David Byrne

David Byrne has a new "journal" -- apparently the term blog raises the hackles on his refined sensibility (granted, it's not a pretty word). Be that as it may, I generally like his sensibility, from aesthetics to politics to music (of course), and his site doesn't disappoint. I learned from a perusal of his CDs that I haven’t heard any of the last six he’s made. The last CD I bought was “Feelings” which I still enjoy immensely. It has a great witty, satirical song about America and another called, “You Don't Know Me:”

You're looking at me but you can't see me
I'm invisible to the naked eye
I'm a part of everything you're doing
I'm a part of you down deep inside
I'm the part that sings those goofy love songs
I'm the part of you you can't control
I'm the part that fucked up your promotion
I'm the part that hurts when you're alone
On this beautiful night by the bright disco light
We will dance till the pain is all gone

If love is alive why can't I touch it?
Does it feel like Jell-O or a fire?
I can tell by the taste it was not poison
But it sure did mess up my insides

There's nothing else like you on my planet
You see me now in my true form
I did not come here in a spaceship
I came the moment you were born

On this beautiful night by the bright disco light
We will dance till the pain is all gone

If this strikes a chord, he may be your man. Actually, I like every cut on the CD. I would love to hear his newer stuff, but money gets in the way. One of the reasons I’m posting this is because I’ve become painfully aware recently that there are many people out there who do not know who the Talking Heads were. This is wrong. People. Kids. Go shuffle around in your parent's old cassettes (do an internet search if you don’t know what a cassette tape looks like), find a stereo that still plays them, insert, and rock. Art school kids have been making music for a long time and the Talking Heads were some of the best ever.

I could continue to write on David Byrne and the Talking Heads for a while but I should post this so my imaginary audience can read it. If I were to continue, I would say something about how David Byrne created an original guitar sound (and to some extent style), has what might be too close a connection to the elite in the art world (but only because he likes art and is famous), likes to dress up in funny costumes (see a great concert film directed by Jonathan Demme where he does just that called, “Stop Making Sense”), has his own “world music” label (under Sony I believe) Luakabop, and is generally a bit of a mellow genius. But I have to go.