I was at a party where some drunk bloke was trying to explain this song to me. Other than singing ah ah ah in a typical drunk melody he kept repeating the phrase. "He's got this big fucking suit... like it's really big,... ahhh mann his suit is so big mate you've gotta see it"
DB: "I wanted my head to appear smaller and the easiest way to do that was to make my body bigger, because music is very physical and often the body understands it before the head."
Rebekah Gerstein we live and learn :) I guess I searched for the explanation as well. I had no idea so many people read this comment but now I'm really glad I left it here!
I love the comment section on Talking Heads videos because they'll say "Omg 3:30 literally changed my life" and it's just David Byrne doing the most autistic thing imaginable
This is one of the best concert films ever made. It is so clean. Patient. No quick cuts, no goofy effects, no incorporating fantasy sequences. There are long sequences where there's just a wide shot of the band on stage, or a one shot of David performing. It's almost like being there.
I love there are lingering shots on the other folks in the band as well--mimics what it's like to be in the audience at a concert. Sometimes you just pay attention to the drummer for a while.
Tina Weymouth's driving bass, Worell's key board-synthesizer and above all David's bigsuit theatrical vocals have come together in a once in a lifetime composition that is and will continue to be an eternal favourite. This has a magnetic appeal. Even after 40 years.
Yeah, Bernie Worrell’s fearsome synth blasts exploding out of that Prophet are incredible. And you can see from the footage that he feels every single one of them _physically_-though that could just be the coke… 😉😂
Loving me some Tina Weymouth on bass. She drives this song, along with the keyboard and David's vocals and crazy eyes. He looks like he's gonna lose it any moment but "everything's under control."
What I loved about the Talking Heads is that their live performances were better than their studio recordings. Very few acts can pull that off. Simply one of the best live performances EVER.
Talking Heads, Umphrey's McGee, Phish, Grateful Dead, Greensky Bluegrass, Widespread Panic, Steely Dan, they all put on a better live show than they put on studio records.
Aaron Beauchamp This remains the greatest live performance I've ever witnessed (and yes, we in the audience knew we were be filmed for a documentary by Jonathan Demme).
A friend and I went to see the movie in Barcelona in 1989, I think, and didn't last five minutes in our seat...it was pure torture! How could you stay seated watching this??? We ran to the last row and spent the whole movie going crazy in the discreet, dark back end of the theatre. I played the DVD my kids when they were 6 or 7 and had the same reaction. They're twenty now & still like it.
I always admired him as a songwriter, a conceptualist, a performance artist, and front man...It wasn't until years later that I realized: "This guy is actually a pretty badass singer"...Lotta power...
There is something wonderfully outlsndish and hypnotic about Byrne’s performance. A true work of art. But I guess, he was just having fun when he made it.
THIS RIGHT HERE IS A SLAPPER!!!!! I DONT CARE WHAT ANY ONE ELSE SAYS. I WILL PLAY THIS SONG FOREVER , I DONT CARE WHAT MY SON OR NEIGHBORS SAY!!! HOW CAN YOU LISTEN TO THIS AND NOT FEEL SOMETHING IN YOUR SOUL??? YA WANNA DANCE!!!
Back in the day, Rich Hall of SNL did a hilarious takeoff on David Byrne and the big suit. To the tune of "Once In A Lifetime:" "And you may ask yourself… does this come in my size? And you may ask yourself… can this be taken in a little?"
I've searched for it for several years and haven't found it as an independent video. It was on Season 10, Episode 4 which originally aired November 3, 1984. Michael McKean was the host.
I founda picture but couldnt find a video. I think he was there during the dark 80s period with Charles Rocket and Joe Piscapoe snl.jt.org/imp.php-i=471.html
Well, you were more considerate than I. I used to blast it out of my stereo speakers while studying for exams, to the occasional chagrin of my roommates.
One of the greatest Rock n Roll concert films ever!!!! Seriously.... right up there with "The TAMI Show" (1964), Monterrey Pop (1967), Woodstock (1969), The Song Remains the Same (1976) and Urgh: A Music War (1980),
I... Who took the money? Who took the money away? I... It's always showtime Here at the edge of the stage I, I, I, wake up and wonder What was the place, what was the name? We wanna wait, but here we go again I... takes over slowly But doesn't last very long I... no need to worry Everything's under control O - U - T but no hard feelings What do you know? Take you away We're being taken for a ride again I got a girlfriend that's better than that She has the smoke in her eyes She's coming up, going right through my heart She's gonna give me surprise I think it's right, Better than this I think you can if you like I got a girlfriend with bows in her hair And nothing is better than that (is it?) Down, down in the basement We hear the sound of machines I, I, I'm driving in circles Come to my senses sometimes Why, why, why, why start it over? Nothing was lost, everything's free I don't care how impossible it seems Somebody calls you but you cannot hear Get closer to be far away Only one look and that's all that it takes Maybe that's all that we need All that it takes, I'll bet it's right All it takes, if it's right I got a girlfriend that's better than that And she goes wherever she likes (there she goes) I got a girlfriend that's better than that Now everyone's getting involved She's moving up going right through my heart We might not ever get caught Going right through (try to stay cool) going through, staying cool I got a girlfriend she's better than that And nothing is better than you I got a girlfriend that's better than this But you don't remember at all As we get older and stop making sense You won't find her waiting long Stop making sense, stop making sense...stop making sense, making sense I got a girlfriend she's better than that And nothing is better than this (Is it?)
I watched this concert with my dad when I was a little girl. Now it's on my iPod and I watch it all the time when I'm waiting for the bus, or in a queue at the bank or waiting to see the doctor. Love it!
On the one hand I'm sad that I will never get to see them live, on the other hand I love having the ability to watch tons of live footage of them over and over by just clicking a few buttons.
This was a good group to grow up with, I seen them at the first US festival and I was just seventeen I had the best time dancing through their all their songs and I mean everyone was dancing with each other it was just awesome, wow time does fly I just turned 60 and it just seems like it was yesterday, thank you for your time,Jesus loves you all
Just one of my all-time fav tunes and films ever! David Byrne and Talking Heads are still way ahead of what passes for popular and alternative music. The music still holds up and their genius remains undimished. Unlike so many today - Byrne never had to build himself up and drone about his greatness. The proof was in the product - and that is not something that can easily be said about what dominates the charts right now.
Possibly the greatest concert ever, definitely my favorite way to wake up in the morning, think I'd marry him in a second... or Tina! GAWD the bass in this...
I usually prefer the studio versions of most of my collection, but Talking Heads is the only band that I actually prefer the live versions of my favorite songs, including this song and ""Take Me to the River". It's a shame I've never had the opportunity to see them in concert back in the day.
Went to see this film at The Cottage Road cinema in Headingley (Leeds, UK) in the 80's. It was a late show (after the pubs closed) and everyone was pretty tanked up before they went in. The show started with 'Psychokiller' and just built and built into a magnificent crescendo. When this track came on, everyone was dancing in the aisles as well as in/on their seats. It's one of the fondest memories of my whole life!
Yeah, she has she yeah, she yes OK. How do you feel about the song? I still haven’t found what I’m looking for. What about their concerts? I know what I’ve been looking for. It’s me. It took so many years to figure that out. It’s really never outside herself is it, but I don’t know how anyone can sit still listening to genius. The drummer even sings and plays drums unbelievable.
I am very lucky in that this was the very first big concert I saw! I didn't have enough taste or knowledge at that point to have known how good it would be. I was 13 and my brother 10 or 11 - my mom dropped us off (thanks mom!). We were so young that the concert people took us to the very front of the line! Alas, we were too shy to go right up front, but it was still awesome.
I have a specific teenage memory from 1984-ish of me watching a Talking Heads music video, being enamored with David Byrne’s “wet look”-hair, and then running upstairs to the bathroom mirror and desperately attempting to replicate it. Even forty years later, I’m still in awe of his hair from this era. (Oh, and the music’s pretty damn amazing as well! 😂)
There is something deeply spiritually uplifting about this film. Their live performances were indeed better than their studio recordings, in the sense that their live performances are infused with love, emotion and joy in music.
Listen. If all of Talking Heads studio albums were the quality of this concert. They would have been so much popular! Anywho, I love this collection of artists.
Stop Making Sense is one of the best concert movies from a directorial standpoint. David Byrne planned out everything, from the band coming out piece by piece, to how he would move around the stage, check get the DVD and watch it, there are several pages from the planning on the extras, with drawings showing exactly how it would happen...awesome David Byrne was... genius is stretching it, but a very good thinker
My favourite song ever, by the best. Remember being in my dad's car when u was little and my dad blasting the song as we bombed it up the the m6 . Thanks Dad for introducing me to Greatness .
One of the greatest experiences of my life was to see David Byrne live in concert. A true artist by any measuring stick. A moment I'll always hold dear. Seriously, if you have the opportunity, spend the money and see him live!
Don't forget the rest of the band! I can't imagine him coming up with ALL of that creative bass playing, the funky electric guitar riffs, and rhythmic drumming.
The music and the clothes where in a league of their own, it was and still is a massive part of what talking heads were all about! I have magic memories throughout my whole life with talking heads, they are undisputed!
This has to be the best concert movie out there! Like Pink Floyd, the talking heads sounded a gazillion times better live! The sure genius of David Byrne and the rest of this phenomenal. Sadly their career ended in a feud. A shame we'll probably never see them reunite again.
I'm 59 and back in 1978 at the Providence Performing art Center the Talking Heads were the first band I ever saw in concert. Unfortunately it was the only time i saw them but always enjoyed their music.
Yup, this was the best concert I ever attended, period. And I've been to many in my 45 years. I may have seen some bigger bands in bigger venues (Stones, Zep, The Who, etc.) but I never had more fun at a concert - the crowd was out of their seats from the first strum of Psycho Killer to the very end. Sure wish they would do a reunion tour. I miss them and the Tom Tom Club.
