Once in a Lifetime(ethanhein.com)
ethanhein.com
Once in a Lifetime
https://www.ethanhein.com/wp/2022/once-in-a-lifetime/
40 comments
It's a pop song but it's profound. I remember playing it in 2005 . The opening riff, and then it starts talking about various things like the big house. When the song debuted, in the early 80s, having a fine automobile and big house were a big deal and the epitome of the American dream, but nowadays luxury cars and big homes have become so commonplace. An SUV will likely cost more than a luxury car brand. It shows how much society has changed. Now you need millions of dollars. Or a super-successful Substack or some other signifier of status.
This mashup with Tim Maia is amazing: https://soundcloud.app.goo.gl/aZzu6EpjtuMNDvmf8
I never knew the meaning of the song, but I always though he talks/sings like an evangalist, so it seemed religous / spiritual to me (or maybe a parody of religion).
Happy to see another Talking Heads (TH) fanatic.
Pull Up The Roots has been the most impactful TH song for me so far. I was obsessed with it for about 6 months. I literally listened to it probably 2-3 times a day for those 6 months. I was in a point of my life where I felt like I needed radical change so "pull up the roots" was a powerful message for me. Also I love how weird and chaotic the message is and the song is just downright catchy to me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQS6XfuH2wE
That whole Speaking In Tongues album is quite good. Definitely my favorite TH album. Great name for an album and very attractive cover art.
True Stories is also a very fun peak into the 80s. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/True_Stories_(film)
Pull Up The Roots has been the most impactful TH song for me so far. I was obsessed with it for about 6 months. I literally listened to it probably 2-3 times a day for those 6 months. I was in a point of my life where I felt like I needed radical change so "pull up the roots" was a powerful message for me. Also I love how weird and chaotic the message is and the song is just downright catchy to me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQS6XfuH2wE
That whole Speaking In Tongues album is quite good. Definitely my favorite TH album. Great name for an album and very attractive cover art.
True Stories is also a very fun peak into the 80s. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/True_Stories_(film)
True Stories is my favorite movie ever. Unique! I absolutely love the covers of Talking Heads songs throughout, especially "People Like Us" and "Papa Legba".
Wild Wild Life is my favorite Talking Heads song, and how does one even say that about any one TH song? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=616-QGQyx-I
Wild Wild Life is my favorite Talking Heads song, and how does one even say that about any one TH song? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=616-QGQyx-I
> That whole Speaking In Tongues album is quite good. Definitely my favorite TH album. Great name for an album and very attractive cover art.
Byrne is featured singing on an Arcade Fire B side of the same name, which as a fan of both I find surreal to hear singing together. His part is towards the end of the song.
https://youtu.be/dSfLHtzgAuI
Byrne is featured singing on an Arcade Fire B side of the same name, which as a fan of both I find surreal to hear singing together. His part is towards the end of the song.
https://youtu.be/dSfLHtzgAuI
Cool. I remember that song (because that album is phenomenal and definitely listened all the way through quite a few times) but it was before my obsession with Talking Heads kicked again. Deeper appreciation for it now.
Cool synchronicity. I had exactly the same several-month obsession with that song in 2019 for exactly the same reason. I’d already been a fan for a long time at that point, but Pull Up The Roots was always “the song right before This Must Be The Place” to me until I was in a situation that allowed it to really click.
It also happened in 2019 for me!!
I’m convinced that this is one of the greatest songs written to date. Very simple but at the same time deep, and I haven't yet met a person who didn’t like it.
As an aside I read that fela kuti was an influence to eno at the time and I think that can be heard in the repetitive nature of the song, especially in the guitar lines.
As an aside I read that fela kuti was an influence to eno at the time and I think that can be heard in the repetitive nature of the song, especially in the guitar lines.
It's a great song, and I used to listen to the whole Remain In Light album obsessively. That said, it's very far from one of the greatest songs for me.
Never felt much for many of his other songs either. I hate Psycho Killer.
Never felt much for many of his other songs either. I hate Psycho Killer.
>this is one of the greatest songs written to date.
That's very high praise.
With all respect and sincerity, I'd love to know your age and music listening background. While I, too, enjoy the song, it's definitely not in my top 100 of greatest songs ever written.
Perhaps you and I have nearly identical musical listening histories, in which case I 'high five' your pick for #1. Absent that, I can't help but think there are some songs you've not heard.
That's very high praise.
With all respect and sincerity, I'd love to know your age and music listening background. While I, too, enjoy the song, it's definitely not in my top 100 of greatest songs ever written.
Perhaps you and I have nearly identical musical listening histories, in which case I 'high five' your pick for #1. Absent that, I can't help but think there are some songs you've not heard.
Music appreciation is subjective, not objective.
Kind of...?
There are certain objective measures, e.g. Top 5/10/25/100 lists by critics and other credentialed people. There are record sales and polls and now, thanks to streaming, "listens". Yes, each of these have an element of subjectivity to them but also certain patterns become apparent, such that particular songs and artists show up again and again across the various measures.
There are certain objective measures, e.g. Top 5/10/25/100 lists by critics and other credentialed people. There are record sales and polls and now, thanks to streaming, "listens". Yes, each of these have an element of subjectivity to them but also certain patterns become apparent, such that particular songs and artists show up again and again across the various measures.
I’m 69 years old and listen mostly to mother goose books on tape
I love this answer.
When I saw that somewhat ambiguous title, I was hoping it was about that song. Now I have to watch all those videos!
Stop Making Sense is one of the all-time great music movies (and I try to watch 'em all).
Once in a Lifetime is a song where you just have to ask "where the hell did that come from?"
Stop Making Sense is one of the all-time great music movies (and I try to watch 'em all).
Once in a Lifetime is a song where you just have to ask "where the hell did that come from?"
> When I saw that somewhat ambiguous title, I was hoping it was about that song. Now I have to watch all those videos!
Same here! I thought, "there's no way Talking Heads is near the top of HN".
> Stop Making Sense is one of the all-time great music movies (and I try to watch 'em all).
I still find it hard to wrap my head around the fact that Jonathan Demme, the director of Stop Making Sense, also directed Silence of the Lambs and Philadelphia.
Same here! I thought, "there's no way Talking Heads is near the top of HN".
> Stop Making Sense is one of the all-time great music movies (and I try to watch 'em all).
I still find it hard to wrap my head around the fact that Jonathan Demme, the director of Stop Making Sense, also directed Silence of the Lambs and Philadelphia.
I've given Stop Making Sense an annual (and sometimes a bit more) watch every year since the 80's. I find it so evergreen and uplifting when I'm feeling a bit down.
I got the pleasure of meeting David Byrne and having a lunch with him at Affrah Mediterranean in Richardson, TX in the late 2000s. It was near the end of my stint at Hanson Robotics for the exhibition "Souls & Machines" at the Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid, Spain. He voiced one of our robots singing. He was, without a question, the most down to earth celebrity I have met to this day. I left that lunch struck how genuinely kind and encouraging he was, even to me as a lowly intern early in my career. I try to channel a bit of him at that lunch anytime I’m working with anyone cutting their teeth on anything new. We all need a little bit of kindness and encouragement at that stage.
That's a serious dream come true. Guy is a musical genius. His music(bandmates included) got me through some hard times. At one point I had every cd he ever made and it was almost everything I listened to.
Would love to hear/see more of your work nearly 20 years later (btw, big fan of the Reina Sofia Museum – to work with Bowie and exhibit at the Reina Sofia sounds like a dream)!
This Talking Heads Show from 11/4/80 has a great take of Once in a Lifetime too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFvgWguaC9g&t=1763s
I make it a semi-annual tradition to watch all of Stop Making Sense. Never disappoints.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFvgWguaC9g&t=1763s
I make it a semi-annual tradition to watch all of Stop Making Sense. Never disappoints.
I was at that 1983 LA Concert! Attending UCLA at the time and getting into what they called at the time "world music". The Talking Head's mix of rock riffs and African beats on this album won me over. The cover art was the first time I had seen digital pixelation.
Great post, incredible song. Talking Heads remain powerful, and their songs still have the power to rock a dance floor.
This article kermits a great sin by not including the best cover of this song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCY0aeUx-Ns
Same as it ever was.
> kermits
Commits?
Commits?
You may find yourself hearing a whoosh.
And you may find yourself overlooking a pun
Possibly English is not his first language, and also humor does not transmit as well online or in text form. It's why stand-up is funny, but if you read a transcription of the jokes it would not be nearly as funny.
It's a deliberate pun.
I don’t get the pun. Can you explain?
Kermit sounds like "commit". Kermit appears in the linked video.
You are right re: kermits/commits.
They are referring to a cover of once in a lifetime performed by Kermit the frog snd the muppets.
They are referring to a cover of once in a lifetime performed by Kermit the frog snd the muppets.
I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that the cover version is by the Muppets, the most famous of which is called Kermit.
Click the link!
I remember when NPR did the whole 100 most important albums thing ~20 years ago and loved the segment on this song that they mention in the post too: https://www.npr.org/2000/03/27/1072131/once-in-a-lifetime It highlighted for me that Byrne and Eno wanted to do something evoking a southern baptist church singing where the pastor makes a call and the audience responds. Once you realize that basic structure of call and response you'll hear it in so much modern and popular music today.
The entire NPR 100 series is solid gold and introduced me to so many albums and musicians that became favorites to this day. If you want some great stuff to listen to check it all out: https://www.npr.org/series/18955124/the-npr-100
The entire NPR 100 series is solid gold and introduced me to so many albums and musicians that became favorites to this day. If you want some great stuff to listen to check it all out: https://www.npr.org/series/18955124/the-npr-100
Often, when bad things come up in the news, I think of Life During Wartime:
https://youtu.be/v0DpBnUznd0
I mean, there has to be lots of cocaine on that stage, but epic nonetheless.
I mean, there has to be lots of cocaine on that stage, but epic nonetheless.
If this is referring to the original, it sounds like a Dsus4 atop the F-sharp/A ostinato in the bass. AFAICT the pitch class c doesn't show up until the guitar riff at the very end.
And that addition of c in that repeated guitar riff at the end is such a nice change. We should popularize a category of songs called "One Chord Substitution and the Truth." The Proclaimer's "I'm Gonna Be" is in that same category-- listen to it and see if you can spot the lone instance of a disco chord. :)
> Tina Weymouth never plays the tonic!
While I'm not sure exactly what Tina Weymouth was playing, somebody was generating the d a ninth above middle c and sustaining it literally the entire song.