Quotation from the TMBG Early Years Handbook, maintained by John Relph <relph@engr.sgi.com>.

20.a) Who is Kurtis Blow?

Kurtis Blow, as in "you're free to come and go or talk like Kurtis Blow" of "Where Your Eyes Don't Go" fame, was a famous rapper of the mid- to early-1980's who released several awful rap albums on Mercury Records. One major hit was "Basketball", wherein he implored listeners to go "to the hoop, y'all".

While the facts contained within this document are not copyrightable, the style, organization, and content of the document is copyright (c) 1994 Myke Weiskopf. Please do not reprint or quote without permission. This document features information previously published in OBSCURE Magazine, No. 5 ("They Might Be Giants"), which is copyright (c) 1994 Obscure Publications / Myke Weiskopf.

Quoth Pea Hicks <phix@adnc.com>:

There is a very brief quote from the Andy Griffith theme in the instrumental melody that repeats during the fade-out of this song. The repeated section is 8 bars long, and the quote I'm talking about spans bars 5&6. Out nit-pick that!

Quoth Tara Lynne Weber <00085244@bigred.unl.edu>:

To me, this song is about fear of death, or more generally, just the understanding that we're mortal. "Should you worry when the skull head is in front of you, or is it worse because it's always waiting where your eyes don't go?"--or, in other words, which is worse: knowing that you will die eventually (knowing that "the skull head is in front of you"), or knowing that you can never know when that will happen (knowing that it's "always waiting where your eyes don't go")?

Anyway, I didn't really analyze the whole song; it's a very rough interpretation. And yeah, I know there are people who are gonna start the whole "interpretations are useless" thing. Well, I'm an English major, dammit. I can't help it. :)

Quoth Steven Sadoway <ssadoway@MIT.EDU>:

Well, I think essentially the song is about self-realization.

"Where your eyes don't go, a part of you is hovering... It's a nightmare that you'll never be discovering."

Where do your eyes not go? Well, you can't see yourself. You can look in a mirror, but you'll never really "see" yourself, you'll only see a reflection. You'll never really know what you look like, because it's where your eyes don't go.

Quoth Mark <Atticus83@aol.com>:

A quick trip down memory lane to help illustrate my point:

All throughout my formative elementry school years, I was a bit timid and had a habit of staring at my bedroom closet; wondering what was going on inside.

Now keep in mind my closet was no different from yours, or anyone else's

Outside of clothing and a few boxed toys it was basically empty. But for some reason, despite full knowlege of that, I was convinced crazy things were going on in there. I imagined my action figures marching up and down the boxes, my clothes flying around in utter chaos, and the like. The simple fact was, I couldn't see through the closet doors. Therefore how could I real ly know things wern't in disaray.

Alright, at this point you probably either kinda' relate to me, or think i'm nuts....but i'll continue anyway.

I think the Johns might have been using the same kind of 'logic' when writing Where your Eyes don't go. Take the first few lines for example:

Where your eyes don't go a filthy scarecrow waves its broomstick arms and does a parody of each unconscious thing you do/ When you turn around to look it's gone behind you/ On its face its wearing your confused expression/ Where your eyes don't go

The narrator (John Linnell) esentially spins around in a circle trying to catch a glimps of the filthy scarecrow; always in vain. But despite never actually seeing his antagonist, the narrator isn't convinced it doen't exist (which sounds like something out of Catch 22). In a verse of lyrics that rank amongst TMBGs best the tormented person eventually comes to a crossroad:

Every jumbled pile of person has a thinking part that wonders what the part that isn't thinking isn't thinking of/ Should you worry when the skullhead is in front of you or is it worse because it's always waiting where your eyes don't go?

Quoth Jason <nadbeel@execpc.com>:

In "Where Your Eyes Don't Go," the singer seems to be discussing suspicions. I mean, have you ever felt like everyone around you was talking about you negatively, or laughing at you behind your back? It's an awful, insecure feeling that can really anger you.("A filthy scarecrow... does a parody of each unconscious thing you do. When you turn around to look, it's gone...") I think this is a song about paranoia, about getting flashes of a great conspiracy going on against you. "A part of you is hovering. A nightmare that you'll never be discovering." There's that suspicious part of you in the back of your mind that says everyone's against you, and you'll never discover if it's true or not, because whenever you turn around to look, the conspirators are gone. "You're free...." You can do whatever you want,(come and go), but the paranoia will always keep you too intimidated to be completely free; in the back of your mind, you see things going on where your eyes don't go. The other verse about the thinking part and the unthinking part... I'm not sure. Dipping into my personal experiences, I've sometimes found myself very paranoid about what people were saying about me behind my back-- thinking about it too much. Then there are other times when I feel very free and uninhibited, not caring or thinking at all what people thought. So the "thinking part" is the part of you that worries, and the "part that isn't thinking" is the carefree one. So when you're in "thinking" mode, you're unhappy and wish that you could be "not thinking;" you wonder how you can get back into that mode. Even the lyrics to "Someone's In the Kitchen With Dinah" (of which a skewed version appears at the end of the song) can fit. Someone's in the kitchen with Dinah. "Someone's in the other room, telling Dinah terrible things about me! Someone's in there, I KNOW!" So that's what I think the song is about.

Quoth Maira <alphaone@brutus.bright.net>:

This song seems highly paranoid. There are people making fun of you behind you! You turn around and they're not there, because they're where your eyes don't go.

"Pair of eyes in back of your head"

A giantism???? I think this is rather interesting and it adds to the paranoia of the song (especially because this song comes right after Cage and Aquarium on the Lincoln cd, and that's ANOTHER song involving paranoia) There are eyes behind you, watching you. Creepy, huh?

Quoth Matt Shapiro <shapir15@pilot.msu.edu>:

I always thought "Where Your Eyes Don't Go" was John & John's tribute to the Beatles, most notably the "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". Ever notice how the song kinda sounds like "Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite"?

Quoth Jay Miller <jmiller@jetform.com>:

I was listening to the song the other day and I suddenly thought of T.S. Eliot's 'The Hollow Men'. This poem makes frequent reference to the need for 'direct eyes' to see into "Death's Other Kingdom"(Heaven). The Hollow Man is represented by a scarecrow. (Hollow, yet stuffed), the scarecrow represents some sort of parody of a Christ figure (hanging on a cross). If you are lacking these 'Direct eyes', you won't see Heaven (Where your eyes don't go). Nice and convoluted.

Quoth Martin Hollis <mhollis@rare.co.uk>:

This song is a personification of the subconscious mind, or id.

1. Where your eyes don't go a filthy scarecrow waves its broomstick arms

Literally, your eyes will turn to face any direction, and you can turn your head to look at any object at all. But, they don't go (turn) backwards, so you can never look back towards your brain or the back of your head.

Metaphorically, you can't see (think about) the things your subconscious are doing, because the definition of subconscious is all those things you can't consciously think about.

The subconscious according to Freud is filthy, uncultured and raw, always thinking about sex, probably with your mother or father, and killing, again probably your mother or father. He invented the word 'id' to describe this charming concept, to give it credibility in the absense of evidence.

The subconcious is not an entire person, just the foundations, supporting structure, or skeleton (scarecrow) for a complete mind. It is filthy - not presentable in polite society without the trappings of repression or suppression provided (supposedly) by your conscious mind. It is also fairly scary (scarecrow) ('monsters of the id'). It is not controllable, and is always keeping itself active, but without achieving anything measurable (waves its broomstick arms). So, 'a filthy scarecrow waves its broomsticks arms' seems like a colourful and effective metaphor. Disturbing, too, just like your subconscious.

That's the first line done.

2. And does a parody of each unconscious thing you do

The word 'unconscious' here is a pretty big clue to the meaning of the entire song. Every unconscious thing you do, like blink, or scratch your ear, or make a slip-of-the-tongue was planned by your subconscious. (Not reflexive things, like your pupils dilating, or your knee jerking).

3. When you turn around to look it's gone behind you

If you turn around to look at the back of your head, it will have gone behind you again. Dog chases tail. If you try and concentrate on it, it will still be unknowable.

4. On its face it's wearing your confused expression

As line 2.

5. Where your eyes don't go

6. Where your eyes don't go a part of you is hovering

Your subconscious is very much a part of you.

7. It's a nightmare that you'll never be discovering

Nightmares and dreams may have their source in the subconscious. More Freud. But you'll never understand (discover) how the subconscious works. Incidental theory that I dimly recall: 'No computational system (like a brain) can simulate (comprehend) itself'. Basically because it would have to be bigger/more complex than itself to simulate itself. So you (your brain) can never understand your subconscious. Some poetic license here.

8. You're free to come and go or talk like Kurtis Blow

You can do what you like. Call yourself free if you like. Talk in a silly voice. You can do what you like,

9. But there's a pair of eyes in back of your head

There's always something slightly independant, something that you can't think about, thinking things inside your head. Your subconscious.

10. Every jumbled pile of person has a thinking part that wonders

People are jumbled piles of thoughts and thought processes, agents, demons, call them what you like, all jostling to be in control, all cooperating to some extent. See some modern theories of consciousness, for instance Daniel C. Dennett's Multiple Drafts and Pandemonium theories, described in 'Consciousness Explained'.

11. What the part that isn't thinking isn't thinking of

Strictly speaking, only your conscious mind can 'think'. Your subconscious mind doesn't 'think'. It just does stuff - but officially never thinking. So, the part that isn't thinking is your subconscious. So, rephrased, every person has a part of them that thinks about what their subconscious is thinking (Oh, I mean isn't thinking, because it doesn't 'think'). This part could be subconscious or conscious. The lyrics suggest conscious. Either way, it doesn't seem improbable to me. I bet there's parts that think about what other parts are thinking about, when they're thinking about still other parts. You can do a lot of thinking with 10 to the 9 neurons. If that's the number.

12. Should you worry when the skullhead is in front of you

Would you worry if your skull/head/brain/subconscious popped out in front of you?

13. Or is it worse because it's always waiting where your eyes don't go?

But don't worry, because it never will. But maybe that's worse.

All in all, a classic song.

Quoth <SwimGirl82@aol.com>:

Personally, I think the song reflects a person's subconscious mind. In the chorus about the filthy scarecrow that does a parody of each unconscious thing you do, the word "unconscious" is even stated right there. But anyway--the scarecrow represents your subconscious, and when it does the parody, it means the signals that you're subconsciously sending out to other people are carried out by the scarecrow. The fact that when you turn around, you don't see it doing any of that is saying that since you're sending out these signals unconsciously, you can't tell that you're sending out the signals and therefore can't "see" the scarecrow doing that.

Then there's that line about the part of your brain that doesn't think and the other part of your brain that's thinking of what the other part isn't thinking of...a reference to the conscious and subconscious. The subconscious doesn't think, it just does, and the conscious will sometimes wonder what you're doing subconsciously.