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Talking Heads — Seen And Not Seen
Album: Remain In Light
Avg rating:
6.6

Your rating:
Total ratings: 1146









Released: 1980
Length: 3:14
Plays (last 30 days): 1
He would see faces in movies, on TV, in magazines, and in books. He thought that some of these faces might be right for him, and that through the years, by keeping an ideal facial structure fixed in his mind, or somewhere in the back of his mind, that he might, by force of will, cause his face to approach those of his ideal. The change would be very subtle. It might take ten years or so. Gradually his face would change its shape. A more hooked nose; wider, thinner lips; beady eyes; a larger forehead.

He imagined that this was an ability he shared with most other people. They had also molded their faces according to some ideal. Maybe they imagined that their new face would better suit their personality. Or maybe they imagined that their personality would be forced to change to fit the new appearance. This is why first impressions are often correct.

Although some people might have made mistakes: they may have arrived at an appearance that bears no relationship to them. They may have picked an ideal appearance based on some childish whim, or momentary impulse. Some may have gotten half-way there, and then changed their minds.

He wonders if he, too, might have made a similar mistake.
Comments (199)add comment
All right.  What the heck is going on here? 

This is a mediocre/weak effort song from band that is OK, not great.  

But they are very fashionable.  Very kitschy. And it's very obvious they spend alot of time and effort dong this. Having the proper image seems to be very important to them. Perhaps dominating their music. 
  
For some reason, RP plays way too many TH songs. Does this mean that RP is now trying to be fashionable? What's next? Celine Dion?  Backstreet Boys?  
 tom_tom wrote:

Eno's influence is all over this one.



I'm often surprised how many songs I like here on RP only to find out that Brian Eno was involved with the making of that song!
LOL, look at the lyrics. They're laid out like it's a story, not prose. fits with Byrne's delivery.
No comments for 5 years? musta fell off the playlist for a bit.
 Ahnyer_Keester wrote:

Oh don't be an ass. 
Get it? Ha, I love dad jokes.  

 
The song - 8

The Joke - 10 :)
Very strange song...interesting lyrics about imagining a look we want and then slowly morphing into that appearance by pure will.  Last line is hard to hear.  Had to listen a few times to catch it.  Interestingly, I just heard a speaker last night explain how muscle density can increase through visualization alone.  So, maybe Byrne is not that far off on his thinking with this song.
So F'n brilliant! The music, the lyrics - SO ahead of their time.  Mind boggling this is rated a 6.6 on RP?!
Reminds me a little of “The Gift” by Velvet Underground. Great lyrics!
 jbuhl wrote:
Pretty sure that is Adrian Belew making all those crazy guitar sounds
 
With a little help from Brian Eno and Jon Hassell making their own crazy sounds.  ; )
Pretty sure that is Adrian Belew making all those crazy guitar sounds


These are very interesting and unique lyrics...the thought that we could change our physical appearance by our thoughts and imagination is thought provoking.  I think that may actually happen in real life to some extent, i.e., how we "see" ourselves reflects in how we look to others and thus if we change how we see ourselves, that may change how others see us as well.
 SmackDaddy wrote:

Let's how you looked at 20 vs 60.

 
Yeah but still: Sean is grizzled. Too many suntans and/or cigarettes. It wouldn't surprise me if he's had a drinking problem too. 

Haven't seen his recent movies but he's one of my favorite actors.  
I always expect Bryne to break out into Mr Rogers' 'Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood'
I heard he was Rogers' son, anyone else know? 
 Bobert_ParkCity wrote:

He (Sean Penn) looks very badly aged in Secret Life of Walter Mitty.   A far place from Fast Times... 

 
Let's how you looked at 20 vs 60.
 ekin wrote:


 
Oh don't be an ass. 
Get it? Ha, I love dad jokes.  
Ocean.
pretty donkey

cool song 

 suesblues wrote:
Talking Heads/ David Byrne are underrated methinks.  This sounds great, really contemporary. 

Did anyone see that film this year "This Must Be the Place" - with Sean Penn playing a badly aging gothic rockstar (a cross between Ozzy Ozborne, and Robert Smith).  David Byrne was in that film, playing a very nicely aging rockstar, very 'together'. The film itself was slow, you had to be in the right mood, but Byrne and Penn bounced off each other nicely.

 
He (Sean Penn) looks very badly aged in Secret Life of Walter Mitty.   A far place from Fast Times... 
Loved it then.  Get it now.  (Many people change their faces - accidentally, to match their temperament.   By the time they realize what they've done, it's too late.) 

Crazy good. 
 scraig wrote:
I think William Shatner could do a better job.

 
Now that {#Arrowu} is funny 
Brilliant ... love the lyrics!  10
 garycha wrote:

It's Brian eno and Byrnes song, and could have equally featured on the excellent "My Life in the bush of ghosts" LP recorded at same time.  A wonderful record btw.

loved this track the first time I heard it when I was a youth.  Was grape picking in France.  Met a bunch of German hippies travelling.  They got me stoned and gave me headphones with this track playing.  Takea me back there every time I hear it.   That's music for you. 
 
I LOVE that about music
{#Ask}
{#Good-vibes}{#Bananajam}{#Clap} hell yeah!
{#Daisy}{#Notworthy}{#Daisy}{#Bounce}{#Daisy}{#Notworthy}{#Daisy}
 suesblues wrote:
Talking Heads/ David Byrne are underrated methinks.  This sounds great, really contemporary. 

Did anyone see that film this year "This Must Be the Place" - with Sean Penn playing a badly aging gothic rockstar (a cross between Ozzy Ozborne, and Robert Smith).  David Byrne was in that film, playing a very nicely aging rockstar, very 'together'. The film itself was slow, you had to be in the right mood, but Byrne and Penn bounced off each other nicely.

 
I keep seeing that film on Netflix and Amazon--the former thinks I'd love it, but the cover creeps me out. I love Sean Penn, though. (Talking about aging badly...does he sleep with a sunlamp inches from his face?). He had a small part in "The Thin Red Line" which he absolutely nailed and was spot-on in "Mystic River." Would love to see him in something with Robert De Niro but only when Bob starts making decent movies again. 

I get the impression that David Byrne actually does have his act together in real life, even though he only made $58,000 from a recent album:

https://www.wired.com/underwire/2012/09/david-byrne-how-music-works/all/ 

DB hates on Spotify (not RP, which dutifully pays royalties and honors Euterpe, the Muse of Music, in all other ways!):

https://www.businessinsider.com/david-byrne-slams-music-streaming-services-as-financial-disaster-2013-10 
A worthy rappin'hood
Brilliant! End of story.
 MinMan wrote:
 fredriley wrote:
Yak, yak, yak.
Burble, burble, burble.
Rhubarb, rhubarb, rhubarb.

Any more for any more?

never forget it

Mumbo Jumbo, rhubarb rhubarb
Tickety bubarb yak yak yak
Mumbo jum red white and bluebarb,
Poor Brittania's on her back.

Mumbo Jumbo, rhubarb rhubarb
Nothing newbarb cha cha cha.
Mumbo Jumbo Castro's Cubarb.
I think someone's gone too far!

.... 

copyright 1961

 
A friend in high school really loved Anthony Newley. I've heard of "Stop the World, I Want to Get Off" for ages but haven't seen it yet...

...Still love this song.
 sirdroseph wrote:
This is undoubtedly Tina's song.

 
It's Brian eno and Byrnes song, and could have equally featured on the excellent "My Life in the bush of ghosts" LP recorded at same time.  A wonderful record btw.

loved this track the first time I heard it when I was a youth.  Was grape picking in France.  Met a bunch of German hippies travelling.  They got me stoned and gave me headphones with this track playing.  Takea me back there every time I hear it.   That's music for you. 
I so welcome hearing this again, it had me remembering the writings of william S Burroughs, or Laurie Anderson, and great, late college nights in the city, with my artist pals and lovers, awake thru the night because there were so many things happening in my head, all running over each other, not bad things, just lots of them, and some were enthralling and so cool...
yeah, this one of their songs is cool 
Talking Heads/ David Byrne are underrated methinks.  This sounds great, really contemporary. 

Did anyone see that film this year "This Must Be the Place" - with Sean Penn playing a badly aging gothic rockstar (a cross between Ozzy Ozborne, and Robert Smith).  David Byrne was in that film, playing a very nicely aging rockstar, very 'together'. The film itself was slow, you had to be in the right mood, but Byrne and Penn bounced off each other nicely.
 rpdevotee wrote:
This is a fascinating concept if you listen to the lyrics
 
I agree
Repeating and boring....
Just when I thought "Hey, this sounds a lot like that other terrible talk-singing song RP plays", I see it is from the same band and the same album. Conclusion, I really don't like this band.
This is a hauntingly beautiful song. Haunting. Love it.
These guys wrote some crazy-assed lyrics. Rock rock rock rock, rock n roll theoretical physics! 
This is a fascinating concept if you listen to the lyrics
 sirdroseph wrote:
This is undoubtedly Tina's song.
 

I don't know if it is, but I'm thinking the same thing.
So far off the scale of musical genius experimentation that even now it is still slightly and decidedly deliciously ahead of its time...insightfully deep as it gets and deeper yet...
 fredriley wrote:
Yak, yak, yak.
Burble, burble, burble.
Rhubarb, rhubarb, rhubarb.

Any more for any more?

never forget it

Mumbo Jumbo, rhubarb rhubarb
Tickety bubarb yak yak yak
Mumbo jum red white and bluebarb,
Poor Brittania's on her back.

Mumbo Jumbo, rhubarb rhubarb
Nothing newbarb cha cha cha.
Mumbo Jumbo Castro's Cubarb.
I think someone's gone too far!

Mumbo Jumbo, rhubarb rhubarb
Voulez-vousbarb avec moi?
Mumbo Jumbo entrez-nousbarb
Bridget Bardot ooh la la!

Ladies of the Book of the Month Guild, it is my pleasure to introduce the Opportunist candidate for this constituency, Mr. Littlechap!

Mumbo Jumbo, rhubarb rhubarb
Has Red China got the bomb?
Velly soon now if it's truebarb
We'll be blown to kingdom come.

You've got a bomb, We've got a bomb, All God's children got bombs.

Mumbo Jumbo, rhubarb rhubarb
Give the Democrats more cash.
Helps the nation, stops inflation.
How's your father? Wall Street crash.

We wanna be rich with money to burn.

Mumbo Jumbo, rhubarb rhubarb
Prostitubarb off the streets.
We will fight them on the beaches
But we'll lose between the sheets.

Fellow members of the Motor Scooter Association, I'd like you to meet the Opportunist candidate, Mr. Littlechap.

Mumbo Jumbo, rhubarb rhubarb
Common Market can't go wrong.
Washday Mondays? Send your undies
Chinese laundry in Hong Kong.

Mumbo Jumbo, rhubarb rhubarb
Give the Africans their rights.
Colored people are free toobarb
Though not quite as free as whites!

Mumbo Jumbo, rhubarb rhubarb
Up your flubarb, Liberty Hall.
And, dear friends, if I'm elected,
I'm all right, Jack—screw you all!

Littlechap wins the election by a landslide.

Mumbo Jumbo, rhubarb rhubarb
Has Red China got the bomb?
Velly soon now if it's truebarb
We'll be blown to kingdom come.

You've got a bomb, We've got a bomb, All God's children got bombs.

Mumbo Jumbo, rhubarb rhubarb
Give the Democrats more cash.
Helps the nation, stops inflation.
How's your father? Wall Street crash.

We wanna be rich with money to burn.

Mumbo Jumbo, rhubarb rhubarb
Prostitubarb off the streets.
We will fight them on the beaches
But we'll lose between the sheets.

Fellow members of the Motor Scooter Association, I'd like you to meet the Opportunist candidate, Mr. Littlechap.

Mumbo Jumbo, rhubarb rhubarb
Common Market can't go wrong.
Washday Mondays? Send your undies
Chinese laundry in Hong Kong.

Mumbo Jumbo, rhubarb rhubarb
Give the Africans their rights.
Colored people are free toobarb
Though not quite as free as whites!

Mumbo Jumbo, rhubarb rhubarb
Up your flubarb, Liberty Hall.
And, dear friends, if I'm elected,
I'm all right, Jack—screw you all!

copyright 1961
Love them or hate them, Talking Heads is a sticky band. David Byrne has been in my head for more years than I care to think about. So far outside of the mainstream they never feel old. Often copied never equaled.
The rejection of Talking Heads by members like fredriley and jagdriver (with usually good taste) is baffling.
 On_The_Beach wrote:

Blah, blah, blah.
 
Yak, yak, yak.
Burble, burble, burble.
Rhubarb, rhubarb, rhubarb.

Any more for any more?

This is undoubtedly Tina's song.
some of the comments here suggest that the heads were - and especially with this album, that is - so much a-head of their time that even now (how many years ago was this? are you kidding?) this classifies as "not seen" (that is: not heard) before, and therefore people do not really understand.
this album remains in light, and it´s shining - like nothing else!  (sorry for the puns :-))
It is refreshing to hear something by TH that isn't psychokiller or living in wartime.
One of the best albums of all time. It just is.
When does the song start?  I keep waiting...

Seriously, I love the THeads, but this didn't sound like anything more than a good lead in to a real song. Album Filler.  A Ho Hum from me. 
 sirdroseph wrote:

I have never heard this, but I like it!{#Cheers}


 
Was thinking I had never heard this before as well, but how is that possible, I owned this and several other Talking heads albums..ha.

Definitely enjoyable.

I CONCUR!!!  tutakea wrote:
tippster says: This is an amazing track from one of the best albums of all time.

I say: there is nothing more to say. period

 


tippster says: This is an amazing track from one of the best albums of all time.

I say: there is nothing more to say. period

I have never heard this, but I like it!{#Cheers}


pleasure has been delivered
{#Good-vibes}
Same as it ever was, same as it ever was!
Did TomTom Club do something similar to this?  I swear I have heard this before without Byrne.
 jkhandy wrote:

Variety is the spice of life and RP is full of spice.  {#Chef}
 
This is why first impressions are often correct.

 akousa wrote:
I don't get you folks. This is an amazing track from one of the best albums of all time. Bill, you can play anything from this anytime. And while you're at it, add some tracks from My Life in the Bush of Ghosts by Eno and Byrne.
 
Seconded.  Remain in Light is amazing, My Life in the Bush of Ghosts groundbreaking.

 jkhandy wrote:

Variety is the spice of life and RP is full of spice.  {#Chef}
 
Yeah, and I don't get all the milquetoast complainers who come here to bitch.

I think William Shatner could do a better job.
7 {#Arrow} 8  {#Dancingbanana}{#Tongue} Boogie.
 akousa wrote:
I don't get you folks. This is an amazing track from one of the best albums of all time. Bill, you can play anything from this anytime. And while you're at it, add some tracks from My Life in the Bush of Ghosts by Eno and Byrne.
 


 akousa wrote:
I don't get you folks. This is an amazing track from one of the best albums of all time.
 
Yep. The resistance is a mystery to me, also. {#Think} I guess the upside is, 30 years later, we still get to be the cognoscenti. {#Cheesygrin}
I don't get you folks. This is an amazing track from one of the best albums of all time. Bill, you can play anything from this anytime. And while you're at it, add some tracks from My Life in the Bush of Ghosts by Eno and Byrne.
 fredriley wrote:
Byrne's bad enough when he sings, even worse when he's talking. This is a bad omen - I turn on RP and I'm immediately hit by two Sucko-Barfos on the bounce. Things can only get better...
 
I'm with you. This is terrible. {#Eek}


 fredriley wrote:
Byrne's bad enough when he sings, even worse when he's talking. This is a bad omen - I turn on RP and I'm immediately hit by two Sucko-Barfos on the bounce. Things can only get better...
 
Blah, blah, blah.


 fredriley wrote:
Byrne's bad enough when he sings, even worse when he's talking. This is a bad omen - I turn on RP and I'm immediately hit by two Sucko-Barfos on the bounce. Things can only get better...
 
Variety is the spice of life and RP is full of spice.  {#Chef}
Byrne's bad enough when he sings, even worse when he's talking. This is a bad omen - I turn on RP and I'm immediately hit by two Sucko-Barfos on the bounce. Things can only get better...
 More_Cowbell wrote:
This is smart David Byrne.  What happend?
 
IIRC, he fell in love. Little Creatures anyone? No matter, I dig his every incarnation. {#Sunny}
Bill's playing alot from this album lately. Not that I'm complaining, but how bout a little Fear of Music too?
 scott4261 wrote:
The genious of Eno & Byrne...
 
Ahhhhhh, indeed.

 handsomened wrote:
PeorgieTirebiter wrote:
Best Talking Heads record. Period, end of story.

I was gonna say this, but you already did! Hands down.


{#Yes}

 
.. and I logged in to say exactly that ! ..... a brilliant album.

I see where James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem got some ideas from...
PeorgieTirebiter wrote:
Best Talking Heads record. Period, end of story.

I was gonna say this, but you already did! Hands down.

 buddy wrote:


I was gonna say this, but you already did!  Hands down.
 
{#Yes}

 jagdriver wrote:
Good time for a tea break.
 
Me 2.


Good time for a tea break.
Even though he is singing with less energy and volume it still sucks nonetheless
 PeorgieTirebiter wrote:
Best Talking Heads record. Period, end of story.
 
Save the program, turn off the computer, shut off the lights, walk out the door and into the sunset.
 PeorgieTirebiter wrote:
Best Talking Heads record. Period, end of story.
 

Amen.
Best Talking Heads record. Period, end of story.
 themotion wrote:
So ... Is there a point to all this?

While I agree that some of their music pushed the envelope, random noises and David Byrne talking does not constitute a 7.1 rating.
 
My rating of 2 has helped push this down to 7.0.  We're heading in the right direction!

Wow, back to back Eno influenced/produced songs (Simon - Once Upon a Time There Was An Ocean) - amazing transition.

Thank you for playing this song.  I didn't discover it till around 1990, but I can only imagine how many ears melted the first time they heard this album.  Still fresh nearly 30 years later.

I remember when this came out....{#Yes}
Outstanding transition, Bill!
More_Cowbell wrote:
This is smart David Byrne. What happend?


You listened.

 colt4x5 wrote:
pretty sure this is the only th song i ever actually liked.

(must be the eno thing.) 
 
{#High-five}

S'cool isn't it?

This is smart David Byrne.  What happend?
pretty sure this is the only th song i ever actually liked.

(must be the eno thing.) 
Not a big TH fan but this song is amazing. Interesting editorial review from Amazon:

Way back in 1980, the original wave of Talking Heads fans were pleasantly stunned to hear Remain in Light, produced and co-written by Brian Eno, on which Byrne and company are joined by guitar god Adrian Belew, and funk legends Bernie Worrell (keyboards) and Steven Scales (percussion), among others, for a fuller, funkier sound nobody imagined they had in them. The first three songs are long, layered, full-body dance parties, with incessantly repeated phrases (musical and lyrical), and increasingly catchy melodic hooks that won't let go for days. "Once in a Lifetime" was the big hit, but the rockingest track is the third, "The Great Curve," after which the songs get more linear and subdued. It's still great stuff, right through to the especially Eno-like droner, "The Overload," but the second half is maybe better to sleep to than dance to. Which is fine: after the exuberance of the first three songs, you'll need a little nap. —Dan Leone
That Afro looks pretty solid.
 rtrudeau wrote:


I can't hear "Solid" without thinking of Mod Squad. Anyone else?


 
Word.

 brewmonkey wrote:
Solid

 

I can't hear "Solid" without thinking of Mod Squad. Anyone else?



I feel ENO


Solid

Very refreshing to hear something other than top 40 Talking Heads.
Sucker for handclaps:  solid 8!
 ROSSinDETROIT wrote:
Obscure song from a wonderful album that was far ahead of its time.
 
I second that!

Obscure song from a wonderful album that was far ahead of its time.
 scott4261 wrote:
The genious of Eno & Byrne...
 

Yessa.   Read an article in the Sunday NYT that they are doing an album together again now.   Eno writes the music in England, sends it to Byrne in NYC, and BAM.  Looking forward to it.

The genious of Eno & Byrne...
which kind of fraggle gives this less than a "10"?? this music is just awesome.
What is this, a song or a sociological essay?
I think I may have seen one of the first, if not THE first shows from the "Remain In Light" tour. No one had a clue as to what to expect, I hadn't even seen a clue in the music rags. It was at a big outdoor festival, must have been 1980, at the Mossport race track near Toronto. I had been a fan with the first album, Talking Heads '77, but had gradually lost interest and thought that they had become a bit pretentious. I had been up near the stage all day but decided to give it a break for the Heads and went back a couple hundred yards on a little hill. First David Byrne comes out alone, then he's joined one-by-one by additional members until there were 8 or 9 musicians and they were into the full Remain in Light show, what some were calling "jungle punk" at the time. Like everyone there I was blown away. The album wasn't release for a few more weeks. Until the album was release I was telling anyone who would listen that they weren't going to believe the new Heads when it came out. Actually I think it does sound a bit dated now, but it was definitely a shock at the time.
I remember this twilight zone episode!
andycollingridge wrote:
Truly ahead of their time, this track (and album) still sounds as box-fresh as the first time I heard it.
My feelings exactly. Their best album, IMO.
Truly ahead of their time, this track (and album) still sounds as box-fresh as the first time I heard it. Thematically prescient, as well, like much of Byrne's work. he's a genius, period.
eno-ey delicious.
'... they may have arrived at a place that bears no relationship to them. ... He wonders if he too, might have made a similar mistake. ' Check the lyrics if you wonder why this song deserves a listen
This song brings back many trippy memories from college days. Definitely state of mind song.
The Talking Heads were outstanding in taking music a new direction. While not every song is a home run I respect their artistic integrity to explore and challenge themselves.
So ... Is there a point to all this? While I agree that some of their music pushed the envelope, random noises and David Byrne talking does not constitute a 7.1 rating.
Mind over matter.
This is eclectic. And shitty.
"This is why first impressions are often correct" Words to live by.
This is one well-worn piece of vinyl at my house.
wookie wrote:
hey Uncle, ever hear of sarcasm? double reverse phycology?
can't say I'm familiar with phycology. But if your earlier post is actually using double reverse psychology then welcome to the TH fan club.
Uncle_Fenester wrote:
Funny, I have exactly the reverse urge every time Bill plays the Dead. But I don't post it.
hey Uncle, ever hear of sarcasm? double reverse phycology?
wookie wrote:
Resist the urge to critisize Talking Heads, Bill just playes them more. It's not going to work... play more Dead!
Funny, I have exactly the reverse urge every time Bill plays the Dead. But I don't post it.