Valuable Life Lessons via They Might Be Giants: Educational songs to live, laugh, and learn to

by Liz Publika

"Istanbul" (Not Constantinople) (1990)

Picture a song that’s basically history class with a pogo stick and a kazoo — that’s Istanbul (Not Constantinople). This tune jumps out of the 1950s and zooms straight into the 1990s with They Might Be Giants’ turbo-charged version from their album Flood. The lyrics play with facts like “Istanbul was Constantinople,” but they’re not teaching you stuffy history; they’re having fun with it, like a musical joke you can sing back to your parents. Tap in, get curious, and let a goofy slice of geography turn into your next favorite earworm.

"Why Does the Sun Shine?" (The Sun Is a Mass of Incandescent Gas) (1993)

Imagine being handed a pop song and accidentally learning astrophysics before you can escape. In under three minutes, you’ll hear about nuclear furnaces, hydrogen turning into helium, and why the sun is hot enough to make dragon breath seem chilly. It’s goofy, it’s bouncy, and you might find yourself singing “millions of degrees” like it’s the catchiest hook ever. Kids get to learn, adults get to laugh, and everyone gets to stare up at the sky with fresh respect for the sun — the biggest, brightest source of heat we know, quietly doing its job while you sing along.

"I Am A Paleontologist" (2009)

This song rocks like you’ve just strapped T‑rex teeth to your sneakers: bright, bouncy, and packed with lines about brushing fossils, puzzling over dinos like Velociraptors and Triceratops, and proudly declaring “I am a paleontologist” again and again. The tune is from They Might Be Giants’ science album Here Comes Science. Kids grin at the idea of uncovering relics from the deep past, adults end up humming it accidentally at the grocery store, and everyone gets why peeking into Earth’s history can feel like the best adventure.

Note* The cover image was made with Canva AI and specifically generated for this article. Prompt by Liz Publika