiralling shape will make you go insane
(Everyone wants to see that groovy thing)
But everyone wants to see that groovy thing
(Everyone wants to see that thing)"

Thinking about Heaven all the time will make you go crazy (mmmm....) but everyone wants to see it.

"And nobody knows what it's really like
But everyone says it's great
And they heard it from the spiral in their eyes"

No one knows what Heaven's like but they think it's great because God (the spiral in their eyes) said so.

"This could lead to excellence
Or serious injury"

At this point, we switch to someone about to throw himself out of a window to find out if Heaven's there or not. If he dies and goes to Heaven, everything will be excellent. If he doesn't die, he'll be seriously injured.

"Only one way to know
Go, go, go"

Someone tells him (maybe a voice in his head...?) that he should jump because there's no other way he's going to find out the truth.

"Go ahead, wreck your life
That might be good
Who can say what's wrong or right?
Nobody can"

Someone (the voice) says, "Do it! Who are they to tell you what's right or wrong?"

"Put out your hands and you fall through the window
And clawing at nothing you drop through the void"

He jumps.

"Your terrified screams are inaudible drowned
In the spiral ahead and consumed in the shape"

He screams but no one hears him 'cuz he's already on his way to the "afterlife".

"And now that you've tried it, you're back to report
That the spiralling shape was a fraud and a fake"

Now that he died, he's been reincarnated to let everyone know that Heaven, God, and Jesus are all fake.

"You didn't enjoy it, you never believed it
There won't be a refund, you'll never go back"

He didn't like his last life, he never belived any of that stuff about Heaven, etc. and he'll never go back to it.

"Don't spend the rest of your life wondering
(Everyone wants to see that thing)"

Here's his warning: Don't spend you're life thinking about what's going to happen afterwards!