50. Crosseyed and Painless – Talking Heads

They were strangely popular in Australia, and I really don’t know why. I mean, beautiful songs and everything – who could find fault in something as gorgeous as This Must Be The Place, for example? – but Australian audiences aren’t generally known for their appreciation of something pretentious or arty, both terms of derision there.

And they’re not just one thing, which should be another mark against them – they were white NY hipsters before such a thing existed (at least by name), with that weird, angular guitar rock, but then they married it to a huge, black bottom end, which even more strangely was played by a prematurely middle aged white married couple.

And then there’s David Byrne: I mean, he could probably passive/aggressive himself into a knife fight. And even though nothing they did made sense (pun unintended), they seemed incapable of playing anything that was less than interesting. I have no idea why I’ve picked this song, other than I’ve just loved it for ages, and maybe you’ve heard the big hits but not this, which is maybe their best song, at least today, at least until I go to the next track and wonder if I shouldn’t just rewrite this whole thing. Because look, Sax and Violins, Nothing But Flowers, Blind.

If only Byrne would let them reform, but then he’d have to admit the others added something to the mix, rather than playing to ever diminishing audiences. But if the Hall of Fame couldn’t get them back together, I guess nothing will. Shame, really. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Zrkf65GmwE