Here Come the ABCs


Here Come the ABCs is the second children's album and eleventh studio album by alternative rock band They Might Be Giants, aimed at young children learning the alphabet. The CD and DVD were originally released separately, but since have been released together as a combo. There are 25 songs in the CD and 39 in the DVD.
While it was produced and released by Walt Disney Records under their Disney Sound label, the band was reportedly given complete creative control over the project, which at the time was very unusual for Walt Disney Records, which had until then followed a strict artist control policy. As a result, the DVD features a variety of puppetry, animation and live action supplied by personal friends of the group, including AJ Schnack, who directed the TMBG documentary Gigantic . For guest vocals on a few tracks, they turned to their family: John Flansburgh's wife Robin Goldwasser, and John Linnell's son, Henry. The music videos that appear on the DVD were also aired on the Disney Channel's children's programming block, Playhouse Disney.
Here Come the ABCs was a great success for They Might Be Giants, the video being certified Gold in 2005. The album reached #1 on Billboard’s Children’s Music charts, won Parenting Magazine’s Children’s DVD of the Year Award and two National Parenting Publications Awards. In addition, Amazon.com called it "the best Children's Music album of 2005" and the 13th best overall album of 2005. Two follow-ups were released, Here Come the 123s in 2008 and Here Comes Science in 2009.
Although the audio-only release is considered to be They Might Be Giants' 11th studio album, some of the songs make little sense without their visual accompaniment.

Track listing

CD

All songs by They Might Be Giants unless otherwise noted.
  1. "Here Come the ABCs" – 0:11
  2. "Alphabet of Nations" – 1:26
  3. "E Eats Everything" – 2:43
  4. "Flying V" – 1:34
  5. "Q U" – 1:09
  6. "Go for G!" – 1:14
  7. "Pictures of Pandas Painting" – 2:07
  8. "D & W" – 1:37
  9. "Fake-Believe" – 1:51
  10. "Can You Find It?" – 2:55
  11. "The Vowel Family" – 1:59
  12. "Letter/Not a Letter" – 1:08
  13. "Alphabet Lost and Found – 2:49
  14. "I C U" – 1:49
  15. "Letter Shapes" – 1:22
  16. "Who Put the Alphabet in Alphabetical Order?" – 1:46
  17. "Rolling O" – 1:26
  18. "L M N O" – 1:43
  19. "C Is for Conifers" – 2:37
  20. "Fake-Believe " – 1:56
  21. "D Is for Drums" – 2:21
  22. "Z Y X" – 1:21
  23. "Goodnight My Friends" – 0:25
  24. "Clap Your Hands" – 1:21
  25. *A bonus track
  26. "Here in Higglytown " – 0:58
  27. *A bonus track

    DVD

  28. "Here Come The ABCs" 0:25
  29. "Alphabet Of Nations" 1:26
  30. "E Eats Everything" 2:43
  31. "Flying V" 1:34
  32. "I Am A Robot" 1:29
  33. "Q U" 1:09
  34. "Go For G!" 1:14
  35. "Pictures Of Pandas Painting" 2:07
  36. "D & W" 1:37
  37. "Fake-Believe" 1:51
  38. "Can You Find It?" 2:55
  39. Introducing The Vowel Family 0:11
  40. "The Vowel Family" 1:59
  41. "A To Z" 0:24
  42. "Letter / Not a Letter" 1:08
  43. "Letter Shapes" 1:22
  44. "Alphabet Lost And Found" 2:49
  45. "I C U" 1:49
  46. "I Am A Robot " 0:56
  47. John And John Introduce... 0:10
  48. "Who Put The Alphabet In Alphabetical Order?" 1:46
  49. "Rolling O" 1:26
  50. "L M N O" 1:43
  51. Introducing C Is for Conifers 0:12
  52. "C Is For Conifers" 2:37
  53. "Fake-Believe " 1:56
  54. "A To Z " 0:29
  55. "D Is For Drums" 2:21
  56. "Introducing ZYX" 0:09
  57. "Z Y X" 1:21
  58. "Goodnight My Friends" 0:25
  59. "Here Come The ABCs' 0:11
  60. Introducing The Bonus Tracks 0:14
  61. "Clap Your Hands" 1:21
  62. "Violin" 3:33
  63. "Stalk of Wheat" 1:19
  64. "Robot Parade" 1:22
  65. "Sleepwalkers" 2:40
  66. "Here in Higglytown " 0:58

    Exclusive bonus tracks

Special editions with exclusive bonus tracks were produced for various outlets. Bonus tracks include:

They Might Be Giants

Additonal musicians
Production
"Can You Find It?" was featured on the soundtrack to the movie Wordplay.
"Robot Parade" was featured during the credits to an episode of the animated television series The Simpsons.