When my niece was little, my brother would play this song, and at the chorus, "Burning Down the House..." she would add "With Matches!" The chorus signifies getting out of your comfort zone, and in general, its about having a big raucous good time.
Sweet! Great song to introduce you to Talking Heads. "Burning Down the House" was the lead single from their fifth album, Speaking in Tongues, released in 1983. They filmed the shows in Los Angeles during their tour promoting this album and released it in 1984 as the concert film Stop Making Sense. It ranks among the best concert films ever made. They kept up that level of energy throughout the concert, but they really take off during "Life During Wartime". When you're ready for more from Talking Heads check out "Once In A Lifetime", "This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)", "Girlfriend Is Better", "Pulled Up", "Take Me To The River", "Life During Wartime", "Crosseyed and Painless", and "Nothing But Flowers" among their many hits. Also check out Tom Tom Club, "Genius of Love", a top ten hit back in 1981 for a side group formed by Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz of Talking Heads.
Props to you for mentioning the Tom Tom Club. It was like, "Oh, yeah...by the way...we are a great rock group but let us just, be another great rock group for a second."
If you think they're sweating in this video, you should watch "Life During Wartime" from the same "Stop Making Sense" videos. Their energy is outrageous. The band's stamina is unbelievable. And it's a great song as well.
great feaction Faye! I was fortunate enough to see this concert when it rolled through here in Nashville October 15th 1983.Still one of the top five shows I've ever seen.
(PAUSE) Fay!!!! ❤❤❤❤ You just said, "Before I begin burning down the house....", wow, have I miss-judged you all this time? 🤣😂🤣😂 Ok, back after watching. Mpwa, I've never even tried to interpret this song. I probably knew at one time, but the song is so awesome in so many ways that I couldn't retain the meaning. Thank you for watching.
If I could change one tiny thing in my entire life, which this is something I don't spend much time thinking about as I always figure that five minutes into the change some form of horrible payback will happen to teach me a nasty lesson, anyway. So, that one thing is that at about fourteen, sixteen, whenever the great CBGB opened I would run away from home and hang out watching Talking Heads, Ramones, Blondie, Lou Reed, etc, etc, to my heart's content.
I'm not sure. The name is half the story. Talking Heads. It is social. Maybe the song is saying something about how we are all having a wild time and we should not let it run away with us. Love the review. The band has a lot of respect.
Hello nice to meet you Just so you know the phrase burning down the house is kind of a bit of nonsense The drummer has been to a James Brown gig When they went in to do session stuff he was still pumped and started drumming and screaming burning down the house I do believe that is the origin of the song the whole concept is an amazing thing widely regarded as the best concert movie ever and I agree .. greetings from Ireland
