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Once in a Lifetime
- kaycebasques 4y agoHappy to see another Talking Heads (TH) fanatic. Pull Up The Roots has been the most impactful TH song for me so far. I was obsessed with it for about 6 months. I literally listened to it probably 2-3 times a day for those 6 months. I was in a point of my life where I felt like I needed radical change so "pull up the roots" was a powerful message for me. Also I love how weird and chaotic the message is and the song is just downright catchy to me. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQS6XfuH2wE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQS6XfuH2wE That whole Speaking In Tongues album is quite good. Definitely my favorite TH album. Great name for an album and very attractive cover art. True Stories is also a very fun peak into the 80s. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/True_Stories_(film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/True_Stories_(film)
- Lammy 4y agoCool synchronicity. I had exactly the same several-month obsession with that song in 2019 for exactly the same reason. I’d already been a fan for a long time at that point, but Pull Up The Roots was always “the song right before This Must Be The Place” to me until I was in a situation that allowed it to really click.
- kaycebasques 4y agoIt also happened in 2019 for me!!
- Agamus 4y agoTrue Stories is my favorite movie ever. Unique! I absolutely love the covers of Talking Heads songs throughout, especially "People Like Us" and "Papa Legba". Wild Wild Life is my favorite Talking Heads song, and how does one even say that about any one TH song? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=616-QGQyx-I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=616-QGQyx-I
- krnlpnc 4y ago> That whole Speaking In Tongues album is quite good. Definitely my favorite TH album. Great name for an album and very attractive cover art. Byrne is featured singing on an Arcade Fire B side of the same name, which as a fan of both I find surreal to hear singing together. His part is towards the end of the song. https://youtu.be/dSfLHtzgAuI https://youtu.be/dSfLHtzgAuI
- kaycebasques 4y agoCool. I remember that song (because that album is phenomenal and definitely listened all the way through quite a few times) but it was before my obsession with Talking Heads kicked again. Deeper appreciation for it now.
- krnlpnc 4y agoI’m convinced that this is one of the greatest songs written to date. Very simple but at the same time deep, and I haven't yet met a person who didn’t like it. As an aside I read that fela kuti was an influence to eno at the time and I think that can be heard in the repetitive nature of the song, especially in the guitar lines.
- maroonblazer 4y ago>this is one of the greatest songs written to date. That's very high praise. With all respect and sincerity, I'd love to know your age and music listening background. While I, too, enjoy the song, it's definitely not in my top 100 of greatest songs ever written. Perhaps you and I have nearly identical musical listening histories, in which case I 'high five' your pick for #1. Absent that, I can't help but think there are some songs you've not heard.
- krnlpnc 4y agoI’m 69 years old and listen mostly to mother goose books on tape
- thedailymail 4y agoI love this answer.
- jebarker 4y agoMusic appreciation is subjective, not objective.
- maroonblazer 4y agoKind of...? There are certain objective measures, e.g. Top 5/10/25/100 lists by critics and other credentialed people. There are record sales and polls and now, thanks to streaming, "listens". Yes, each of these have an element of subjectivity to them but also certain patterns become apparent, such that particular songs and artists show up again and again across the various measures.
- AlbertCory 4y agoWhen I saw that somewhat ambiguous title, I was hoping it was about that song. Now I have to watch all those videos! Stop Making Sense is one of the all-time great music movies (and I try to watch 'em all). Once in a Lifetime is a song where you just have to ask "where the hell did that come from?"
- messe 4y ago> When I saw that somewhat ambiguous title, I was hoping it was about that song. Now I have to watch all those videos! Same here! I thought, "there's no way Talking Heads is near the top of HN". > Stop Making Sense is one of the all-time great music movies (and I try to watch 'em all). I still find it hard to wrap my head around the fact that Jonathan Demme, the director of Stop Making Sense, also directed Silence of the Lambs and Philadelphia.
- teh_klev 4y agoI've given Stop Making Sense an annual (and sometimes a bit more) watch every year since the 80's. I find it so evergreen and uplifting when I'm feeling a bit down.
- Certified 4y agoI got the pleasure of meeting David Byrne and having a lunch with him at Affrah Mediterranean in Richardson, TX in the late 2000s. It was near the end of my stint at Hanson Robotics for the exhibition "Souls & Machines" at the Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid, Spain. He voiced one of our robots singing. He was, without a question, the most down to earth celebrity I have met to this day. I left that lunch struck how genuinely kind and encouraging he was, even to me as a lowly intern early in my career. I try to channel a bit of him at that lunch anytime I’m working with anyone cutting their teeth on anything new. We all need a little bit of kindness and encouragement at that stage.
- movement 4y agoThat's a serious dream come true. Guy is a musical genius. His music(bandmates included) got me through some hard times. At one point I had every cd he ever made and it was almost everything I listened to.
- harrydehal 4y agoWould love to hear/see more of your work nearly 20 years later (btw, big fan of the Reina Sofia Museum – to work with Bowie and exhibit at the Reina Sofia sounds like a dream)!
- qrush 4y agoThis Talking Heads Show from 11/4/80 has a great take of Once in a Lifetime too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFvgWguaC9g&t=1763s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFvgWguaC9g&t=1763s I make it a semi-annual tradition to watch all of Stop Making Sense. Never disappoints.
- joshuaheard 4y agoI was at that 1983 LA Concert! Attending UCLA at the time and getting into what they called at the time "world music". The Talking Head's mix of rock riffs and African beats on this album won me over. The cover art was the first time I had seen digital pixelation.
- drewbeck 4y agoGreat post, incredible song. Talking Heads remain powerful, and their songs still have the power to rock a dance floor.
- rahidz 4y agoThis article kermits a great sin by not including the best cover of this song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCY0aeUx-Ns https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCY0aeUx-Ns
- irrational 4y ago> kermits Commits?
- wyldfire 4y agoIt's a deliberate pun.
- irrational 4y agoI don’t get the pun. Can you explain?
- zamfi 4y agoClick the link!
- krnlpnc 4y agoYou are right re: kermits/commits. They are referring to a cover of once in a lifetime performed by Kermit the frog snd the muppets.
- zach_garwood 4y agoKermit sounds like "commit". Kermit appears in the linked video.
- scubbo 4y agoI'm going to go out on a limb and guess that the cover version is by the Muppets, the most famous of which is called Kermit.
- messe 4y agoYou may find yourself hearing a whoosh.
- qbasic_forever 4y agoI remember when NPR did the whole 100 most important albums thing ~20 years ago and loved the segment on this song that they mention in the post too: https://www.npr.org/2000/03/27/1072131/once-in-a-lifetime https://www.npr.org/2000/03/27/1072131/once-in-a-lifetime It highlighted for me that Byrne and Eno wanted to do something evoking a southern baptist church singing where the pastor makes a call and the audience responds. Once you realize that basic structure of call and response you'll hear it in so much modern and popular music today. The entire NPR 100 series is solid gold and introduced me to so many albums and musicians that became favorites to this day. If you want some great stuff to listen to check it all out: https://www.npr.org/series/18955124/the-npr-100 https://www.npr.org/series/18955124/the-npr-100
- shireboy 4y agoOften, when bad things come up in the news, I think of Life During Wartime: https://youtu.be/v0DpBnUznd0 https://youtu.be/v0DpBnUznd0 I mean, there has to be lots of cocaine on that stage, but epic nonetheless.
- paulpauper 4y agoIt's a pop song but it's profound. I remember playing it in 2005 . The opening riff, and then it starts talking about various things like the big house. When the song debuted, in the early 80s, having a fine automobile and big house were a big deal and the epitome of the American dream, but nowadays luxury cars and big homes have become so commonplace. An SUV will likely cost more than a luxury car brand. It shows how much society has changed. Now you need millions of dollars. Or a super-successful Substack or some other signifier of status.
- jancsika 4y ago> That bassline might be simple and repetitive, just the notes F-sharp and A, but there is nothing dumb about it. For one thing, it’s the third and fifth of the droning D7 chord. If this is referring to the original, it sounds like a Dsus4 atop the F-sharp/A ostinato in the bass. AFAICT the pitch class c doesn't show up until the guitar riff at the very end. And that addition of c in that repeated guitar riff at the end is such a nice change. We should popularize a category of songs called "One Chord Substitution and the Truth." The Proclaimer's "I'm Gonna Be" is in that same category-- listen to it and see if you can spot the lone instance of a disco chord. :) > Tina Weymouth never plays the tonic! While I'm not sure exactly what Tina Weymouth was playing, somebody was generating the d a ninth above middle c and sustaining it literally the entire song.
- quickthrower2 4y agoI never knew the meaning of the song, but I always though he talks/sings like an evangalist, so it seemed religous / spiritual to me (or maybe a parody of religion).
- bravura 4y agoThis mashup with Tim Maia is amazing: https://soundcloud.app.goo.gl/aZzu6EpjtuMNDvmf8 https://soundcloud.app.goo.gl/aZzu6EpjtuMNDvmf8