Once in a Lifetime (Talking Heads song)

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"Once in a Lifetime"
File:Onceinalifetimesingle.jpg
Cover art of UK 7" vinyl single
Single by Talking Heads
from the album Remain in Light
Released February 2, 1981
Format 7", 12", CD
Recorded 1980
Genre New wave, post-punk,[1] funk[2]
Length 4:19
Label Sire
Writer(s) David Byrne, Brian Eno, Chris Frantz, Jerry Harrison, Tina Weymouth
Producer(s) Brian Eno
Talking Heads singles chronology
"Crosseyed and Painless"
(1980)		 "Once in a Lifetime"
(1981)		 "Houses in Motion" (alternate mix)
(1981)
"And She Was"
(1985)
"Once in a Lifetime" (Live)
(1985)
"Wild Wild Life"
(1986)

"Once in a Lifetime" is a song by new wave band Talking Heads, released as the first single from their fourth studio album Remain in Light. The song was written by David Byrne, Brian Eno, Chris Frantz, Jerry Harrison, and Tina Weymouth, and produced by Eno. It was named one of the 100 most important American musical works of the 20th century by National Public Radio [3] and is also included in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.[4]

Background and production

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The creation of the sound

Brian Eno introduced Fela Kuti's multiple rhythm music style to the band, and during production Eno used a different rhythm count for some members of the group than others, starting on the "3" instead of the "1." It gave the song what Eno called "a funny balance within it. It has really two centers of gravity: their '1' and my '1.'" This rhythm imbalance was exaggerated in the studio, and is present throughout the song.[5] Jerry Harrison developed the synthesizer line and added the Hammond organ climax, taken from the Velvet Underground's "What Goes On".[5]

As the song essentially consisted of a repetitive two-bar groove (with the pattern reversed between the verse and chorus) Eno decided to approach the production by allowing each of the band members to record overdubs of different rhythmic and musical ideas independently of each other, with each member being kept blind to what the others had recorded on tape. In the final mix, Eno faded between these independent ideas at different parts of the song. This is very much in keeping with his production technique of Oblique Strategies.

Lyrics

At first, Eno sang nonsense verb sound blocks, which Byrne then converted into lyrics in the "call-and-response" style of American radio evangelists on the theme of moving through life with little awareness or questioning. On the way he spoke them Byrne has said: "Most of the words in 'Once in a Lifetime' come from evangelists I recorded off the radio while taking notes and picking up phrases I thought were interesting directions. Maybe I'm fascinated with the middle class because it seems so different from my life, so distant from what I do. I can't imagine living like that." (Some of these evangelist recordings also made their way to a 1981 album called My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, by Byrne and Eno.)

This speaking style was also the basis for his approach of starting several consecutive lines with the same phrases "And you may find yourself...", and with the chorus singing in part "letting the days go by, let the water hold me down," the song presents a existential mood to it. According to Allmusic critic Steve Huey, one of the main themes of the lyrics is "the drudgery of living life according to social expectations, and pursuing commonly accepted trophies (a large automobile, beautiful house, beautiful wife)."[6] Although the singer has these trophies, he begins to question whether they are real and how he got them.[7] This leads him to question further the reality of his life itself, providing the existential element.[7]

Eno wasn't particularly fond of the song, and it was almost dropped from the album before he came up with the vocal melody for the chorus, which "saved" it.[5]

Release and reception

At the time of its original release, the song gained modest chart success, peaking at #14 on the UK Singles Chart[8] and at #31 in the Dutch singles chart.[9] While the song failed to chart on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart, various American 80s format radio stations have come to programming it in their playlists over the years.[10] It was also an early MTV staple[11] and was one of the most heavily played videos upon MTV's debut in August 1981.[12]

Music video

The video

The music video features a bespectacled David Byrne in a tight-fitting suit and bowtie, appearing out of breath but still dancing around, much like a marionette against a video representation of an obviously fake waving body of water. As he speaks the lyrics he makes sudden jerking movements and flings his arms, taps his head and getting on his hands and knees to pat the floor. In the background, smaller video images of him dance in perfect synchronization with him; in the foreground, he begins to get further and further out of sync, as the background occasionally flashes old films of tribal dancing and ritualistic arm and body gestures which he had incorporated into his movements. At the end a serene version dressed in white Byrne appears, chanting as well, leaving the last shot of the original Byrne small against the entire video backdrop of the water, appearing to be waving for help, but then fades into the water.

The choreography

Many of Byrne's mannerisms, such as the physical spasms, unfocused eye movements, and sharp intakes of breath, were inspired by his choreographer Toni Basil, after showing him footage of epilepsy sufferers and also viewing footage of various tribal religious rituals from around the world, incorporating some of their movements as well, in keeping with the "unconscious religious lyrics."[11]

The video has made appearances on the "Midnight Video Special" episode of SCTV and an episode of the 90s Beavis and Butt-head, and was exhibited in the New York Museum of Modern Art.

Stop Making Sense

Talking Heads' performance of Once in a Lifetime in their concert film Stop Making Sense is notable for its almost 4-minute long, unbroken chiaroscuro shot of Byrne performing the song. This version was remixed to remove the live audience and was released as a single, peaking at #91 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.[13]

"We used to have so much fun playing this song live," Chris Frantz remarks in the liner notes of Once in a Lifetime: The Best of Talking Heads. "It was a soaring feeling, and the audience was right there with us."

In popular culture

Personnel

Talking Heads

Additional Personnel

Charts

Original version
Chart (1981) Peak
position
Australian Singles Chart[14] 23
Canadian Singles Chart[15] 28
Dutch Singles Chart[9] 24
Irish Singles Chart 16
UK Singles Chart[8] 14
US Billboard Hot 100[16] 103
Live version
Chart (1985) Peak
position
Dutch Singles Chart[9] 22
New Zealand Singles Chart[17] 15
US Billboard Hot 100[16] 91

References

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External links

  1. ↑ http://rateyourmusic.com/release/single/talking_heads/once_in_a_lifetime___seen_and_not_seen/
  2. ↑ http://www.allmusic.com/song/once-in-a-lifetime-mt0011967560
  3. ↑ NPR 100
  4. ↑ http://rockhall.com/exhibits/500-songs-that-shaped-rock-and/
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "Once in a Lifetime" National Public Radio broadcast, 27 March 2000 The 100 most important American musical works of the 20th century
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ http://1015thepoint.com/lsp/
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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