No vaseline.. no my way, anyway. End july David B and Marianne F ensemble. at les Nuits de Fourvière, Lyon, france. So check it up..

Love this band. But really dislike this particular song.

FFS, David - you do go on, don't you? Short is sweet, you know ;-|

 bam23 wrote: 
So true. Listen to the other songs on the early Heads albums, and this is exactly what you see/hear. To take this literally is, literally, crazy talk.

slowly, he goes me on the nerves 

Reading the comments on RP illustrates the obvious truth that everyone hears things in a unique way. For this song, there are those who assume, apparently because they read the lyrics as if they are in a textbook, that David Byrne is strictly literal in his outlook. He is knocked by some commenters for his arrogant attitude. And so on. Oddly, I have always seen more than a little humor in his writing. To me, "I wouldn't live there if they paid me" is a sort of sarcastic take on a bi-coastal attitude that is strong in such places as New York, or even Providence, RI. A number of his songs appear to me as commentary on the attitudes of the people he has been associating with for years. Of course, maybe he is a smug artiste who scorns the common among us, maybe. But I also like the music.

Always enjoyed this one a lot, even though it's not exactly a typical Heads tune.

 greyfin10 wrote: 
Same problem the record companies ran into over and over so that's why things got called New Wave.

 greyfin10 wrote: 
Always remember: Bill loves Byrnin' down the house.

Of all the groups I've ever not liked that RP plays, Talking Heads is the only I'm not won over on yet.  I get the suspicion that Bill likes em more than a little bit, and I'll keep trying to have an open ear since I trust Bill.  

A recent development that bodes well is that I recently found out that Adrian Belew (I know him from King Crimson and his quirky solo stuff) was involved with TH at some point in the past.  Never knew that, made me go hmm.  I think one thing that influenced me in my attitude is that I equated (rightly or wrongly) TH with the Punk attitude of not caring about the music as much as the heart/fire of the delivery.  Maybe I got them confused with Sonic Youth?

 rscherm wrote: 

unpopular, nonfavorite

I have to admit they're honest. It's not singing, just talking.

rosedraws wrote:

Ditto. This one plods, the melody is atonal in places, and Byrne's vocal is really annoying.

Blech.

Wow! Lots a bashing of this TH album #2 closer cut. I always thought it was a pretty cool song, regardless of whether or not Byrne was trashing "flyover America". And I live here! And nobody pays me to!

miahfost wrote:

true, but isnt that what happens when you get old? you have something to say until you are almost dead

I love TH. But not this one.

love it!

wookie wrote:

This has to be the most awesome idea I have heard all day. I am getting a pogo stick on my way home tonight.

miahfost wrote:

Well said, gotta agree. TH has not aged well.

miahfost wrote:

I couldn't have said it better myself. RP could use a few days...weeks...months without Talking Heads or any offshoots. :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke:

The only way I could dance to this is with a pogo stick...enough already with the Heads!

not TH again and again and again Bill!!

Not one of their best. I always thought the beat on this was Neanderthal compared to some of the interesting riffs they found elsewhere.

mooseisadick wrote:

i used to listen to this song when it first came out and think, yes, that is right... of course, i grew up in NYC for all my life, then i moved to AZ and found out what am arrogant, hubris lyric it is... having said all that, "More Songs about... is still one of my favorite all time records...

Yet these days, the music is childish in its arrangement, with insipid lyrics. His voice, which used to stand out as the warbling nerd now just sounds untrained and dull. They used to have something to say, these talking heads. Now they just talk.

I guess my take on the lyrics is a little different. I was just thinking how political the song is - and was even more so in the Reagan years, when turning your back on the values of the self-interested mainstream of America was a hugely political act. At the same time, it's also an expression of the slightly self-important art school graduate he also was. But by instinctively supporting the outsider in songs like 'Listening Wind' and 'Life During Wartime', which flirts dangerously with the glamor of guerrilla chic, he gave voice to many others at the time who felt they just didn't fit.

Very cool song IMO. Always liked it a lot. For any who think he is being an arrogant "city slicker", I would say "no-sirree!"

the most irriverent name for an album in the music history!

hcaudill wrote:

For all those folks discussing and pondering the meaning of the lyrics, I suggest you read AllMusic's insightful song review: (click here)