Welcome to Eng 300, Introduction to the Major! One of our primary topics in this course will be the expanding notion of what comprises a "text." Are only novels or short stories true texts, appropriate for our analysis as students of literature? Can we "read" a film or song or television show in a manner akin to our analysis of literary texts?
On Monday, we'll be doing an in-class analysis of the following video and song by the influential (and now defunct) band, The Talking Heads.
For more information on The Talking Heads, check out the following Wiki article and this fan site
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It took me years before I understood this video. After learning more about David Byrne and his co-songwriter Brian Eno, this tune made a lot more sense. It was in this class, Professor Glaser's, that it all came together. "Same as it ever was" is the song's plot--to me. No matter what culture we are in, there are concerns of survival and kinship that are timeless. These concerns are not isolated to just one, particular society or culture.
ReplyDeleteI feel that another consideration is that Byrne was part of the CBGB scene in the 1970's. CBGB's was a club where punk acts would break in New York City. CBGB’s had acts such as The Sex Pistols, The Ramones among other punk acts. Being allied with such a genre seems strange, considering that The Talking Heads are so influenced by Rhythm and Blues, Funk and African Music.
It can be argued that David Byrne was part of the "confluence" movement of the 1970's and his contributions resound in what became known as, the "World Music" movement. He also was part of the "Art Rock" movement of the 1970's: a movement arguably started by Pink Floyd, Frank Zappa, David Bowie and Roxy Music. This is where we meet Byrne's other, musical half: Brian Eno.
Eno was the other founding member of Roxy Music. Eno Meet Bryan Ferry (the other founding member) in the Royal College of Art in the late 1960’s/early 1970’s. When the group was getting more commercial; and, tensions between Bryan Ferry and Eno were rising, Eno left in 1973. It was between 1976 and 1977 that Brian Eno meet David Byrne. What a sweet musical junction that became.
More Songs about Food and Buildings was the first album they worked on together. This was the Talking Heads second studio album. (This was the first Talking Heads album I purchased on vinyl in 1992. It is still my favorite Heads' album). More Songs was a pre-cursor to the type of repetitive, hip-hop like structures that were fully born on Remain in Light (1980). This album’s hit was "Once in a Lifetime". Byrne-Eno finally mastered the sound that showed a confluence of New York Hip-Hop of the 1970's, African Township, Ska, and Punk Aesthetic. There is a reason for such a good pairing of musical minds.
Both David Byrne and Brain Eno were collegiately educated in art schools. As a result, they keep abreast of the latest urban, art trends in London and New York. In the late 1970’s, artists were branching out into the video medium—particularly music videos. Artists were laying music under seemingly unrelated visual material. (Basquiat was the film that informed me of this).
This video is not exception; it was a normal product of such a transfer for artists into musicians and artists focused on music. I’m glad for it. MTV would not have existed; if not for the artists and art-musicians. Video didn’t kill the radio star; it just changed his artistic vantage. We have David Byrne, Brian Eno and their artistic peers to thank for that.