David Byrne makes David Shrigley’s words very much his own on the awesome “For You,” the song included for you (well, if you’re a subscriber) in this week’s ‘Gum Drop. To extend the concept some, three ‘Gum droppers will receive Worried Noodles, the David Shrigley songbook and double CD of tunes by Grizzly Bear, YACHT, Liars, and 36 other cool acts … including Byrne and his pop burst.

Unsure of the concept? The lyrics (for Byrne and those others) are taken from the Scottish artist Shrigley’s songbook published in 2005. Joining Byrne in setting Shrigley’s words to music are the aforementioned along with Deerhoof, Final Fantasy, Franz Ferdinand, Dirty Projectors, Liars, Hot Chip and etc. Peruse the tracklist here. Sign-up to enter the contest here.

Make your iPod and coffee table proud. We’ll be picking three winners this time.

CONTEST ENDS 10/31 AT 12PM EST.

If you enjoyed the David Byrne MP3 attached to this week’s Drop, you’ll no doubt want a copy of Worried Noodles, the 2xCD/book combo for which the Talking Head’s song was commissioned. The lyrics are taken from Scottish artist David Shrigley’s songbook published in 2005. Joining Byrne in setting Shrigley’s words to music are Grizzly Bear, YACHT, Deerhoof, Final Fantasy, Franz Ferdinand, Dirty Projectors, Liars, Hot Chip and thirty other awesome bands. Peruse the tracklist here.

Enter now; make your iPod and coffee table proud. We’ll be picking three winners this week.

CONTEST ENDS 10/31 AT 12PM EST.

Scottish artist David Shrigley has turned his 2005 book Worried Noodles (The Empty Sleeve) into a 39-track music compilation, featuring Franz Ferdinand, Grizzly Bear, Liars, Deerhoof, and other Stereogum faves. Only David Byrne, however, added to the author’s witty, weird words (view the verses here). The Worried Noodles 2xCD/book combo comes out 10/23 on Tomlab, with a limited-edition triple vinyl box slated for March. We’re thrilled to premiere Mr. Byrne’s inventive percussive take on “For You,” but first some Q&A with the author:

What’s it like having these bands put your words to music?
I didn’t really have any input into how how the lyrics were interpreted. I made the original lyrics for publication in 2005 and that was the sum of my creative involvement. The artists received the lyrics and did whatever they wanted.

What are your thoughts on “For You” and working with David Byrne?
I knew that David Byrne liked my work so I figured he might say yes if we asked him and fortunately he did. He added a few lines in order to make them rhyme. I heard a few drafts of the song, but it was only the production that changed, the song remained the same.

The Worried Noodles lineup is really impressive, but is there anyone else you’d hope to collaborate with someday?
I heard that Courtney Love was asking for people to write lyrics for her via her MySpace page. I think I might try and give that a shot. I think we could work well together…

After getting his feet wet with Deerhoof album art and a Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy video, the longtime writerly Scottish artist David Shrigley opted for full-on indie-rock submersion, turning his 2005 book Worried Noodles (The Empty Sleeve) into a 39-track compilation featuring a number of our favorites (including Phil Elvrum and Mt. Eerie), setting his witty and weird (often quite affecting) words to song. Think ultra-spare Raymond Pettibon … the musical. We served up a bit of Grizzly Bear’s “Blackcurrant Jam” — plenty of orchestral oomph, quite a few beards, and maybe just a little bit o’ Strawberry Jam. Now, here’s a shot at Liars threatening to eat a rat if they get hungry enough. It’s a foot tapping, percussive siren-shouting tribal dance class.

Imagine rat would taste alright smeared with some of that aforementioned jam. Break out the blackened glow sticks.

Worried Noodles is out 10/23 as a two-CD/104-page hardcover book on Tom Lab (the three-LP version — sans book — appears to be sold out).

All we’ve got to go on is a snippet here (53 seconds at that), but for fellow Grizzly fanboys and girls, it’s the best way to spend less-than-a-minute today. The song’s called “Blackcurrant Jam,” and it’s set to appear on Worried Noodles, a comp featuring songs with lyrics taken from David Shrigley’s 2005-released Worried Noodles (The Empty Sleeve) songbook. Click here for a taste of Grizzly’s blissful, harmony-laden “Jam,” set to some of David’s masterful Noodles doodles. The comp’s got 39 tracks, each from a different artist (including Franz Ferdinand, Liars, David Byrne, Hot Chip, Dirty Projectors, and Deerhoof), and it coming as a double disc with a 104-page book of lyrics and illustrations on 10/23 on Tomlab. Click for the solid setlist.

On a Grizz related note, how ’bout that song “Knife,” eh? Ya know, the one which gets guys to tap their girls on the shoulders and say “This is the song I was talking about!” when played live, the one which has been covered by everyone from Beirut (drunk) to college choirs (probably not drunk). The nostalgic pomo doo-wop track (which we once called a “” is an easy access point to the still breathtaking Yellow House, and apparently it’s a ton of fun to cover — or, in Girl Talk’s case, manipulate. So for some comparison shopping, we’ve rounded up a couple of “Knife”s (Bradford Cox’s, Born Ruffians’, and not-a-DJ Gregg Gillis’s). It’s a nearly complete set.

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