A lot of Talking Heads songs I’ve written about on here tend to come from Fear of Music. There’s one other one post on here for a track from Remain in Light. There would be so many more songs on here, had the timing been different. Like in the case of tracks from the band’s debut album Talking Heads:77, I’ll only be able to cover ‘Uh-Oh Love Comes to Town’ and the closer ‘Pulled Up’. I’m a huge advocate for ‘The Book I Read’, ‘Don’t Worry About the Government’ and ‘First Week/Last Week… Carefree’. Alas, there time wasn’t ever to come on here. That might leave you asking, “Well, where’s the post for ‘Psycho Killer’, eh?” And the answer is, I rather prefer this live version to the one that you can listen to all the time on say, Spotify, for example.

But speaking of ‘Psycho Killer’, it comes before ‘Pulled Up’ on the record and, as a result, provides probably the most notable mood whiplash in the band’s discography. After a creepy-creep song with French lyrics and hectic breakdown ending about comes this great mood boosting, uplifting track about a person who’s been feeling low and down but has now gained a new lease of life via the help of an undisclosed presence. David Byrne sings from the perspective of a man, could even be himself – I don’t see why not, who’s now living a life of success and basically wants everyone to know how good he’s feeling. With a little help from friends/family/unrevealed sources, he’s found the strength to overcome his adversities and come out the other side with a brighter outlook on life. Seems too good to be true if we’re discussing a Talking Heads song here, but I think the track’s as genuine as it gets.

Tracks filled with those usual Talking Heads quirks. Byrne is as eccentric as ever in his vocal delivery, covering a range from restrained yelping melodies to wild, barbaric howls. He’s anything but inhibited when it comes to recording vocal takes. He even chuckles a little on the “There’s really no hurry, I’ll eat in a while” lyric, something which I always thought was because it doesn’t even attempt to rhyme with the line that comes before it. Only he’ll know what’s so funny about it, I guess. But in general, the whole track from its music to the tempo to all the ascending scales (a typical characteristic of songs about going up) make for such a relieving burst of energy, something that builds and builds until it finally releases with the strike of the song’s final chord and thus the album’s. Talking Heads album endings never disappointed, and they set the bar high on the first go.