(6) TALKING HEADS –

ONCE IN A LIFETIME (1981)

 

“And you may find yourself in a beautiful house

With a beautiful wife

And you may ask yourself, well

How did I get here?”

 

Song of my life, baby, song of my life.

Talking Heads was an American rock band that helped pioneer the so-called New Wave in the 1980’s, combining elements of punk, art rock, pop, funk and afro-beat or world music “with avant-garde sensibilities and an anxious, clean-cut image” (perhaps apt for art students turned musicians).

 

“And you may tell yourself

This is not my beautiful house!

And you may tell yourself

This is not my beautiful wife…

And you may ask yourself

Am I right? Am I wrong?

And you may say to yourself, “My God! What have I done?”

 

Idiosyncratic genre-bending frontman and songwriter David Byrne “contributed whimsical, esoteric lyrics to the band’s songs, and emphasized their showmanship through various multimedia projects and performances”, not to mention giant suits and…unusual dancing. Producer Brian Eno’s “influence steered them towards their signature style dominated by incredibly dense, hypnotic funk grooves over which Byrne would improvise his vocals”.

And none more impressively so than this, their signature song released as a single in 1981 from their 1980 studio album, Remain in Light – accompanied by Byrne’s spasmodic, surreal video. The lyrics seem to evoke some existential life crisis, although Byrne has attributed them more to the unconscious fashion we all tend to fall through life (and think that we’re flying), tossed between impulse and circumstance.

 

“Letting the days go by, let the water hold me down

Letting the days go by, water flowing underground

Into the blue again after the money’s gone

Once in a lifetime, water flowing underground”

 

Either way – story of my life, baby, story of my life.

 

“Same as it ever was…”

 

RATING: 

B-TIER (HIGH-TIER)