-Take Back Thursdays- Speaking In Tongues By: Talking Heads
On paper, this album should not work at all. Speaking In Tongues upon hearing the circumstances that helped bring it to fruition makes it seem almost as if Talking Heads had spent all they had left in the tank. Having just released arguably their most famous and to some, best album of their career Remain In Light which serves as a watershed moment in the New Wave genre. As well as the one of the finest mental breakdowns spread over eight songs I have ever had the pleasure of hearing. The band had just parted with their longtime producer Brian Eno and took their time before coming back to the studio. At this point, they had absolutely nothing left to prove. They could have cashed out and gone their separate ways. And for a bit they did, each of the members focusing on their own solo projects until coming back together in 1982.
When the quartet came back to record their fifth studio album, they found themselves entertaining a looser and more laid back sound. Their past albums had made very heavy material while incorporating groovy funk rock and afro pop influences but this was the first album that really embraced an almost goofy and dance friendly aesthetic for its whole runtime. And that is why, there are arguably better Talking Heads albums but I think it is almost impossible to find a more enjoyable one from start to finish.
That is the main reason that I picked to talk about this album, there is no deeper reason other than it is fun from start to back. This is also true of the recording style, it was seen as looser and more improvisational and had each member bringing their own ideas to the table. And it seems that most people agree as this album served as their commercial breakthrough. Groovy, goofy, funky, these are all words to describe the stripped back approach that the band took on this project. Each song sounds like they could be their own pop hit and they just keep coming back to back and I am not entirely sure if they meant it to be but I do feel that the band wanted people to dance to these songs.
Every single member of the band is also firing on all cylinders but that is to be expected from the band at this point. They are all at the top of their game and you can tell from just hearing the opening minutes of the first track “Burning Down The House” the album just pulls you in. The title is even an admission from the lead singer and principal lyricsit David Byrne that his lyrics made no sense."I originally sang nonsense, and ... made words to fit that. That worked out all right." The album doesn’t take itself so seriously and neither should you. And in today’s day and age of self serious artists and heavy albums it is nice to have something to dance to.
This silly sentiment is also prevalent in the concert film that accompanies the tour for this album. The “Stop Making Sense” tour is where David Bynre started wearing the oversized suit that became synonymous with the band. Embracing the notion that none of this self serious artistic talk means anything and we all shouldn’t take anything so seriously. And in retrospect, this is a great sentiment as this was the last Talking Heads album that I really enjoyed from front to back. Their 5 album run from 1977-1983 sees some of the best albums in not only the New Wave genre but also in music in general. That being said, Talking Heads just so happened to save arguably their best song as the closer to this album “This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)”.
This song is not only my favorite on the album, it is one of my favorite songs ever. I think I would put it in my top 5 songs ever. In a classic David Bynre move the title makes absolutely no sense except upon further inspection where you see that the Naive Melody part comes from the repetitive guitar and keyboard baseline that was performed by relative amateur studio players. Everything about this song is perfect from the opening synths to the cry that David Bynre does at the end as it fades out. It is a simplistic, yet luminous love song that is one of the most direct declarations of love that has ever been put to audio. And in my opinion it fully encapsulates what I think I love about this album in general. Less is more, you don’t need to have complex arrangements or deep themes to make an amazing experience for the listener to enjoy. Talking Heads have already had their complex and deep listening experiences, it’s okay to dance around and enjoy an album without diving too deep into what it all means. For my money, this album is a masterpiece and I really do think everytime I listen to it “this must be the place”.