Top Ten Songs by Talking Heads

In April 1975 a trio opened for the Ramones at the infamous CBGB in New York City. The core of Talking Heads was born with David Byrne (guitar/vocals), Tina Weymouth (bass/vocals) and Chris Frantz (drums/vocals). Before their first single hit the streets, they had added Jerry Harrison's guitar to the line up. They began recording their first album for Sire records in April 1977.

For the next ten years, Talking Heads recorded nine more albums before touring stress and individual projects put the Heads on ice. Byrne continued his music and folk art collecting solo. Weymouth and Frantz married and continue to record under The Tom Tom Club. Jerry Harrison decided he'd had enough of the spotlight and retired quietly.

As a huge fan of Talking Heads, the author felt great pressure to create a "count-down" styled list of their 10 best songs. Here are the selection rules for the list.

1. The song had to be on one of their first 10 albums, since everything that followed was pretty much a rehash or greatest-hits combination.

2. The songs are presented in chronological order with no regard to which the author considers better. It just hurt his brain and heart to try ranking this music.

The First Ten Album Titles and Release Year
Talking Heads 77 - 1978
More Songs About Buildings And Food - 1979
Fear Of Music - 1979
Remain In Light - 1982
The Name Of This Band Is Talking Heads - 1983
Speaking In Tongues - 1984
Stop Making Sense - 1985
Little Creatures - 1986
True Stories - 1988
Naked - 1988

The List

"Psycho Killer" from 77
All hard-core Heads fans love this song and sang along at concerts. The odd chorus of "Qu'est-ce que c'est fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa" is a great sing-along for anyone, quite frankly. Psycho Killer is a weird, dark subject, set to a metronome rhythm that keeps you bouncing right along.

"Take Me To The River" from More Songs About Buildings And Food
"River" was the first Talking Heads' song to get decent radio play. It introduced to band to those outside New York and other major cities where the new punk scene was limited in the late 70's. This song of teenage love, rejection, and redemption strikes a chord with people even when they can't make out the lyrics. Somehow it connects on a subconscious level.

"Life During Wartime" from Fear Of Music
Isolation in the modern city is an odd topic but it gave Talking Heads their first major radio play. Touring began in larger venues when this tune hit the mainstream. The Heads had arrived, in a major way, on the US music scene.

"Once In A Lifetime" from Remain In Light
Remain In Light is considered among fans to be Talking Heads' most perfect album. The bizarre video, complete with Byrne's jerky and spasmodic dance movements, that accompanied "Once In A Lifetime" received endless play on MTV and propelled the Heads to superstardom. Though this list is not ranked in any way, the author would like to inject that this is his favorite Talking Heads song of all time.

"Cross-eyed and Painless" from Remain In Light
In addition to a great pace and minimal arrangement, this tune is know for it's rapid-fire "Facts" rant. Consider the list:

Facts are simple and facts are straight
Facts are lazy and facts are late
Facts all come with points of view
Facts don't do what I want them to
Facts just twist the truth around
Facts are living turned inside out
Facts are getting the best of them
Facts are nothing on the face of things
Facts don't stain the furniture
Facts go out and slam the door
Facts are written all over your face
Facts continue to change their shape

It's enough to make you question your college philosophy professor's lectures.

"Burning Down The House" from Speaking In Tongues
This became Talking Heads most commercially popular song. Probably due to the frustration that it expresses that we all feel at one time or another. Next time you feel like you might "burst into flames," put on this tune and forget your troubles in the almost tribal rhythm. It might keep you out of jail.

"This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)" from Speaking In Tongues
At the end of the movie, Stop Making Sense, Byrne describes this as the only love song that he ever wrote, but he sings it to a lamp. It's a simple, swaying tune expressing the comforts of an innocent love and growing old with the same. Its opening line has become code among fans. Say "Home is where I want to be" to someone, if they are a Heads fan, they will respond, "Pick me up and turn me round." You may just start a beautiful friendship.

"Girlfriend Is Better" from Stop Making Sense
Yes, this is also on Speaking In Tongues, but the movie version is memorable for the "Big White Suit" that Byrne adorns to sing this. While Byrne is changing into costume, the audience is entertained by "Genius of Love" by The Tom Tom Club. Stop Making Sense is one of the best concert films in history. If you haven't seen it, do so at all costs.

"Road To Nowhere" from Little Creatures
The wonderful a cappella intro to "Road" is done in full choral arrangement. It gives way to a rhythm that puts the picture of someone jogging down an actual road into the listener's mind. This is just an absolutely freeing song.

"(Nothing But) Flowers" from Naked
Filled with Caribbean drums, this upbeat tune lays out the juxtaposition of nature and civilization in an inverted world where nature has reclaimed her own. It's pretty well, if not ironically summed up in the line "If this is paradise, I wish I had a lawnmower."

True to his word the author has refrained from ranking this in anything but chronological order, save one. If you are ready to take the plunge into the world of Talking Heads, pick up the CD/DVD combination release, Once In A Lifetime (2003) with their greatest hits and a DVD of interview, songs and more.