The musical transition that seemed to have just begun with Fear of Music came to fruition on Talking Heads' fourth album, Remain in Light. "I Zimbra" and "Life During Wartime" from the earlier album served as the blueprints for a disc on which the group explored African polyrhythms on a series of driving groove tracks, over which David Byrne chanted and sang his typically disconnected lyrics. Remain in Light had more words than any previous Heads record, but they counted for less than ever in the sweep of the music. The album's single, "Once in a Lifetime," flopped upon release, but over the years it became an audience favorite due to a striking video, its inclusion in the band's 1984 concert film Stop Making Sense, and its second single release (in the live version) because of its use in the 1986 movie Down and Out in Beverly Hills, when it became a minor chart entry. Byrne sounded typically uncomfortable in the verses ("And you may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful wife/And you may ask yourself, well, how did I get here?"), which were undercut by the reassuring chorus ("Letting the days go by"). Even without a single, Remain in Light was a hit, indicating that Talking Heads were connecting with an audience ready to follow their musical evolution, and the album was so inventive and influential, it was no wonder. As it turned out, however, it marked the end of one aspect of the group's development and was their last new music for three years.
I feel a special kinship with Mr. Byrne. We are both skinny and awkward looking. But he has a 1000 x's more rhythm than I ever will. I remember an interview around the time "Stop Making Sense" was re-released on DVD, the interviewer asked him what surprised him listening to the old stuff, he replied (paraphrased) that he was surprised just how funky they were back then. So I submit to you a...
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Never really cared for the original version, but this interpretation really speaks to me...
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I promised myself never to date anyone who thought The Beatles sucked. I feel almost the same way about "Remain in Light". To this day, the album is revered, for good reason. No quality record collection is complete without it, although the only track most people know from it is "Once In A Lifetime".That's a shame, because "Once" is my least favorite track on the record. Brian Eno really did th...
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Just sitting here at work, still thinking about how life works these days.To quote myself from a comment on "Jenny Tatone's":http://mog.com/Jenny_Tatone blog on the subject of bands' apparent love of the past:_If the law of diminishing returns is to be believed, in the year 2020 bands will reinvent and reexplore the music that was released earlier that day. By 2035 Bands will Reinvent and reexa...
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Once Twice In A Lifetime(that's how I wanted the title to read) There was a great article in the Life & Arts Sunday paper (remember those??) yesterday. Arts/Culture reporter Ron Rollins expanded a plug for Tom Moon's new book "1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die" into a lament for the bygone days the local record store, and how much missed are the environs of musical discovery that were co...
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One of my favorite songs by the Talking Heads is "Seen and Not Seen" off of their more-than-essential album Remain in Light. If you know the album at all, that might seem strange to you. After all, out of all the songs on the album, this is the least song-ish one on it. It has lyrics, but no singing. It has structure and rhythm, but does not follow the traditional song format. Without a do...
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Almost as exciting as the day I met Peter Hook. I have been a Talking Heads fan forever, just like New Order...so it actually started the day before he played a packed house at Wells Fargo Center in Santa Rosa CA. We met up with David's band during the day for a shoot and caught him on his bike ride through the city. Imagine yourself stopped in traffic...and David Byrne passes you by on a bi...
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Who am I? What a difficult question. There are only facts linked by my memory and these digital grains of music and media, a faint line of sand behind me. I was born and raised in Scottdale, a small town in southwestern Pennsylvania, surrounded by lots of family and places to explore, freedom and possibility, provincialism and a kind of redneck white trash vague rebelliousness. We said thi...
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When the Talking Heads _Speaking in Tongues_ first came out, I went to the record store and was among the lucky few who bought a limited edition vinyl of the album that was designed by none other than "Robert Rauschenberg":http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Rauschenberg.It was the prized album in my collection ... the vinyl itself was clear, and included several sheets of acetate upon which Ra...
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*How did I get here ????* Mr. Byrne shall explain fully for you !!!_*SIDE NOTE:*_ This would be in my top 5 videos from the 80s I think... & I'll be damned if this song doesn't stay with me til my last breath...Am I right or am I wrong... h1. I am RIGHT !!!!
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I just came across this video the other night. What an inspiring piece and perfect timing for me to relate. For those of you who haven't seen it...I think it's worth the watch. You know some of the workers started to get a bit scared after a few minutes between the humor and insanity there's a fine line. Okay so I relate because I dislike my job. It's paying the bills, I'm able to have a...
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Groon has a hit upon a great theme of Talking Heads songs and their relation to real life scenarios. After reading his Burning Down the House post, I thought about a recent article I had just read in Mark Architecture and the corresponding Remain in Light song that popped into my head while I was reading it. It is too cool. Paraphrased out of Mark:The Dutch architect and artist John Kormeling h...
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A track from the "Remain In Light" album and a video from "Speaking In Tongues". The band were famous for great songs like: "Life During Wartime", "Psycho Killer", "Burning Down The House", "Once In A Lifetime", "Road To Nowhere" and "Wild Wild Life" and more...........................................Talking Heads were an American rock band formed in 1974 in New York City who were active until ...
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This is Brian Eno`s contribution to Talking Heads. He co-wrote every song on this album and produced it as well. One of Talking Heads biggest hits, "Once in a Lifetime" is another known track from this album (Remain in Light). But here is "The Overload".Brian Eno-David Byrne-Chris Frantz-Tina Weymouth-Jerry HarrisonTalking Heads - Remain in Light (1980)
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Never really cared for the original version, but this interpretation really speaks to me...
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Just sitting here at work, still thinking about how life works these days.To quote myself from a comment on "Jenny Tatone's":http://mog.com/Jenny_Tatone blog on the subject of bands' apparent love of the past:_If the law of diminishing returns is to be believed, in the year 2020 bands will reinvent and reexplore the music that was released earlier that day. By 2035 Bands will Reinvent and reexa...
More >
I promised myself never to date anyone who thought The Beatles sucked. I feel almost the same way about "Remain in Light". To this day, the album is revered, for good reason. No quality record collection is complete without it, although the only track most people know from it is "Once In A Lifetime".That's a shame, because "Once" is my least favorite track on the record. Brian Eno really did th...
More >
The more things change the more they stay the same. Revisiting the Talking Heads of late has reminded me of how far ahead of their time they were.
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| Title | Lyrics | Buy |
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| 1 Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On) |
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| 2 Crosseyed and Painless |
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| 3 The Great Curve |
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| 4 Once in a Lifetime |
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| 5 Houses in Motion |
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| 6 Seen and Not Seen |
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| 7 Listening Wind |
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| 8 The Overload |
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Click to purchase…
© 2006-2009 Mog Inc. All Rights Reserved
 "Remain in Light")
