Down at the shore there's a place where there's no one vacationing
There's just the sound of the call of the wild overcoming the fear of the unknown
And I've got something to help you understand
Something waiting there beneath the sand
My metal detector is with me all of the time
I'm the inspector over the mine
Look past the volleyball (look past the ball)
Look past the squawking gull (look past the gull)
Ignore the mountain of discarded falderal
'Cause I've got something to make you understand
Something hidden there underneath the land
My metal detector is with me all of the time
I'm the inspector over the mine
Metal detector, watch it shine
Every seashell has a story to tell if you're listening
But underneath every shell there's a story as well if you've heard enough of the sea
Then everything on the top will just suddenly stop seeming interesting
So listen now to the sound of the things that are found underground
Don't need no volleyball (don't need no volleyball)
Don't need no squawking gull (don't need no squawking gull)
Don't need to look at any bathing beauty doll (don't need to look at any doll)
For I've got something to help you understand
Something waiting there beneath the sand
My metal detector is with me all of the time
I'm the inspector over the mine
Look past the volleyball (look past the ball)
Look past the squawking gull (look past the gull)
Ignore the mountain of discarded falderal
'Cause I've got something to make you understand
Something hidden there underneath the land
My metal detector is with me all of the time
I'm the inspector over the mine
Metal detector, watch it shine
Don't need no volleyball (don't need no volleyball)
Don't need no squawking gull (don't need no squawking gull)
Metal detector, all the time (metal detector all the time)
Quoth the Johns:
Partly inspired by a zealous guidebook to buried treasure in coastal Maine, the perspective of "Metal Detector" is that beach recreation is frivolous compared to the serious business of treasure hunting. We dug up the dusty but still squawking MicroMoog synthesizer for many of the sounds on this track.
—John Linnell and John Flansburgh
[source: "A Guided Tour of Factory Showroom," TMBG Info Club Newsletter, Holiday 1996 edition]