Talking Heads was one of those bands which I probably never would have picked up on — not on my own, anyhow. Predictably, in retrospect, it took a nudge from my brother.
Or rather, a couple of different nudges. One of the later ones came in 1986, with the release of the musical film True Stories. Mike pointed me to a couple of reviews and then, somehow, he managed to corral a bunch of us to accompany him to Philadelphia to see it one night.
Nominally, it’s a Talking Heads film: the group released a not-quite-soundtrack album containing its versions of the songs. But in the film — written and directed by, and “starring,” the Heads’ lead singer, David Byrne — with few exceptions, the songs are performed by other people in the cast. For instance, a voodoo priest (played by gospel/R&B star Pops Staples) sings a song called “Papa Legba” to bring love and good fortune to Louis (The Dancing Bear) Fyne (played by John Goodman).
The general idea for the film came to him, Byrne has said, from tabloid stories — how they might represent people from a single town.
For intance, in the fictional town of Virgil, Texas, which the film purports to document, there’s a woman who never gets out of bed; a woman who lies about, well, everything, in fantastic pathological bursts of imagination; and a man — Goodman’s character — who has been sufficiently frustrated in his search for matrimony that he does a local TV commercial seeking a mate. (“Call 844, w, i, f, e, that’s 844-WIFE”).
One of the set pieces in the film is the song “Puzzlin’ Evidence,” which seems appropriate for this political season (and appropriately apolitical for Running After My Hat). In the YouTube clip below, you can see a preacher (played by John Ingle) as he details for his congregation the suspicious connections among dozens of mid- to late-20th-century cultural touchstones: the TV networks, the JFK assassination, the CIA, Elvis Presley, the Vietnam War…
(By the way, that’s The Lying Woman who stands up uninvited, before the music starts, and testifies about John Kennedy, and “60 Minutes” and how “Mike Wallace wants my body…”)
The music itself begins at around 3:18 or so — just when the choir gets to its feet. (Lyrics below.)
Puzzlin’ Evidence
You got the CBS…!
And the ABC…!
You got Time and Newsweek —
Well, they’re the same to me!Now don’t you wanna get right with me?
(Puzzlin’ Evidence)
I hope you get ev’rything you need
(Puzzlin’ Evidence)Puzzlin’ Evidence
Puzzlin’ Evidence
Puzzlin’ Evidence
Done hardened in your heart
Hardened in your heart.
… All right!
Now I am the gun
And you are the bullet
I got the power and glory!
(Puzzlin’)
And the money to buy it!
(Puzzlin’)Got your Gulf & Western and your MasterCard
(Puzzlin’ Evidence)
Got what you wanted, lost what you had
(Puzzlin’ Evidence)
I’m seeing
Puzzlin’ Evidence
Puzzlin’ Evidence
Puzzlin’ Evidence
Done hardened in your heart
It’s hardened up your heart.
… all right!Huh… huh… huh… huh… huh… huh… huh…
Well, I’m puzzlin’ (Huh!)
I’m puzzlin’ (Huh!)
I’m puzzlin’ (Huh!)
Puzzlin’ (Huh!)
I’m puzzlin’ (Huh!)
Woo… I’m puzzlin’ (Huh!)
Sometimes I’m puzzlin’! (Huh!)See the little children! (Puzzlin’)
And the family! (Puzzlin’)
Gonna live together! (Puzzlin’)
Take them home with me! (Puzzlin’)Well I hope you’re happy with what you’ve made
(Puzzlin’ Evidence)
In the land of the free and the home of the brave
(Puzzling Evidence)I’m seeing
Puzzlin’ Evidence
Puzzlin’ Evidence
Puzzlin’ (sometimes) evidence
Done hardened in your heart
Hardened in your heartHuh… huh… huh… huh… huh… huh… huh…
I’m Puzzlin’ (Huh!)
Puzzlin’ (Huh!)
Puzzlin’ (Huh!)
P-P-P-Puzzlin’! (Huh!)
Still puzzlin’! (Huh!) …
s.o.m.e. 1's brudder says
Shame on me for forgetting “The Dancing Bear” in my email last night! More memorable to me, was that I think that most if not all the performers in the movie did a better interpretation of all the “Heads” tunes. “Poppa Legba” by Pop Staples was far and away better than the Byrne version. Thanks for posting the clip, too. And of course Jim-Bob would LOVE the Dancing Bear. Oh, the lengths that love would take in pre-‘Net dating days. 844-WIFE. Wonder if it would work today?
John says
@s.o.m.e. 1’s brudder – Nowadays he’d at least have to include the area code. And a YouTube account.
Came thhiiiisssss close to using the Legba clip from the film (which also on YouTube); I do love that number. It was an aesthetic/editorial decision — for about the first half, the song is largely overlaid on other settings than the guy dancing in his candle-lit lair, and I didn’t want to have to explain all of ’em. At the other end of the spectrum was “Hey, Now” — one of my favorite numbers — but it’s so short, and has absolutely nothing to do with anything.
Oh, and I forgot all about Spalding Gray, too!
marta says
My hubbo and I got to see David Byrne a few years ago. I’m not where I can listen to that clip, but thanks for the reminder of the film. I’ve never seen it, but I’d like to.
John says
@marta – If you liked Talking Heads — and haven’t seen this other movie — I highly recommend Stop Making Sense, too. Brother Mike got to see them on the tour where they made that film. It’s gotta be one of the best concert movies ever.
Byrne is an amazing talent. (Naturally, he’s got a blog/journal, occasionally updated.)
marta says
I’ve been to his a blog a few times. I used to listen to his streaming radio (but have fallen out of the habit for one reason or another).
John says
@marta – Yep, familiar situation: so many Interwebs, so little time!