Snail Shell (song)

"Snail Shell" is a song by American alternative rock band They Might Be Giants. It was released on August 15, 1994 as the lead promotional single off of their fifth album, John Henry. It peaked at 19 on the Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart.[1] This was a commercial disappointment for the band, as the song was perceived by the band as having the potential to be as successful as their breakthrough hit, Birdhouse in Your Soul.[2] The day after the single's release, the group put out the E.P. Back to Skull, which features the song along with a version remixed by The Dust Brothers entitled "Snail Dust".

"Snail Shell"
Single by They Might Be Giants
from the album John Henry
Released15 August 1994
GenreAlternative rock, funk rock
Length3:20
LabelElektra
Songwriter(s)John Linnell, John Flansburgh
Producer(s)Paul Fox & They Might Be Giants
They Might Be Giants singles chronology
"O Tannenbaum"
(1993)		 "Snail Shell"
(1994)		 "AKA Driver"
(1994)
Music video
Snail Shell on YouTube

The song, if taken literally, regards a snail who wishes to direct gratitude to an unknown person for, as he puts it, "putting me back in my snail shell".

Lyrics

The song is written in first-person. The title snail states that he "fell out of my right place again." He politely attempts to get the attention of its savior, before profusely thanking them for returning him to his shell.

Music video

The song's video, which was directed by Nico Beyer in July 1994,[3] was filmed in a television museum in Berlin during a heat wave.[4] Brian Doherty and Tony Maimone, respectively the drummer and bassist on the track, would have been replaced by German actors miming their parts, had they not realized the day before the shoot that they didn't have plane tickets.[2]

Track listing
CD single
  1. "Snail Shell" – 3:20

Personnel

References
  1. "Snail Shell/Charts". tmbw.net. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  2. Doherty, Brian (27 March 2010). "They Might Be Giants/Snail Shell Video". Archived from the original on 12 June 2010.
  3. "Music Videos", Billboard, July 30, 1994
  4. Flansburgh, John (20 February 2014). "Check it out–the video for Snail Shell from John Henry!". TMBGareOK.tumblr.com. Archived from the original on 26 July 2018. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
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