Reprehensible

If I ran a game store I might play the song Reprehensible by They Might Be Giants, it's iffy.

The They Might Be Giants catalog is challenging for me to decide. They make wonderfully geeky music that flirts with hipster music and they make wonderful hipster music that flirts with geeky music. The challenge is in deciding which of their songs are geeky enough that they should be played in a game store. To make this task harder for myself Reprehensible is my favorite of all their music, so I struggle with bias on it. I would play it in my imaginary game store as a guilty pleasure, but I don't know if it needs to be played in actual brick and mortars to inculcate geek culture.

Reprehensible is one of the lesser known TMBG tunes. It's about a fellow bent on evil all day long, who is haunted at bedtime by his past of evil deeds spread over many lifetimes. Gamers love evil when it is framed properly and Reprehensible puts an appealing, whimsical frame on it.

Reprehensible was released on They Might Be Giant's 1999 album, Long Tall Weekend, and re-released on their 2002 album of rarities, They Got Lost.

Reprehensible on Google Play



Reprehensible lyrics

Each night I lie awake
Completely alone
A voice is speaking
And I tremble
For it's not my own
My own

I can't ignore it
Although I try
The intrusive whisper
Fascinates me
Here's why
Here's why

The shadows gather 'round as
The voice recites
The secret history of
My immortal soul

Indestructable
Indefensible
Reprehensible
Ten-thousand years of un-erasable acts
And permanent facts

The record of my
Unspeakable crimes
In previous lives
In previous times
Indelibly stains
The pages of history

Indestructible
Indefensable
Reprehensible
Night after night
A voice recites my misdeeds
And puts me to sleep
And tells me I won't
Remember a thing

When morning comes at last
I rub my eyes
Forgetting everything and thinking
Only of my plans
My plans

The world is spinning 'round and
I'm on the top
And nothing in the world can
Ever make me stop

Indestructible
Indefensible
Reprehensible
Ten-thousand years of un-erasable acts
And permanent facts
And only I know
Who's responsible
Indefensible
Reprehensible
Me