How the Talking Heads wrote "Once in a Lifetime"

this video sponsored by Skillshare the first 500 people to go to SKS h slash polyphonic 12 will get two months of Skillshare for free in a lot of ways the talking heads were an unexpected success a group of art students pulling punk ideas together with funk and world music doesn't exactly sound like the pitch for a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee but somehow it worked their ability to mix general weirdness with relevant social commentary was unparalleled and despite how strange their music was at times they were able to create pop hooks that turned into ear worms and stuck in listeners heads for days on end and I think there's one song that best pulls all of this together once in a lifetime let's take a closer look when the Talking Heads set out to create their fourth studio album remain in light they were looking to change the way they made songs instead of just having David Byrne write everything the band wanted a more democratic process and so they tried something they never had before inspired by afro beat legend Fela Kuti the instrumentalists in the band recorded a number of jams these jams used eyes Umbra from their 1979 album fear of music as a starting point [Music] with that funky foundation they came up with a number of concepts and pieces one of these songs working titled right start would become the groundwork for once-in-a-lifetime well the song is quite different from the final piece you can hear Tina Weymouth space line in it clear as day and while Weymouth plays the bass line it may have actually been written by her husband the drummer Chris Frantz Weymouth recalled to NPR that during one of these jams France was yelling something at her across the room something that she thought was this bass line when she played it he said that's more like it and the lick stuck the Talking Heads took that lick and extrapolated it slowly building a piece around it after weeks of Jami David Byrne and producer Brian Eno came into the studio to start adding arrangements and lyrics to the musical pieces however when Eno approached the piece he started counting it differently in the band the instrumentalists thought the one of the bar fell at the start of the phrase whereas Eno counted the one as the gap before the phrase began this created a kind of dissonance and syncopation with his phrasing and Ino leaned into this this misheard counting became a key part of the song it makes the music feel off-kilter and strange [Music] but the same thing that gives the song its musical strength makes it difficult to write to you know nearly scrapped the track entirely but Byrne insisted that he could find lyrics that would work this determination eventually led to a breakthrough for Eno where he wrote a call and response chorus melody the group thought it sounded like a preacher speaking to his congregation and so David Byrne channeled that in his lyrics he sat down and listened to televangelist sermons pulling phrases from them and crafting them into lyrics that one day you'll draw your last breath your heart will beat it's last time there'll be no more life left in your body where is your soul going but it wasn't just the words that these preachers were saying that Byrne was channeling it was their performance his vocals feature long stretches of dramatic phrases with deep breaths and pauses for a fact you may ask yourself how do I work this and you might ask yourself where is that large automobile and you may tell yourself this is not my beautiful house and you may tell yourself this is not my beautiful wife put together the song creates a trance-like state capturing the manic monotony of middle-class existence [Music] and I think this is part of the reason it really resonated with people the lyrics explore what it feels like to fall into mindless repetition watching your life fly by as routine takes over this is even reflected in the music of the song with relentlessly repeating keyboard and bass burn himself said the song was about the unconscious about how we operate half awake on autopilot the motif of water plays into this - water is the flow of time inevitably pushing forward in the code of Verne slips in a line summing up one of the key messages of the song you can't change time and time won't change [Music] same as ever upon release once-in-a-lifetime found modest success reaching number 14 on the UK Singles Chart but failing to crack the charts in the US shortly after though it grew a cult following thanks to MTV made on a shoestring budget the video for once-in-a-lifetime is one of the most memorable of its time the band played with blue screen technology composing multiple david burns on top of a white background or images of religious ceremony alongside the blue screen effects the real strength of the once-in-a-lifetime video comes from burns choreography he was inspired by religious ritual for the video so he and director Toni Basil poured over film preachers people in trances religious sects and much much more now some of these were put in the background but more importantly they were used as the basis for burns dancing and it works so well the way he flails and jerks around conjures up arcane rituals but they're paired with the monotony of his souped and the plain white background burns performance is absolutely electric throughout the video you can't help but marvel at his energy bringing absurdity and hilarity to a pretty basic concept once in a lifetime was released on February 2nd 1981 just six months before MTV first hit airwaves with limited music videos to choose from once-in-a-lifetime became a staple for the channel in its early years and this play helped the song gained some much-deserved recognition a live version of the song released in 1986 found its way onto the Billboard charts hitting number 91 and the acclaim just grew from there today once-in-a-lifetime is known as one of the finest works of a legendary band NPR named it one of the hundred most important American musical works of the 20th century and The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame slid it into their list of 500 songs that shaped rock and roll once in a lifetime is the walking embodiment of all that the Talking Heads were its cutting edge it's strange and it's utterly brilliant one of the reasons once-in- a-lifetime was so good was because the Talking Heads took a new approach to their songwriting if you've ever wondered how exactly you should've songwriting why not try out Lauren booked her songwriting and composing melodies on Skillshare in that course Victor teaches the skills that she's learned throughout a career composing for film and TV by the end of the course you'll have created your own song or composition if that's not up your alley there's plenty more that Skillshare has to offer Skillshare is an online learning community with over 20,000 glasses and design business music and more Premium Membership gives you unlimited access to high-quality courses on a myriad of skills a new course that I'd recommend is Thomas Frank's productivity masterclass that class can help you get your life in order and maximize your time and really that's just the beginning there's countless courses that you can use to create your best self so why not give it a try the first 500 people to sign up using the link in the description will be able to tryout Skillshare for two months and no cost that means unlimited access to more than 20,000 classes for free so act now and start learning today [Music] [Music]

Channel: Polyphonic

Views: 808,970

Keywords: polyphonic, music, video essay, talking heads, once in a lifetime, brian eno, david byrne, chris frantz, tina weymouth, songwriting, lyrics, explained, understanding, understanding the talking heads

Id: a_siGG35f7Y

Length: 9min 17sec (557 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 07 2019