• Talking Heads Remain In Light Rar
• Remain In Light Talking Heads Rare
• Remain In Light Talking Heads Rare Earth
• Remain In Light Talking Heads Raritan

TALKING HEADS, Remain in Light (Sire, 1980)

CORE BAND: David Byrne, Jerry Harrison, Tina Weymouth, Chris Frantz

INSTRUMENTATION: LEAD VOCALS by David Byrne; GUITARS by Jerry Harrison, David Byrne and Adrian Belew; BASSES by Tina Weymouth, Jerry Harrison, David Byrne, and Brian Eno; KEYBOARDS by Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth, David Byrne, Brian Eno, and Jerry Harrison; DRUM KIT by Chris Frantz; PERCUSSION by Jose Rossy, David Byrne, Brian Eno, Chris Frantz, Jerry Harrison, Tina Weymouth, and Robert Palmer; ADDITIONAL VOICES by David Byrne, Brian Eno, Nona Hendryx; TRUMPETS AND HORN ARRANGEMENTS by Jon Hassell

TRACK LISTING:

1. Born Under Punches
2. Crosseyed and Painless
3. The Great Curve
4. Once in a Lifetime
5. Houses in Motion
6. Seen and Not Seen
7. Listening Wind
8. The Overload

Every now and then, I get a hankering for an artist or band from years past, and that band’s music is all I want to hear for the next several days. It usually happens with R.E.M., Yes, Radiohead, and Peter Gabriel. And it really kicks in when I get the urge to hear Talking Heads.

Like many other bands in my world, I cannot say exactly when Talking Heads came into my musical orbit. To my mind, they’ve always been there. I suppose they may have gotten their hooks into me via MTV in the early 80’s, when the maverick cable channel actually played music videos. It seems impossible to believe that nearly two entire generations of music fans have no concept of this. But it’s true: MTV meant “MUSIC television,” and the Talking Heads played a key role in the rotation.

Naturally, this O.C.D. band period leads me to certain albums within the band’s catalog. I’ve always enjoyed Fear of Music, I Zimbra, Speaking in Tongues, and More Songs About Buildings and Food. And I think Stop Making Sense is one of my favorite live albums of all time. But if I’m playing Talking Heads, it is all but guaranteed that Remain in Light will be getting considerable airplay.

There can be no doubting the immense popularity of Remain in Light, which was originally released in 1980 (a year before MTV came on the air, leaving plenty of time to create videos). And since radio was my guide to just about everything music at the time, this no doubt had an effect on me. But what made this album stick in the forefront of my mind was its sheer musical brilliance. Never has an album with such a relatively simple initial concept created so many delightful ear worms, worthy of multiple plays that never get old!

After bursting onto the college radio scene in the late 70’s, Talking Heads made a steady rise into the musical mainstream. What I didn’t know until many years later was that the band was on the verge of falling apart before Remain in Light was ready to be recorded. Apparently, lead vocalist David Byrne had become a bit “much” for bassist Tina Weymouth and drummer Chris Frantz, who had become more interested in making their own record with their own band, since Talking Heads were being viewed as Bryne and his three supporting players. (They did shortly after, with TomTom Club, whose “Genius of Love” not only became a hit in its own right, but served as the basis for a Mariah Carey mega-hit called “Fantasy.”) Even producer Brian Eno was growing weary of the band and its drama. But they managed to pull it together long enough to make their way Compass Point Studios in Nassau, The Bahamas.

Once there, Eno suggested an interesting approach. Rather than stick with the “art rock” approach that had gotten the band to this point, Talking Heads drew on influence of Nigerian musician Fela Kuti, whose use of funk and polyrhythms led the band to create a series of single-chord jams Byrne could groove with and write almost rap-oriented lyrics to.

In addition to layers of additional percussion that gave the music more of a “world” feel, the band also brought in session aces in vocalist Nona Hendryx, trumpeter Jon Hassell, and guitarist Adrian Belew. (Note: my well-known love of Adrian Belew — long declared my musical idol — had nothing to do with my love for this album. In fact, I didn’t even know who he was! I wouldn’t become truly conscious of Adrian until 1985, three or four years after I heard Remain in Light for the first time.) The grooves they created as a unit were nothing short of a revelation.

As much as I appreciated the sound and songs on Remain in Light, I didn’t fully realize its true genius until I started playing guitar myself. Eager to improve my rhythm playing — and knowing I wouldn’t have to concern myself with a bunch of chord changes and tricky time signatures — I decided to use this album to tighten up my chops. It was one of my better musical decisions. From the opening strains of “Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On),” I found immense joy in replicating the chugging/two-note repeating guitar lick, allowing the band to do what it did around me. In time, I even got brave enough to try to sing the chorus while I played. What can I say? It was fun!

Speaking of which, my personal favorite moment is the album’s second track, “Crosseyed and Painless.” I have dared people to try and sit still while this song plays. I have yet to hear anyone tell me they can do it! I’ve never been one for any kind of dance music, but all that goes right out the window when this song is playing. Of course, I have to come up with those steps while playing my guitar, but the effort is well worth it. It mostly amounted to just jumping up and down anyway. The live version of this song (which I’ll address shortly) took the fun to the next level, since Talking Heads decided to add a couple more members to their live band, most notably Parliament/Funkadelic keyboard master Bernie Worrell.

• Talking Heads-1980-Remain In Light (2006 Remastered)-320kbps.rar. Talking Heads-1982-Name Of This Band Is Talking Heads (Live 2xCD 2004 Remastered)-320kbps.rar.
• Talking Heads - Remain in Light (1980) If there's one thing David Byrne's recent outing as long-form non-fiction writer, How Music Works (looks at the societal, cultural, and business aspects of the creative process; written for the layman and, though I'm only about halfway through, highly recommended), accomplishes, it's a startling good.

I was in rhythm guitar heaven. But the band was just getting warmed up.

'Remain In Light' is generally regarded by music critics as being the best Talking Heads album. It was the third album in the Heads/Eno trilogy and was -after 'I Zimbra' on Fear Of Music- their second exploration of African rhythms.

“The Great Curve” keeps the party going, and features Belew’s first really “out” guitar solo, with his lead slashing right through the groove being held by the rest of the band. It is one of many examples of the “organized chaos” Belew can bring to a song, where something seemingly atonal on the surface actually makes perfect sense.

What can I say about the album’s hit, “Once in a Lifetime,” that hasn’t been said a million times? It’s a delightfully quirky song, with lyrics that have been repeated in and out of context God-knows how many times. How many of us have pretended to chop at our arms with the opposite hand while repeating “Same as it ever was” over and over? Or asked where we could find our beautiful house? It’s a timeless single that isn’t going anywhere any time soon.

Side Two is a bit more esoteric, finding the band really focusing on the grooves they’ve created. “Houses in Motion” features a killer “call and response” chorus that represents one of my favorite David Byrne vocal moments. The song is a bit slower, but still remarkably funky. It allowed me to do a few steps while my right hand remained in the rhythm’s pocket. I really didn’t need to do anything else. After all, I can’t top the solo already featured. “Seen and Not Seen” sounds like a continuation of the same thought, this time driven forward by the bass and keyboards. Byrne’s spoken word vocal adds just the right touch.

With what sounds like an African slit drum (thank you, Bill Bruford) leading the way, “Listening Wind” is a wonderful bit of world fusion colliding with just a bit of avant-garde guitar. The bass line bounces nicely, leaving amateur guitarists like me a little room to play elongated notes near the top of the register. Belew makes sounds reminiscent of the “seagull” sounds he would perfect with King Crimson on “Matte Kudasai” just a year later. “The Overload,” the album’s finale, is aptly named. Sound seems to come from everywhere, starting quietly and gradually gaining volume and intensity, while a seemingly melancholy Byrne sings right over the top. I found myself accidentally standing too close to my amplifier while this song played. My guitar’s pickups began to feed back in the most interesting way. Rather than step away from the noise, I turned the volume down just a bit, grabbed my Stratocaster’s tremolo arm (aka the “whammy bar”), and proceeded to bend the feedback’s sound to my will. It was gorgeous! Had I been in the studio, I like to think Eno would have looked at me and said, “That’s fantastic! Let’s give him a track on the record!”

At a scant (by modern standards) 39 minutes, Remain in Light seems to end as quickly as it started. But what a brilliant 39 minutes it is. The key is its relative simplicity. The band is doing a ton more with what seems like much less. Therein lies the key to its timeless quality. This does not sound like a 40 year old record!

And as amazing as this album is, things seem to go to the next level with The Name of This Band is Talking Heads, the live album that focuses on both the band’s ’77-’79 efforts (disc one), and the ’80-’81 incarnation (disc two). While the LP is great, true fans should seek out the CD version, which expands the playlists for both eras. A big key to the latter disc is Belew, who was relatively reserved in the studio but absolutely loses his mind onstage. It’s like he was let off a musical leash, with the band looking at him and saying, “Go for it!” He did. And he got there.

Remain in Light is an album of timeless quality and bountiful groove. It is the ultimate object lesson for bands who feel complexity is the key to creative genius. Sometimes, it’s better to keep things simple, let the music groove, and allow everything else to take care of itself. This album is one of the cases in point. In a nutshell, it is perfect.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I believe I hear my guitar calling me.

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You’ve likely read the comment, “This album is ahead of its time,” but what does that even mean?

Just before the Talking Heads created their most critically acclaimed album, Remain in Light, the group was getting sick of talking to each other. David Byrne was considered “too controlling” by the other 75% of the band and like all rising rock stars, hinted at leaving the group in early 1980 to pursue his solo career. Lucky for music enthusiasts, art prevailed over war. The ‘70s are proof that tension in the recording studio has a track record of birthing masterful albums. Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours, Pink Floyd’s The Wall and The Beatles’ Let It Be, stand the test of time in terms of compositional and lyrical genius, but nothing foreshadowed our current social and economic COVID-19 pandemic like the Talking Heads fourth studio release.

Remain In Light transformed a new-wave, post-punk quartet into a 10-piece worldbeat-funk band in just eight African-inspired tracks. And where there’s polyrhythmic improvisation, there is prophetic intellect. Evidence of Talking Heads time travel can be found in the album made public on October 8, 1980. Nearly 40 years later, the 40-minutes body of work speaks to our society more than ever.

BORN UNDER PUNCHES (THE HEAT GOES ON)

David Byrne greets the listener with, “Take a look at these hands,” an ode to obsessive hand washing during a time of paranoia, uncertainty, and cleanliness.

All I want is to breathe. I’m too thin.
Won’t you breathe with me?
Find a little space, so we move in-between. In-between it.
And keep one step ahead, of yourself.

Look up symptoms of COVID-19, and find “shortness of breath or difficulty breathing” at the very top of the list. How can we prevent the spread? By creating a safe space (six-feet to be exact) between us.

Don’t you miss it, don’t you miss it.

Some ‘a you people just about missed it! Last time to make plans!

Well I’m a tumbler…
I’m a Government Man.

The government men across the globe have canceled social gatherings to prohibit the spread. Before everyone had a chance to say their last goodbyes to each other, bars, restaurants, college campuses, sporting arenas, public parks, coffee shops, and libraries were closed down until further notice.

Never seen anything like that before.

The nation is under attack as we fight an overwhelming and unprecedented battle. Quarantined citizens are emotionally drained, sick patients are physically deteriorating, workers are financially crippled and hospital works are most of the above.

All I want is to breathe.
Won’t you breathe with me. Hands of a Government Man.
Find a little space so we move in-between.
And keep one step ahead of yourself. Don’t you miss it! Don’t you miss it!

As compassionate people come together to praise essential works, conservative Americans are unable to face themselves at home as they fight to reopen and build a wall around logic. “Born Under Punches” describes a government turning a blind eye to human suffering, a lack of air, social distancing and unprecedented events. And that’s just the first track.

CROSSYEYED AND PAINLESS

David Byrne now plays a man gone mad from media.

Lost my shape

Trying to act casual

Can’t stop, I might end up in the hospital

Some die and some are asymptomatic, but all are impacted by COVID-19. Emotionally, physically, or socially. For the majority of Americans, a privileged, everyday life came to a screeching halt as cases began to skyrocket.

They’re back, to explain their experience.

In the age of social media, many stories are told, most are fake news. This disease was considered to be extremely deadly in some circles, yet many citizens have recovered, and even more may have had it without knowing.

I’m ready to leave
I push the fact in front of me
Facts lost
Facts are never what they seem to be
Nothing there!
No information left of any kind
Lifting my head
Looking for danger signs

No right answer. Scientists and reporters are doing their best to report facts, but the paranoid public isn’t confident they are moving in the right direction.

The island of doubt
It’s like the taste of medicine
Working by hindsight
Got the message from the oxygen
Making a list
Find the cost of opportunity
Doing it right
Facts are useless in emergencies

The White House ridiculed New York’s Governor Cuomo for asking about respirators. The cost of respirators was said to be too high as the governor tried preparing for the rising curve. Regardless of the emergency, egos and economics got in the way, deeming the facts useless.

Friends. Live Music. Incomes. Lives. Society as we know it. We are all “still waiting” to understand the next moves. “Get the message from the oxygen.” Speaking of curves, let’s move to the next track.

THE GREAT CURVE

Sometimes the world has a load of questions

Seems like the world knows nothing at all

The world is near but it’s out of reach

Some people touch it, but they can’t hold on

Who do we believe are the experts as the disease is studied more every day? Exiting our front door can be deadly. Our neighbors live next door, but it is against the rules to interact with them. Some ignore the rules and socially gather only to contract the disease and lose everything.

She is moving to describe the world
Night must fall now-darker, darker
She has messages for everyone
Night must fall now-darker, darker

Byrne draws a connection between a woman and Mother Earth. Across the world, we see positivity and optimism from an environmental perspective. As we focus on the COVID-19 curve as a human race, there is a much bigger picture we are not concentrating on. The woman in this song is part human and part Earth and we need to protect her. She is shifting as some of the most densely packed cities in the world react to COVID-19.

A world of light, she’s gonna open our eyes up

For the first time in decades, densely populated cities like Punjab, India are experiencing the positive impact of global lockdown as the human-influenced smog lifts. They now open their eyes to the Himalayan Mountain peaks for the first time this millennium.

ONCE IN A LIFETIME

One of the Talking Heads most popular tracks might also be one of their most 2020 quarantine-relevant.

And you may find yourself

Living in a shotgun shack

And you may find yourself

In another part of the world

And you may find yourself

Behind the wheel of a large automobile

And you may find yourself in a beautiful house

With a beautiful wife

And you may ask yourself, well

How did I get here?

Remember in 2019 when people were not forced to remain inside and reflect? It was okay to be on autopilot and walk the streets or fields or cities in between and just be without being. In quarantine, we are tasked with the most impossible job of all—learning to cope with ourselves with little outside influence.

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

We stand over the sink, hands under the water, repeating the birthday song in hopes of resolving and removing the one-in-a-lifetime virus from each finger. We would love to return to a same as it ever was time, but it will likely be a new normal. Will we remain in our houses forever or return to the world we once knew? Or will it be a hybrid?

HOUSE IN MOTION

The second half of the album must disprove the notion of a sonic COVID-19 quarantine conspiracy, right? If you are currently pacing in your home, reading, thinking, moving, and wondering more than usual, then this one is for you.

I’m walking a line

I’m thinking about empty motion

I’m walking a line

Just barely enough to be living

Get outta the way (no time to begin)

This isn’t the time (so nothing was done)

Not talking about (not many at all)

I’m turning around (no trouble at all)

You notice there’s nothing around you, ’round you

I’m walking a line

Divide and dissolve

Talking Heads Remain In Light Rar

Good news, you get to leave your home and walk around the grocery store in a paranoid state. The aisles are blocked off, forcing you to treat your neighbors like Neanderthals. Saying hello isn’t the same without a mask and we can barely say goodbye without wondering what level of COVID-19 they left on us. The same beautiful house that was written about in “Once in a Lifetime” is the same place you escape to wash the outside-world filth from your potentially pandemic-covered hands.

I’m walking a line
I hate to be dreaming in motion
I’m walking a line
Just barely enough to be living
Get outta the way (no time to begin)
This isn’t the time (so nothing was done)
Not talking about (not many at all)
I’m turning around (no trouble at all)
I’m keeping my fingers behind me, ‘hind me
I’m walking a line
Divide and dissolve

Does this scare you? We are social creatures. We are supposed to be fully living and interacting with peers according to our elementary schooling. The narrator is crushing the idea of social contact and, instead, inviting the paranoia of his peers. Full-blown, introverted paranoia.

SEEN AND NOT SEEN

He would see faces in movies, on T.V., in magazines, and in books…

He thought that some of these faces might be right for him…

And through the years, by keeping an ideal facial structure fixed in his mind…

Or somewhere in the back of his mind…

Are we spending too much time streaming music, watching Netflix or staring in a mirror? The focus of this spoken-word-by-Byrne reflective track is post-pandemic physical appreciation. Who cares about what happened in 2019 if it’s possible to reinvent in 2020? We finally escape out of quarantine, but what is stopping us from impulsively mistaking our own identity? Should we redefine our social, physical and emotional selves, or is this a good spot to restart?

They may have picked an ideal appearance based on some childish

Whim, or momentary impulse…

Some may have gotten half-way

There, and then changed their minds.

He wonders if he too might have made a similar mistake.

Is the narrator saving face for the previously mentioned government man or is he just trying to act casual?

LISTENING WIND

What happens to people in countries that lack access to 5G or vaccines or respiration or clean water? Is Mother Nature watching out for her children or is it the lack of tourism that prevents their people from the global disease?

Mojique buys equipment in the marketplace
Mojique plants devices in the free trade zone
He feels the wind is lifting up his people
He calls the wind to guide him on his mission
He knows his friend the wind is always standing…by.
Mojique smells the wind that comes from far away
Mojique waits for news in a quiet place
He feels the presence of the wind around him
He feels the power of the past behind him
He has the knowledge of the wind to guide him…on.

A return to nature. The wild is calling. What were the redefined terms of survival of the fittest in 1980 (or 2020)?

THE OVERLOAD

Remain In Light Talking Heads Rare

A dark, eerie, Brian Eno-driven piece closes the album with an apocalyptic exclamation point.

A terrible signal
Too weak to even recognize

A gentle collapsing
The removal of the insides
I’m touched by your pleas
I value these moments
We’re older than we realize
In someone’s eyes

Remain In Light Talking Heads Rare Earth

Free healthcare was the topic of debate less than two months before 2020 changed America. Who is this “someone” Byrne speaks about? What is the underlying ignorance that haunts us throughout an album recorded in 1980?

A change in the weather
A view to remember
The center is missing
They question how the future lies
In someone’s eyes

We are reminded that Mother Earth is slowly healing during human dormancy, yet the pessimistic power of the composition reminds us that there is a serious problem. Midtown Manhattan’s Times Square is one of the most photographed locations in the world. A central hub of a global city. Currently, it’s empty and missing.

The gentle collapsing
Of every surface
We travel on the quiet road
…the overload

The closing lyrics of the album are about as poignant as the opening. As local and state governments look for ways to reopen a social society, they call for extra hands to sanitize surfaces, and open up roads for people, not cars. Has Mother Nature finally forced us to abide by her rules or is our society too ignorant and self-centered to protect one another? Either way, the answer is overwhelming.

Remain In Light Talking Heads Raritan

A favorite album will transport you to a time when you needed the music most. But an iconic album encapsulates the present, whether you like it or not. Remain in Light was written during the political, economic, and social injustices of the late ‘70s, yet it connects the same unprecedented, introspective, unusual feelings we have during a global pandemic – mask off and same as it ever was.