It is surprisingly hard to write a song about the number seven that doesn't make adults want to jump out of a moving vehicle. Most children’s music feels like it was composed by a committee of people who have never actually met a child, or worse, by an algorithm designed to overstimulate toddlers into a sugar-frenzy. Then there’s They Might Be Giants. When John Linnell and John Flansburgh dropped They Might Be Giants Here Come the 123s back in 2008, they weren't just following up their successful Here Come the ABCs project. They were essentially proving that educational media doesn't have to be mindless.
Kids are smart. They appreciate weirdness.
The album didn't just "do well" in some corporate sense; it actually nabbed a Grammy for Best Musical Album for Children. That’s a big deal for a band that started out on a Dial-A-Song service in Brooklyn. Honestly, the magic of this record lies in the fact that it sounds like a "real" TMBG album. You get the same frantic accordion, the same deadpan delivery, and the same avant-garde sensibilities that made Flood a cult classic. It just happens to be about integers.
The Secret Sauce of They Might Be Giants Here Come the 123s
If you listen to "Seven," it's not a Barney-style chant. It’s a psych-pop track about seven people living in a house that happens to be shaped like the number seven. It is surreal. It's catchy. It’s also deeply informative without being preachy. The band understands that numbers aren't just tools for counting; they are characters. In the world of They Might Be Giants Here Come the 123s, the number eight is an "Even Number" that is quite proud of its symmetry.
Most people assume writing for kids is easy. It isn't. You have to balance simplicity with intellectual honesty.
The Johns—Linnell and Flansburgh—approached the tracklist like a variety show. You have "High Five!" which feels like a lost power-pop anthem from the late 70s. Then you have "Pirate Girls Nine," which introduces basic arithmetic through a narrative about nautical marauders. It’s clever. It’s fast. Most songs clock in under two minutes, which is the exact sweet spot for a four-year-old's attention span (and, frankly, mine too).
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One thing that often gets overlooked is the technical quality of the recording. This isn't some tinny, low-budget MIDI nightmare. The production is lush. You can hear the influence of the Elegants and the 50s doo-wop era in "I Can Add," while "One Dozen Monkeys" leans into that signature quirky rock sound the band perfected over decades. They didn't phone it in. They treated the project with the same reverence they’d give a standard studio LP.
Why Visuals Mattered for the 123s
We can't talk about the album without the DVD component. In 2008, the physical media aspect was huge. The animations were handled by a variety of artists, including frequent collaborators like Feel Good Anyway and AJ Schnack. This variety meant that the visual style shifted constantly. One minute you’re looking at clean, digital vectors, and the next, you’re seeing puppet-like stop-motion or hand-drawn sketches.
This prevented the "screen fatigue" that comes with modern, high-gloss 3D animation. It felt tactile.
Take "Apartment Four." The animation is simple but perfectly synced to the rhythm of the lyrics. It teaches spatial awareness and grouping. Kids see the four inhabitants and subconsciously lock in the concept of "fourness" rather than just memorizing the word. It’s basically stealth learning. You’re singing along to a song about a messy apartment, and suddenly you realize you’ve been counting by twos for three minutes.
The Legacy of the "Here Come" Series
Before They Might Be Giants Here Come the 123s, the band had already dipped their toes into this world with No! and Here Come the ABCs. But the 123s felt like the moment the formula was perfected. It paved the way for Here Comes Science, which tackled way more complex topics like photosynthesis and blood circulation.
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There is a specific demographic of adults—mostly Gen X and Millennials—who now have kids of their own. For them, this album was a godsend. It meant they could play music in the car that didn't make them want to lob their stereo into a lake. It created a shared language between parents and children.
- It respects the listener's intelligence.
- It utilizes genuine musical genres (rock, folk, synth-pop).
- It avoids the "saccharine" trap.
Sometimes, the songs are actually a bit dark or melancholic, which is a TMBG staple. "Number 2" isn't just about a digit; it’s about the feeling of being "second." That’s a real emotion. Kids feel that. By acknowledging the full spectrum of human experience through the lens of mathematics, the band created something that feels authentic.
Critiques and the "Kid-Friendly" Label
Is it perfect? Well, some purists at the time were worried that TMBG was "selling out" or becoming a "kids' band." This was a legitimate concern in the mid-2000s indie scene. But those fears were largely unfounded. The band continued to release adult-oriented albums like The Else and Join Us simultaneously. If anything, the kids' projects gave them the financial freedom to be even weirder in their main discography.
Also, some educators argue that "learning songs" can sometimes prioritize rhyme over conceptual depth. For example, knowing that "ten party guests" are at a house doesn't necessarily teach a child the base-10 number system. However, as an introductory tool, it’s hard to beat. It builds a positive emotional association with numbers.
When a kid thinks of the number nine, they don't think of a dry worksheet. They think of pirate girls. That is a win for education.
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Technical Details You Probably Forgot
The album was released via Disney Sound, which gave it massive distribution. It debuted at number one on the Billboard Top Kid Audio chart. Think about that for a second. An indie-rock band from Lincoln, Massachusetts, was beating out major studio soundtracks.
- Release Date: February 19, 2008.
- Total Length: About 45 minutes of pure numerical chaos.
- Key Tracks: "Seven," "Eight," "Nonagon," "One Dozen Monkeys."
The song "Nonagon" is a personal favorite because it teaches a word that most adults don't even use correctly. A nine-sided polygon. It’s fun to say. It has a great beat. It’s also a perfect example of how the band refuses to dumb down the vocabulary. They assume the kids will catch up. And they usually do.
What to Do Next with Your Kids (or Yourself)
If you haven't listened to They Might Be Giants Here Come the 123s in a few years, it’s worth a revisit. Even without a toddler in the room, the songwriting holds up.
Practical Steps for Using the Album:
- Active Listening: Don't just play it in the background. Ask your kid to identify the instruments. "Is that a trumpet or a synthesizer?"
- Visual Pairing: Watch the videos on YouTube or the original DVD. The visual cues for songs like "Seven" help bridge the gap between abstract numbers and physical objects.
- The "Science" Leap: Once your child masters the 123s, move immediately to Here Comes Science. It’s a natural progression that introduces more complex logical structures.
- Create Your Own: Use the "pattern" of a TMBG song to make up your own lyrics about the numbers 11 through 20. It’s a great way to practice rhythm and rhyme.
The reality is that kids' media is often treated as disposable. It’s something to keep them quiet for twenty minutes. But every once in a while, a group like They Might Be Giants comes along and treats the genre with the respect it deserves. They didn't just make an album about counting; they made an album about the wonder of the universe, one digit at a time.
Go listen to "Nonagon" again. It’s better than you remember. It reminds us that the world is structured, predictable, and occasionally, absolutely absurd. That’s a pretty good lesson for a five-year-old—and an even better one for the rest of us.
Actionable Insight: To get the most out of this album, integrate the songs into "counting games" during daily chores. Use "One Dozen Monkeys" when cleaning up toys or "Apartment Four" when identifying house numbers on a walk. This moves the learning from the screen into the physical world, reinforcing the concepts through lived experience.