Lead singer David Byrne said this about the song: "Byrne said the song was about the unconscious: "We operate half-awake or on autopilot and end up, whatever, with a house and family and job and everything else, and we haven't really stopped to ask ourselves, 'How did I get here?'" The video is perfect for the song. Nice Reaction Asia and BJ ❤️
Great request!!! Life During WarTime was the first song that turned me on to The Talking Heads. Their concert version shows how much energy this band had.
Such a great carpe diem song! Basically he's saying, don't sleep walk through life. David Byrne is a mad musical genius. *And She Was* is one of my favorites of them. Anything from their *Stop Making Sense* performance is great. They're another band that is better live than in studio. 💜
and to me, just my view on it, is the 'water flowing underground'...is his way of just saying there may be a lot of stuff going on in your life around you that you can't see but don't worry too much about that stuff, it's gonna happen so just let it happen...it won't bother you.. at least that's always kind of how those words hit me anyhow. Talking Heads are frickin awesome 👍
You know I have always loved what was mainstream but have never dived into him. Think I might tonight. His voice is just wow but I just always felt he is probably going to be too smart to understand. 😂😂😂
"You cannot step into the same river twice," Heraclitus. Time flows, same as it ever was. The days go by and we go back into the blue after our money (time) is gone. Also, after our actual wealth is gone we may realize what life is truly about. We are not in the "red" but in the blue. The existential question of what is my life about? I wanted a big house and car and a beautiful wife since I was told that is success. I have it, what now? What have I done? I wasted all that time. I only have this life to live as this identity. Regardless, we all end where we started, into the blue again. Time isn't holding us or after us. We exist in time and have to let go since all is impermanent. "Letting the days go by (Water flowing underground) / Into the blue again."
Wow. I will say this with no hesitation. This comment is the absolute best I've seen when it comes to explaining the meaning of a song ever. You nailed it.
This may be the best take on any song I have ever read. This actually made me stop for a moment and think about my life and how I got here. Thanks for that. Also, thanks to The Heads and Asia & BJ for leading me to this today.
This Video was directed by Toni Basil who had a huge hit in the early 80's with the song "Mickey". She basically told David Byrne the lead singer to do what he felt was "natural" and now you see the result. It is considered a video classic.
BJ the answer to your questions is "same as it ever was". Asia, there are things about life we just can't ever fully understand like 'water flowing underground'. Things are happening behind the scenes - same as it ever was!
You’ll find that you know the band “Tom Tom Club”. It’s comprised of the drummer & bassist from the talking heads. Their biggest song, “Genius of Love”, has been sampled a lot. You should check it out too.
David Byrne is a tremendous artist musician who entertains on so many levels. He surrounds himself with fantastic musicians. I have seen him many times over 40 plus years and I do not need to know what he is doing that show , Byrne’s playing I’m there🥰
04:51 "Water flowing underground" is the dynamic reality flowing just under the surface of everyday existence; if one could only break free of “letting the days go by” and dig a little deeper, one might find some meaningful answers to one's existential questions.
David's Byrne's bizarre movements were based on videos he'd seen of preachers and shamans who went into trance-like states and spiritual possession. The beginning starts with him rising up out of the water as if he's just been baptised. The chopping movement across his forearm is a direct imitation of an African ritual. David delivered the whole song as if he was conducting a sermon. The chorography isn't directly linked to the lyrics themes other than the river and water references. It was just something visually arresting and quirky. This band made their oddness an asset and funked it up. Check out anything from their live album 'Stop making sense', the bands energy is astounding.
Asia & BJ, you'll love their "Life During Wartime", "Psycho Killer"(must be album version) and "Take Me To The River". Very creative band. Started in the 70s.
You will not truly "get" this band til you see a live performance.. they did a concert film called "STOP MAKING SENSE. In 84.. watch any song from that and you'll get it. It's weird, its art, its funky, it's high energy New Wave at its finest.
"LIFE DURING WARTIME" live from the concert movie "Stop Making Sense" ( Thanx Uncle Meat.) Band was a mix of Talking Heads and African American funk band Parliament/Funkadelic.
Dudes, they are soooo legendary.....like, released, idk, 7, 8, or 9 albums between 1977 and 1991, and they have, like, 50+ songs that are just epic, legendary, masterpiece works of art....they’re brilliant, delve this band!....check out “book I read”, “cross-eyed and painless”, “houses in motion”, “wild life”, “heaven”, “air”, “cities”, “life during wartime”, “stay hungry”, theres seemingly a trillion songs of theirs that are all spectacular:D.....I’m a painter and David Byrne is the epitome of the word artist to me, him and Peter Gabriel
This one was played constantly on MTV back in the day. Now their bands title is synonymous with the commentators on cable news. Other popular songs are Burning Down the House and Road to Nowhere.
Love Talking Heads. Check out their concert footage where David Byrne has a ginormous suit on. Dancing around and singing. Don't get it twisted they wrote great music.
When this video was made just prior to MTV and first hit the airwaves on a show called Friday Night Videos, I think. But when MTV opened shop it made a big splash. Now that you've had a taste of the oddball antics of the imaginative David Byrne, let's completely fry your circuits with the wacky fun of the B-52s and ROCK LOBSTER. The live performance will twist you until you shout. Guaranteed.
This is the song from their best album, REMAIN IN LIGHT, 1980, full with funky and Afro beats. Adrian Bellew and Brian Eno were there too. It was the peak of TALKING HEADS. After that album came the commercial success
'Burning Down the House'! 'And She Was'! Especially love the video for that one.....really catchy music with social commentary lyrics.....I always considered the water to be the pull of time through life....same as it ever was....we get pulled along and don't know how we got there.
BJ got it.. this is very philosophical song. The strange movements were taken from videos of possessed man on religious ceremonies. David is a genius artist! Regards from Israel.
Asia I had the same reaction that you did, the first time I heard this band. I think I was about 14 years old and thinking to myself * wtf did I just listen to?* The lead singer, David Byrne, is very creative, artistic, eclectic, and has a slightly neurotic/psychotic stage persona. You should check out their MTV hits "Burning Down the House" and "Wild Life".
You're traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound, but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. That's the band up ahead… your next stop, the Talking Heads Zone!
King Solomon: "There is nothing new under the sun" David Byrne: "Same as it ever was" You want to see Byrne being really trippy, watch the video for "Girlfriend Is Better" from the Stop Making Sense film.
When this came out during the 80's we would ask our friends "how are you doing"' and they would usually say "Same as it ever was" and then do the hand going across the arm deal. This song was that popular then!
I came back here again because I like the way you were trying to figure this song out. Like I said, the best explanation of it is if you see the movie, Down & Out In Beverly Hills. It's about a homeless man who loses his dog and tries to commit suicide by jumping into the pool of some Beverly Hills biggie. The owner saves him and befriends him. Suddenly he's living in a big house and driving in a big automobile. Somehow he gets into an affair with the wife. In the end he's like this is not my big house. This is not my beautiful wife. He leaves and everything is the same as it ever was. BTW, I love your theme song.
Lucky to remember all these videos coming out on MTV. Talking Heads, Peter Gabriel, and others made some incredible videos. They were almost as invested in the video as the music. Special time.
It's not a good sign when even rock stars can't afford their meds. Kidding aside the singer is pretty smart and even wrote a book detailing how the music industry works, like what you can expect to get if you sign a recording contract, what you're likely to get for each album you sell (on the average virtually nothing, if you're name is on the credits a few cents more) so on and so forth. I was born in 1977 and Talking Heads was actually one of the earliest videos I can recall seeing on MTV when I first became aware of the channel in 1983/84, video was Burning Down The House.
The first time I saw this, I was smoking some pot with a friend. He said "you have to see this new "Talking Heads" video on Mtv. I laughed my ass off. He looked like an escapee from the mental institution. Great stuff.
Talking Heads *Stop Making Sense* Movie Concert was the most rented VHS of all-time. Theatres had to shut down mid-movie due to the risk of upper seats collapsing. People were bouncing in and out of their seats like it was a live show. Also, averaged 80s live arena rock concert cost between $8 and $16: BTO, Foreigner, Cheap Trick, Alice Cooper, Supertramp, Foghat, Blue Öyster Cult, Triumph, Foghat, Pat Travers Band, Midnight Oil, Beach Boys, Duran Duran, Loverboy, Toto, Great White, Thin Lizzy, April Wine, Little River Band, Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show, Headpins, Tragically Hip, Styx, Gerry Doucette, Gordon Lightfoot, Nazareth and Heart. To be young in the 70s and 80s!
I'm not even going to try to explain the song, David Byrne, or the Heads, I can see people are doing that already. I would just suggest you see the concert movie they did, Stop Making Sense, because it's joyous, fun, and great. I think Jonathan Demme directed, its just really joyful.
Yeah - it's about waking up to the life you have and questioning is it really what you wanted? Is the automobile, the wife, the job and the monotony that goes with that etc. what you signed up for? The video is so good. When 80s music videos were doing more than being literal to the lyrics.
I love David Burne. The first time i saw this video i said to my-self "what the !@#$ is this?" Once I got my bearings, I realized how great his music is. The man is a genius and I love his music. A true artist.
Time is the river that flows underground, beneath our thoughts and actions, time keeps flowing as always and will never stop. "How did I get here?" is just that, the place we are in life, at that time, is a cumulation of your experiences and in the next moment, it is another point in your lifetime, so each point in time is only "Once In A Lifetime".
David Byrne was inspired by radio preachers' cadence and sentence structure for the "you may ask yourself" parts. He listened to radio religious shows in the '80s. Oh David, you're so fine. You're so fine; you blow my mind.
Thank you Asia & BJ!! Talking Heads have spanned such a diverse range of musical styles & compositions over the years. Their song 'The Democratic Circus' is well worth checking out, and very apt for the current times imho.
One of the best, most important bands of the 80s. Extremely innovative, especially as regards rhythms and influences. They were true movers and shakers.
it is so brilliant! can you imagine being an 17 year old and watching this for the first time? my mind was blown away! This must be the place is my favorite by them!
Imagine going to a club, and hundreds of people are 'dancing' like David Byrne!🥴😵😵💫 I think 'water flowing underground' goes with the concept, 'same as it ever was' 🤔 Byrne is indeed a true musical genius!
One of my best & favorite celebrity encounters. I saw David Bryne after the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, hailing a cab. I ran up to him like a madwoman (lol) and he let the cab go by to chat with me & give me an autograph. One of the most prolific artists around. I love him and this band. Explore his artistry, he's a genius.
Great song. "Burning Down The House" "Road To Nowhere" "Take Me To The River" "And She Was" "Psycho Killer" "This Must Be The Place" "Life During Wartime" "Stop Making Sense" "Wild Wild Life" "Girlfriend Is Better" are some of their other hits.
Wife here...Asia.., I see your beautiful smile over there contemplating this song..So cute!!!..BJ..identifying with the song.."Water is ever flowing..as is our lives..You both are so intelligent to pick up this meaning quickly...It took me years!!..Thanks for making me smile AGAIN!
"Once in a Lifetime" was the lead single from Talking Heads' fourth studio album, Remain in Light (1980), which is one of those albums that deserves a full listen. I remember first hearing the song on the radio before seeing the video on early MTV. On the radio the song came across as the bright bubbly bouncy pop song it is. Dig that Fela Kuti inspired Afrobeat! And that simple but powerful bass line is supplied by Tina Weymouth. I rediscovered the song in a big way when the video came out a few years later. My buddies and I thought it was the bomb. The trippy water graphics, Byrne's quirky dancing, his duck walk, those jerky motions -- like he was getting beat up by the invisible man -- and that chopping gesture, that was strange and weird and cool to us. Fifteen year olds have strange tastes! [grin]
It really is their best album. They’ve got some good songs on their other albums, but the entirety of Remain in Light is solid. If you love it and want to go a little further, check out My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, the collab between Byrne and Brian Eno.
This band made popular rock into something meaningful and yet fun. Great beats. Lead singer, David Byrne, says part of what works for him in his creativity is his Asperger's Syndrome. Gotta see them live to really 'get' them. Try Life During Wartime live from 83. Also, keep in mind, when listening to anything around that time, that was art's Absurdist Period, featuring people like Weird Al, Steve Martin and David Letterman. Weird was in. Non sequitur was hip. This song's just built off a jam with some preacher-like phrases added more for how they sounded than what they meant.
The "heads" RULED the early 80s, please check out Burning down the house. Wild wild life. Little creatures. Take me to the river. Their live version of Life during wartime Will blow ur dam mind. David Byrne and band are Ultimate showman.
Talking Heads is one of the bands that came out of the early punk scene at CBGB's in NYC, with the Ramones, Blondie, Dead Boys and Cramps. It was such an interesting thing that went on there. Try a Talking Heads song called "Psycho Killer", which was their first big song. Blondie and Talking Heads were later labelled "New Wave" because radio resisted playing anything labelled as "punk", and the idea of what could be called "punk" became narrower, but initially it was a very open concept.
One of the more interesting bands you will ever find, always something different with them. Byrne, the leader is a genius. Check out Psycho Killer, Take me to the RIver, Burning Down the House, those are just the popular ones, so many hidden gems. Enjoy
That was a PRICELESS reaction guys!!!!! The laughter alone made it for me. And yes, it took me years to get this song, but the bassline on it ALONE is just so dope; it got sampled like crazy....
The concert film Stop Making Sense is so good and you get a much better idea of how good this band was, David Byrne performing in the oversized big suit for their song Girlfriend is Better is a classic
The Talking Heads are physical and visual artists just as much as musical artists, they try to engage as many of your senses as possible during a live performance
Talking Heads Stop Making Sense, was the first music movie I saw. I was 18 just moved to Oakland CA, I was high on shrooms and it was the best thing I ever saw. P.S. Glad to see you brought he video back.
One look at all the amazing artists that Byrne has worked with and what they all walk away stating about their experience is enough to understand that some talent is an understatement for what Byrne holds. You could spend hours reading the reviews of those who have worked with him, and realize how impactful on music he has been, as an unheralded hero working in the background of the music so many find amazing if not epic.
David Byrne (lead singer for this group) did a broadway show using his music and I believe this is one of them. Then I think they brought it to film with the help of Spike Lee. Talking Heads is a little strange but that's also what makes it good. What videos are was a new concept back when this video came out - there wasn't a formula like there is now - people experimented.
Water flowing underground, you do not see water flowing when it is underground. I interpret as a metaphor of that part of life that passes by that you don't realize is happening. Underground is the subconscious.
David Byrne is amazing. I absolutely love this band, they’re in my top twenty favorite bands. My mom listened to them all the time when I was growing up and I’m almost 42. I’ve listened to them the majority of my life.
The first time I ever heard Talking Heads, I wondered what on earth I was hearing, because I had never heard anything like them. They are a true art rock experience -- so original and visionary. David Byrne is a genius. Listen to more from them.
BJs got the perfect response. A belly laugh. All David Bs are weird. It's a good thing. Their movie and best live album is called "Stop Making Sense". We need to lighten up, they are saying. The Talking Heads were from RISD, Rhode Island School of Design...one of the best art schools we have. This was a form of choreography and videography as well as music. The best didn't have to make up for an absence of good music with flashy videos. Same goes for music without video. Fripp & Eno did their first album for 13 bucks, I believe it was, and it is still one of the weirdest, most transcendent pieces of music ever. Many great songs on the live album, and the "Naked" album. Neither has a bad song. Fun review. Thanks y'all.
David Byrne with American Utopia is one of the best gig I've ever atended in my whole life. Take this in this context: huge fan of Prince, I listen every day to many different styles of music from pop to jazz, from blues to electronica... I love live events, music festivals and I've been Stage Technician the last 25 years (rock, opera, theatre, musicals, ballet, etc). Of course, I'm fan of Talking Heads for decades. There's a show filmed by Jonathan Demme titled Stop Making Sense: a must.
Lead singer David Byrne said this about the song: "Byrne said the song was about the unconscious: "We operate half-awake or on autopilot and end up, whatever, with a house and family and job and everything else, and we haven't really stopped to ask ourselves, 'How did I get here?'" The video is perfect for the song. Nice Reaction Asia and BJ ❤️
"LIFE DURING WARTIME" live from the concert movie "Stop Making Sense" the entire concert is a masterpiece!
It was one of the best gigs I have ever seen. Summer of ‘83 pacific amphitheater. Irvine Ca.
This is a great suggestion!
absolutely..great suggestion...think i may go and watch it again now
yes, amazing song
Great request!!! Life During WarTime was the first song that turned me on to The Talking Heads. Their concert version shows how much energy this band had.
Talking Heads are totally worth a deep dive. True art and poetry set to music.
What do you mean true art and poetry set to music?
The singer and band members actually met in school in art class. The singer is literally a genius
You are well informed 😁thank you for sharing the knowledge 😉
Yes he is!
Sounds like Pink Floyd. They should have music lessons as a part of art school curriculum.
This song only uses 1 chord through out the song.
Such a great carpe diem song! Basically he's saying, don't sleep walk through life. David Byrne is a mad musical genius. *And She Was* is one of my favorites of them. Anything from their *Stop Making Sense* performance is great. They're another band that is better live than in studio. 💜
Love them!!!!
Agree!!
That's exactly right
Totally agree! And She Was is a great tune!
and to me, just my view on it, is the 'water flowing underground'...is his way of just saying there may be a lot of stuff going on in your life around you that you can't see but don't worry too much about that stuff, it's gonna happen so just let it happen...it won't bother you.. at least that's always kind of how those words hit me anyhow. Talking Heads are frickin awesome 👍
Love him or hate him you have to admit this is some really really unique performance art with an extremely talented band. David Byrne is the man
Love him.
You know I have always loved what was mainstream but have never dived into him. Think I might tonight. His voice is just wow but I just always felt he is probably going to be too smart to understand. 😂😂😂
This song only has 1 chord.
This song is a masterpiece!
"You cannot step into the same river twice," Heraclitus. Time flows, same as it ever was. The days go by and we go back into the blue after our money (time) is gone. Also, after our actual wealth is gone we may realize what life is truly about. We are not in the "red" but in the blue. The existential question of what is my life about? I wanted a big house and car and a beautiful wife since I was told that is success. I have it, what now? What have I done? I wasted all that time. I only have this life to live as this identity. Regardless, we all end where we started, into the blue again. Time isn't holding us or after us. We exist in time and have to let go since all is impermanent. "Letting the days go by (Water flowing underground) / Into the blue again."
Wow. I will say this with no hesitation. This comment is the absolute best I've seen when it comes to explaining the meaning of a song ever. You nailed it.
Love this explanation. 💜
Yep well explained, same as it ever was is such a great line.
This may be the best take on any song I have ever read. This actually made me stop for a moment and think about my life and how I got here. Thanks for that. Also, thanks to The Heads and Asia & BJ for leading me to this today.
This is THE answer for all questions about this song. Wonderfully done, sir or ma'am or them.
My favorite by the Heads is "Burning Down The House." Relentless groove.
Great choice. You can't sit still to that!
But it HAS to be the Stop Making Sense version
Jam!
This Video was directed by Toni Basil who had a huge hit in the early 80's with the song "Mickey". She basically told David Byrne the lead singer to do what he felt was "natural" and now you see the result. It is considered a video classic.
Wow! I didn't know that. Thanks for sharing.👍
Holy shit. That's crazy.
20 years of dancing lessons and now you can see the results.
BJ the answer to your questions is "same as it ever was". Asia, there are things about life we just can't ever fully understand like 'water flowing underground'. Things are happening behind the scenes - same as it ever was!
Talking Heads was always a whole vibe..but they are so good! Burning Down the House n Take Me to the River and Psycho Killer are musts! They were 👍
Good suggestions
Yes! Great suggestions and great songs! I would add in "Wild Wild Life" just because it's a fun video and you get a really young John Goodman cameo!
"This Must Be The Place" & "Heaven"
The dance moves, and sweating, we’re inspired by all the crazy televangelists who were so popular in the 80s.
"And she was" is another personal favorite by the Talking Heads....to be continued...
talking heads are like abstract painters. Love that video. Best ever.
Both of your reactions were pretty much the perfect way to react to them/him.
He's a character.
You’ll find that you know the band “Tom Tom Club”. It’s comprised of the drummer & bassist from the talking heads. Their biggest song, “Genius of Love”, has been sampled a lot. You should check it out too.
David Byrne is a tremendous artist musician who entertains on so many levels. He surrounds himself with fantastic musicians. I have seen him many times over 40 plus years and I do not need to know what he is doing that show , Byrne’s playing I’m there🥰
04:51 "Water flowing underground" is the dynamic reality flowing just under the surface of everyday existence; if one could only break free of “letting the days go by” and dig a little deeper, one might find some meaningful answers to one's existential questions.
These guys are worth exploring. There is no one like them and David Byrne is an absolute genius. Love your reactions
David's Byrne's bizarre movements were based on videos he'd seen of preachers and shamans who went into trance-like states and spiritual possession. The beginning starts with him rising up out of the water as if he's just been baptised. The chopping movement across his forearm is a direct imitation of an African ritual. David delivered the whole song as if he was conducting a sermon. The chorography isn't directly linked to the lyrics themes other than the river and water references. It was just something visually arresting and quirky. This band made their oddness an asset and funked it up. Check out anything from their live album 'Stop making sense', the bands energy is astounding.
Asia & BJ, you'll love their "Life During Wartime", "Psycho Killer"(must be album version) and "Take Me To The River". Very creative band. Started in the 70s.
Hey @ surlechapeau 👋💙
My favorite is "And She Was", agree they are very creative 🎶
@@juliewhite7469 good song! and thanks!
Definitely the album version
You will not truly "get" this band til you see a live performance.. they did a concert film called "STOP MAKING SENSE. In 84.. watch any song from that and you'll get it. It's weird, its art, its funky, it's high energy New Wave at its finest.
I remember my father entering the room where we were all watching MTV and had that same look on his face as Asia at 3:21
"LIFE DURING WARTIME" live from the concert movie "Stop Making Sense" ( Thanx Uncle Meat.) Band was a mix of Talking Heads and African American funk band Parliament/Funkadelic.
Intellectual Punk, Art Rock, New Wave etc... Talking heads have had a lot of labels.
First! David Byrne was a legend in New Age Rock Music in America. Welcome to R&R 101!
Wife here..Great Point..Absolutely!
The singer is totally a genius. If you take his music apart,it boggles the mind
Yes!!!!!
He's on the Aspergers spectrum
@@annother3350 most geniuses are
Dudes, they are soooo legendary.....like, released, idk, 7, 8, or 9 albums between 1977 and 1991, and they have, like, 50+ songs that are just epic, legendary, masterpiece works of art....they’re brilliant, delve this band!....check out “book I read”, “cross-eyed and painless”, “houses in motion”, “wild life”, “heaven”, “air”, “cities”, “life during wartime”, “stay hungry”, theres seemingly a trillion songs of theirs that are all spectacular:D.....I’m a painter and David Byrne is the epitome of the word artist to me, him and Peter Gabriel
I always viewed the Talking Heads as eccentric graphic artists that choose music as their media to design on.
This one was played constantly on MTV back in the day. Now their bands title is synonymous with the commentators on cable news. Other popular songs are Burning Down the House and Road to Nowhere.
Absolutely..MTV generation in the house!!
Love Talking Heads. Check out their concert footage where David Byrne has a ginormous suit on. Dancing around and singing. Don't get it twisted they wrote great music.
When this video was made just prior to MTV and first hit the airwaves on a show called Friday Night Videos, I think. But when MTV opened shop it made a big splash. Now that you've had a taste of the oddball antics of the imaginative David Byrne, let's completely fry your circuits with the wacky fun of the B-52s and ROCK LOBSTER. The live performance will twist you until you shout. Guaranteed.
This is the song from their best album, REMAIN IN LIGHT, 1980, full with funky and Afro beats. Adrian Bellew and Brian Eno were there too. It was the peak of TALKING HEADS. After that album came the commercial success
'Burning Down the House'! 'And She Was'! Especially love the video for that one.....really catchy music with social commentary lyrics.....I always considered the water to be the pull of time through life....same as it ever was....we get pulled along and don't know how we got there.
Talking Heads, proof that America has good in it!!!♥️🏴🇺🇸
BJ got it.. this is very philosophical song. The strange movements were taken from videos of possessed man on religious ceremonies. David is a genius artist! Regards from Israel.
Asia I had the same reaction that you did, the first time I heard this band. I think I was about 14 years old and thinking to myself * wtf did I just listen to?* The lead singer, David Byrne, is very creative, artistic, eclectic, and has a slightly neurotic/psychotic stage persona.
You should check out their MTV hits "Burning Down the House" and "Wild Life".
So glad you played the original video. It just can’t be missed!
Hope you enjoyed it!
@@AsiaandBJ Yes!
You're traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound, but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. That's the band up ahead… your next stop, the Talking Heads Zone!
King Solomon: "There is nothing new under the sun"
David Byrne: "Same as it ever was"
You want to see Byrne being really trippy, watch the video for "Girlfriend Is Better" from the Stop Making Sense film.
Their album Fear of Music is danceable all the way through,with Cities my fave track.
When this came out during the 80's we would ask our friends "how are you doing"' and they would usually say "Same as it ever was" and then do the hand going across the arm deal. This song was that popular then!
I came back here again because I like the way you were trying to figure this song out. Like I said, the best explanation of it is if you see the movie, Down & Out In Beverly Hills. It's about a homeless man who loses his dog and tries to commit suicide by jumping into the pool of some Beverly Hills biggie. The owner saves him and befriends him. Suddenly he's living in a big house and driving in a big automobile. Somehow he gets into an affair with the wife. In the end he's like this is not my big house. This is not my beautiful wife. He leaves and everything is the same as it ever was.
BTW, I love your theme song.
Lucky to remember all these videos coming out on MTV. Talking Heads, Peter Gabriel, and others made some incredible videos. They were almost as invested in the video as the music. Special time.
It's not a good sign when even rock stars can't afford their meds. Kidding aside the singer is pretty smart and even wrote a book detailing how the music industry works, like what you can expect to get if you sign a recording contract, what you're likely to get for each album you sell (on the average virtually nothing, if you're name is on the credits a few cents more) so on and so forth. I was born in 1977 and Talking Heads was actually one of the earliest videos I can recall seeing on MTV when I first became aware of the channel in 1983/84, video was Burning Down The House.
I guarantee if you guys grew up in the 1980s you’d be listening to them. They were on radio all the time. Great band.
One of the few artists that has more Oscar's than Grammy awards...
The first time I saw this, I was smoking some pot with a friend. He said "you have to see this new "Talking Heads" video on Mtv. I laughed my ass off. He looked like an escapee from the mental institution. Great stuff.
Talking Heads *Stop Making Sense* Movie Concert was the most rented VHS of all-time.
Theatres had to shut down mid-movie due to the risk of upper seats collapsing. People were bouncing in and out of their seats like it was a live show.
Also, averaged 80s live arena rock concert cost between $8 and $16:
BTO, Foreigner, Cheap Trick, Alice Cooper, Supertramp, Foghat, Blue Öyster Cult, Triumph, Foghat, Pat Travers Band, Midnight Oil, Beach Boys, Duran Duran, Loverboy, Toto, Great White, Thin Lizzy, April Wine, Little River Band, Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show, Headpins, Tragically Hip, Styx, Gerry Doucette, Gordon Lightfoot, Nazareth and Heart.
To be young in the 70s and 80s!
Byrne and his bandmates sittin' around a living room: Byrne: "Everybody's trying to be cool or serious, let's be weird." Bandmates: "sounds good".
I'm not even going to try to explain the song, David Byrne, or the Heads, I can see people are doing that already. I would just suggest you see the concert movie they did, Stop Making Sense, because it's joyous, fun, and great. I think Jonathan Demme directed, its just really joyful.
Yeah - it's about waking up to the life you have and questioning is it really what you wanted? Is the automobile, the wife, the job and the monotony that goes with that etc. what you signed up for? The video is so good. When 80s music videos were doing more than being literal to the lyrics.
The lyrics just flew right over your heads 😅
I love David Burne. The first time i saw this video i said to my-self "what the !@#$ is this?" Once I got my bearings, I realized how great his music is. The man is a genius and I love his music. A true artist.
Time is the river that flows underground, beneath our thoughts and actions, time keeps flowing as always and will never stop. "How did I get here?" is just that, the place we are in life, at that time, is a cumulation of your experiences and in the next moment, it is another point in your lifetime, so each point in time is only "Once In A Lifetime".
David Byrne was inspired by radio preachers' cadence and sentence structure for the "you may ask yourself" parts. He listened to radio religious shows in the '80s. Oh David, you're so fine. You're so fine; you blow my mind.
Thank you Asia & BJ!! Talking Heads have spanned such a diverse range of musical styles & compositions over the years. Their song 'The Democratic Circus' is well worth checking out, and very apt for the current times imho.
One of the best, most important bands of the 80s. Extremely innovative, especially as regards rhythms and influences. They were true movers and shakers.
it is so brilliant! can you imagine being an 17 year old and watching this for the first time? my mind was blown away! This must be the place is my favorite by them!
Imagine going to a club, and hundreds of people are 'dancing' like David Byrne!🥴😵😵💫 I think 'water flowing underground' goes with the concept, 'same as it ever was' 🤔 Byrne is indeed a true musical genius!
Must check out Talking Heads live! Their live in Rome concert in 1980 is especially excellent.
One of my best & favorite celebrity encounters. I saw David Bryne after the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, hailing a cab. I ran up to him like a madwoman (lol) and he let the cab go by to chat with me & give me an autograph. One of the most prolific artists around. I love him and this band. Explore his artistry, he's a genius.
Great song. "Burning Down The House" "Road To Nowhere" "Take Me To The River" "And She Was" "Psycho Killer" "This Must Be The Place" "Life During Wartime" "Stop Making Sense" "Wild Wild Life" "Girlfriend Is Better" are some of their other hits.
David Byrne’s “American Utopia” is amazing. Such a creative artist.
When they did this on SNL last year it was incredible!
Wife here...Asia.., I see your beautiful smile over there contemplating this song..So cute!!!..BJ..identifying with the song.."Water is ever flowing..as is our lives..You both are so intelligent to pick up this meaning quickly...It took me years!!..Thanks for making me smile AGAIN!
Wow, thank you
You're So Welcome..!!You've became my favorite reaction channe!!l..So insightful!!
"Once in a Lifetime" was the lead single from Talking Heads' fourth studio album, Remain in Light (1980), which is one of those albums that deserves a full listen. I remember first hearing the song on the radio before seeing the video on early MTV. On the radio the song came across as the bright bubbly bouncy pop song it is. Dig that Fela Kuti inspired Afrobeat! And that simple but powerful bass line is supplied by Tina Weymouth. I rediscovered the song in a big way when the video came out a few years later. My buddies and I thought it was the bomb. The trippy water graphics, Byrne's quirky dancing, his duck walk, those jerky motions -- like he was getting beat up by the invisible man -- and that chopping gesture, that was strange and weird and cool to us. Fifteen year olds have strange tastes! [grin]
It really is their best album. They’ve got some good songs on their other albums, but the entirety of Remain in Light is solid. If you love it and want to go a little further, check out My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, the collab between Byrne and Brian Eno.
“Life flows like water underground.” You nailed it!
This band made popular rock into something meaningful and yet fun. Great beats. Lead singer, David Byrne, says part of what works for him in his creativity is his Asperger's Syndrome. Gotta see them live to really 'get' them. Try Life During Wartime live from 83. Also, keep in mind, when listening to anything around that time, that was art's Absurdist Period, featuring people like Weird Al, Steve Martin and David Letterman. Weird was in. Non sequitur was hip. This song's just built off a jam with some preacher-like phrases added more for how they sounded than what they meant.
Don't forget the really strong African influence on the beat & the dancing in this video.
The "heads" RULED the early 80s, please check out
Burning down the house.
Wild wild life.
Little creatures.
Take me to the river.
Their live version of
Life during wartime
Will blow ur dam mind.
David Byrne and band are
Ultimate showman.
Talking Heads is one of the bands that came out of the early punk scene at CBGB's in NYC, with the Ramones, Blondie, Dead Boys and Cramps. It was such an interesting thing that went on there. Try a Talking Heads song called "Psycho Killer", which was their first big song. Blondie and Talking Heads were later labelled "New Wave" because radio resisted playing anything labelled as "punk", and the idea of what could be called "punk" became narrower, but initially it was a very open concept.
Ya'll should do their song "Life During Wartime" the live version 1983, another great trippy song that shows how crazy and unorthodox they are.
YES!!!
Do it!!!
When they put the song In down and out in bravely hills it makes since when you in the rock roll hull fame
One of the more interesting bands you will ever find, always something different with them. Byrne, the leader is a genius. Check out Psycho Killer, Take me to the RIver, Burning Down the House, those are just the popular ones, so many hidden gems. Enjoy
That was a PRICELESS reaction guys!!!!! The laughter alone made it for me. And yes, it took me years to get this song, but the bassline on it ALONE is just so dope; it got sampled like crazy....
The Talking Heads are such a different vibe, love them!! Very quirky and artistic in all their projects.
This is the band that coined the phrase "New Wave". It was different and weird, because it was supposed to be...
I remember going to nightclubs & everyone was doing that “dance”! I hadn’t seen the video & my reaction was like Asia lol! 🤪 xx
You may ask yourself why am i listening to The Talking Heads and the B-52'S ! Two of the best New Wave bands of the 70's and 80's lol
The concert film Stop Making Sense is so good and you get a much better idea of how good this band was, David Byrne performing in the oversized big suit for their song Girlfriend is Better is a classic
The Talking Heads are physical and visual artists just as much as musical artists, they try to engage as many of your senses as possible during a live performance
I love when music's more connected to art than to brand deals
Fantastic, absolute work of art and there are some great comments in here!
They are!
Talking Heads Stop Making Sense, was the first music movie I saw. I was 18 just moved to Oakland CA, I was high on shrooms and it was the best thing I ever saw.
P.S. Glad to see you brought he video back.
This was the core of artistry in the 1980s love this sound.
Yes time moves on no matter what you do , time marches on, the questions are futile. The water flows.
One look at all the amazing artists that Byrne has worked with and what they all walk away stating about their experience is enough to understand that some talent is an understatement for what Byrne holds. You could spend hours reading the reviews of those who have worked with him, and realize how impactful on music he has been, as an unheralded hero working in the background of the music so many find amazing if not epic.
David Byrne (lead singer for this group) did a broadway show using his music and I believe this is one of them. Then I think they brought it to film with the help of Spike Lee. Talking Heads is a little strange but that's also what makes it good. What videos are was a new concept back when this video came out - there wasn't a formula like there is now - people experimented.
Water flowing underground, you do not see water flowing when it is underground. I interpret as a metaphor of that part of life that passes by that you don't realize is happening. Underground is the subconscious.
Classic! Take time to stop and smell the roses because what you have right now might be once in a lifetime, that's what I get out of the lyrics.
Love em!.. perfectly cerebral and quirky.. Huge band👍🏻
David Byrne is amazing. I absolutely love this band, they’re in my top twenty favorite bands. My mom listened to them all the time when I was growing up and I’m almost 42. I’ve listened to them the majority of my life.
The first time I ever heard Talking Heads, I wondered what on earth I was hearing, because I had never heard anything like them. They are a true art rock experience -- so original and visionary. David Byrne is a genius. Listen to more from them.
BJ nailed it. As usual. There are no answers and I, like you BJ, ask myself the same questions every day.
BJs got the perfect response. A belly laugh. All David Bs are weird. It's a good thing. Their movie and best live album is called "Stop Making Sense". We need to lighten up, they are saying.
The Talking Heads were from RISD, Rhode Island School of Design...one of the best art schools we have. This was a form of choreography and videography as well as music. The best didn't have to make up for an absence of good music with flashy videos. Same goes for music without video. Fripp & Eno did their first album for 13 bucks, I believe it was, and it is still one of the weirdest, most transcendent pieces of music ever. Many great songs on the live album, and the "Naked" album. Neither has a bad song. Fun review. Thanks y'all.
Can't remember how old Byrne is, but he's presently doing like 6 shows a week on Broadway. Incredible pace.
I also like their song "And She Was"
The darker, punk version(ish) is Social Distortions "Ball and Chain".
I laugh at Asias face when she hears this different type music. It was cool in the day, lol. I enjoy you guys!
😊 thank you
A song with deep meaning. Dave's a genius
David Byrne with American Utopia is one of the best gig I've ever atended in my whole life. Take this in this context: huge fan of Prince, I listen every day to many different styles of music from pop to jazz, from blues to electronica... I love live events, music festivals and I've been Stage Technician the last 25 years (rock, opera, theatre, musicals, ballet, etc).
Of course, I'm fan of Talking Heads for decades. There's a show filmed by Jonathan Demme titled Stop Making Sense: a must.
This band is so good. Here's a few of my favs of theirs
This must be the place
And She was
Road to Nowhere
Flowers
Burning down the house