Editing They Might Be Giants (section)

===Move to Elektra (1989–1992)===
{{Listen|filename=Birdhouse In Your Soul Clip.ogg|title="Birdhouse In Your Soul"|description=Chorus of the charting single "Birdhouse In Your Soul".}}

In 1989, They Might Be Giants signed with [[Elektra Records]] and released their third album ''[[Flood (They Might Be Giants album)|Flood]]'' the following year. ''Flood'' earned them a platinum album, largely thanks to the success of "[[Birdhouse in Your Soul]]" which reached number three on the U.S. Modern Rock chart, as well as "[[Istanbul (Not Constantinople)]]", a cover of a song originally recorded by [[the Four Lads]].

In 1990, ''Throttle'' magazine interviewed They Might Be Giants and clarified the meaning of the song "Ana Ng": John Flansburgh said, "Ng is a Vietnamese name. The song is about someone who's thinking about a person on the exact opposite side of the world. John looked at a globe and figured out that if Ana Ng is in [[Vietnam]] and the person is on the other side of the world, then it must be written by someone in [[Peru]]".<ref>Derek Thomas, ''Throttle'', August 1990</ref>

Further interest in the band was generated when two cartoon music videos were created by [[Warner Bros. Animation]] for ''[[Tiny Toon Adventures]]'': "[[Istanbul (Not Constantinople)]]" and "[[Particle Man]]".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Crumpler, Forest |date=April 4, 2001 |title=They Might Be Giants: The best band you've never seen |url=http://www.centralfloridafuture.com/media/paper174/news/2001/04/04/Entertainment/They-Might.Be.Giants.The.Best.Band.Youve.Never.Seen-62643.shtml?norewrite200603220104&sourcedomain=www.centralfloridafuture.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927182615/http://www.centralfloridafuture.com/media/paper174/news/2001/04/04/Entertainment/They-Might.Be.Giants.The.Best.Band.Youve.Never.Seen-62643.shtml?norewrite200603220104&sourcedomain=www.centralfloridafuture.com |archive-date=September 27, 2007 |access-date=April 7, 2006 |website=Central Florida Future}}</ref> The videos reflected TMBG's high "kid appeal", resulting from their often absurd songs and pop melodies.

In 1991, Bar/None Records released the B-sides compilation ''[[Miscellaneous T]]''. Though consisting of previously released material (save for the "[[Purple Toupee]]" [[A-side and B-side|B-sides]], which were not available publicly), it gave new fans a chance to hear the Johns' earlier non-album work without having to hunt down the individual EPs.

In early 1992, They Might Be Giants released ''[[Apollo 18 (album)|Apollo 18]]''. The heavy space theme coincided with TMBG being named Musical Ambassadors for [[International Space Year]]. Singles from the album included "[[The Statue Got Me High]]", "[[I Palindrome I]]", and "[[The Guitar (The Lion Sleeps Tonight)]]". ''Apollo 18'' was also notable for being one of the first albums to take advantage of the CD player's shuffle feature. The song "Fingertips" actually comprised 21 separate tracks — short snippets that not only acted together to make the song but that when played in random order would be interspersed between the album's full-length songs. Due to mastering errors, the U.K. and Australian versions of ''Apollo 18'' contained "Fingertips" as one track.{{Citation needed|date=October 2023|reason=This is a funny little anecdote, but we can't know if it's true or not}}