Dustmite with hairSteve BurnsDustmite

Steve Burns and Steven Drozd standing close together. They are both wearing a rainbow cape and each have one arm stretched out to expand the cape. They also have large name tags connected to their chests.

Well ... it's the Blue's Clues guy. I became aware of his music after getting really into Blue's Clues in late 2020. I decided to listen to his stuff just to see what it was like and I got obsessed with it very quickly. Like with every band that I get into, I listened to everything in chronological order so the first song I heard of his was "Mighty Little Man." Well, I think the first song I actually heard from him was his cover of "Dead" by They Might Be Giants which appeared on an episode of This Might Be a Podcast that was about that particular song. I highly suggest to listen to all of his music especially if you are into the typical indie rock stuff. I'll have everything linked down below.

I want to go through his discography a bit since I think the information out there is a bit incorrect and incomplete, but I am also quite confused about it. So here is a list of the tour dates from the 2000s. Let's start off with Songs for Dustmites. This is his first album that was released in August 12, 2003. You can listen to Songs for Dustmites on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Music. You can also try to find a physical copy of it somewhere. Good luck on that! Here is a short paper written by Paul Ford discussing the appropriateness of the album for children and other small mammals. This release had two music videos with one being for "Mighty Little Man" (dancing Gabe version) and another for "What I Do On Saturday." He toured for that album in 2003 and in 2004. Here's a show from July 26, 2004 at the Casbah in San Diego, California (I know it says the 27th instead of the 26th, but everywhere else says he went there on the 26th). On July 11, 2006, a tribute album for They Might Be Giants was released titled Hello Radio: The Songs of They Might Be Giants which consisted of Burns' cover of the song "Dead" which he also made a music video for. As a mega TMBG fan, I really enjoy his cover of this song. Unfortunately, I don't care that much for the original version of "Dead" so I am open to any decent cover that changes it up a bit. Later that year Burns announced a new album called Deep Sea Recovery Efforts (the earliest mention I see of this on his site is from late 2006) that was to be released underneath the band name Steve Burns and the Struggle which was also stylized as Steve Burns (and the Struggle). The album was also mentioned in interviews years before so he must have been working on it for awhile. Burns appeared on a Flaming Lips song called "Time Travel... YES!!" that is on the EP It Overtakes Me which was released November 13, 2006. In 2009 it was announced that Deep Sea Recovery Efforts was finished and was actually an EP. I assume this was supposed to be released that year, but it never was. You can listen to some version of it here and you can also download it here. I am not sure if this is the order that the songs are supposed to be in or if these songs were really meant to be part of this EP. I actually got to ask him about what happened to this EP in 2023. The very short version of why it wasn't released is that he was not very happy with it. He felt that it was too polished, not as rocking as the previous album, and was not very cohesive. I am VERY glad that I was able to obtain an answer to this mystery. I really love this EP and I do wish it did get some sort of official release, but at least the songs still became public and we are able to listen to it instead of it just being gone forever. I think this is where his "adult" work ends and where his kids work begins.

Let's start off with "I Hog the Ground" made for Jack's Big Music Show in 2007 with Steven Drozd from the Flaming Lips. This was made for the Groundhog Day episode which is episode nine from season two. Drozd and Burns have already been working together for years starting with his first album Songs for Dustmites from 2003. These two continued to work together to produce a kids album titled Foreverywhere which was released on February 24, 2017 underneath the band name StevenSteven (also stylized as STEVENSTEVEN, Steve-n-steveN, Steven Steven, and possibly some other ways that I am not aware of). Check out their Myspace page. I think Uni Vs. Octo was the previous band name...or maybe the previous album name. Anyways, I really enjoy the bio on their page and you should totally go read it. You can listen to Foreverywhere on YouTube, Bandcamp, Spotify, Apple Music, and possibly some other places. This release had three music videos for the songs "the Unicorn and Princess Rainbow," "A Fact Is A Gift That You Give Your Brain," and "OK Toilet Bowl." They had an album release show on February 26, 2017 and here's a playlist I made of what I've found on YouTube plus other promotional performances. Two years later, they released an audiobook that is also titled Foreverywhere on Audible. Burns also appeared on a song titled "It's Going Up!" by Tim Kubart that is on the album Building Blocks which was released September 28, 2018. I think his musical journey is on pause for now so I'll leave you with the Christmas episode from Blue's Clues & You! and the music video for "You Can't Spell Blue Without YOU."

Music downloads + information on some of them taken from the steveburnsrocks lyrics page:

When I Fall Down was first posted on Mp3.com on January 22nd, 2001.

The Buzz - Sat May 17, 2003 12:46 pm: "When I Fall Down's mixable audio files got fried when the angels took my 40 gig hard drive. It rests in peace on heaven's 15th floor - Steve Burns."

I Wanna Be Your Alpha Male was first posted on Mp3.com on January 23rd, 2001 and then removed for a short while and put back, on January 28th, 2001. The reason it was removed was because "some of the vocals were bad and he wanted to fix it". If anyone managed to download a copy of the original version back then - you have a collector's item.

Mp3.com - Story Behind the Song: "A song about being 5'5" and trying to get noticed, or even get a drink at a club - Steve Burns." It was later changed to the following: "A satirical look at the dating scene... - Steve Burns."

The Buzz - Sat May 17, 2003 12:46 pm: "Alpha Male got recorded at Tarboxroad Studios with Steven Drozd and Michael Ivins. It has a Jesus and Mary Chain sort of feel to it and will be released as a B side - Steve Burns."

Mighty Little Man was first posted on Mp3.com on January 31st, 2001

The Buzz - Tue Feb 04, 2003 3:34 am: "Well. Here's the story. The "original" Mighty Little Man wasn't ever really intended to be a song. It was an exercise I was doing to learn how to use my music editing software. If you listen closely you can tell it is just one two chord loop over and over. I put words to it because I wanted to test my new microphones! LOL... Anyway the chorus stayed with me (catchy...ain't it?). I went to Tarbox Road studios and I "wrote" the rest of the music and words in Fredonia. The new one is less autobiographical."

Dirty Hair Breakfast was first posted on Mp3.com on June 21st, 2001.

The Buzz - Tue Feb 04, 2003 3:34 am: "Dirty Hair Breakfast was for a friends film (never happened) - Steve Burns."

The Buzz - Sat May 17, 2003 12:46 pm: "Dirty Hair Breakfast was never really a "song" intended for my record. It was written as a demo for a co-worker's independent dv short which never really happened. It was sort of an exercise… it took about 3 hours and was very fun- but I don't think of it as one of my songs - Steve Burns."

When A Reason was first posted on Mp3.com on February 6th, 2001 it was originally called The Reasons.

Mp3.com - Story Behind the Song: "Took about 2 hours to do, start to finish. Written mostly about a "relationship" a friend of mine "almost had." Check out the slide whistle. I Auto-Tuned it (that's pitch correction software), and played it live. I was getting sick of those drum loop sample things, so I sniffed and coughed and hit the back of my guitar. Not the best production ever, but hopefully it's ... disarming and sincere. Or awful and inexcusable - Steve Burns."

My Eyes Are Full was first posted on Mp3.com on February 7th, 2001.

Mp3.com - Story Behind the Song: "Except for the drums, that's ALL guitar. God bless the digital domain - Steve Burns."

The Buzz - Sat May 17, 2003 12:46 pm: "My Eyes Are Full... that one would have made it, but I ran out of time. I like that one - Steve Burns."

Tour archive:

Other pages:

Things to look at:

YouTube accounts with Steve stuff:

A list of fansites:

  • Steve Burns Rocks! Please, look through the entire site if you're really interested in Steve, there's so much stuff archived on there. Literally everything is on here up to around 2010.
  • The Steve Scene. This consists of photos and reviews of concerts. Anything from here that was archived I put onto the tour archive linked above.
  • Steve-Burns
  • Eville's site

Places where Steve Burns can be found: Instagram - TikTok - Defunct Website (2002 - 2006 - 2009)

Places where StevenSteven can be found: YouTube - Abandoned Twitter - Defunct Website


Go back to the Music home page


A digital drawing of Steve. Above him it says 'I have recently been named one of People magazine's 100 most eligible bachelors.' Below him it says 'I am still laughing.'