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There is no doubt that, of all the bands to emerge from the CBGB scene, Talking Heads are one of the most beloved. Led by the uniquely brilliant artistic visionary David Byrne, Talking Heads gained notoriety in the new wave scene, combining art rock, funk and Latin jazz with their punk roots. The group have no shortage of iconic tracks, but one of their most popular comes with 1983’s ‘Burning Down The House’. The Stones are dropping "Live At Racket, NYC," a 180-gram solid white vinyl release of the seven songs the band played at the October 19, 2023 launch event for "Hackney Diamonds." The tracks include the duet with Lady Gaga on “Sweet Sounds of Heaven." A special 12-inch single has the band's tribute to Talking Heads on one side – a cover of the song "Burning Down the House" – and David Byrne's version of Paramore's “Hard Times” on the other (available starting Saturday, only at participating record stores).
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The Blu-ray is out May 8, and to celebrate, Talking Heads are presenting special “A Night of Stop Making Sense” screening events in NYC and L.A. The track was available as an “extremely limited” 12” vinyl release for the annual event, with Paramore’s version of ‘Burning Down the House’ on the B-side. “Burning Down the House” has been covered by popular and respected acts like Bonnie Raitt and John Legend. So obviously what some might consider gibberish is also considered a serious piece of music that’s worthy of recognition. It’s a song that’s been around for over 33 years, and shows no signs of going away. Songwriters strive to create lyrics that will have a lasting impact for generations, such as the words to songs like Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You” or Paul Simon’s “Bridge over Troubled Water” for instance.
Burning Down the House Lyrics
” in the same way that one might try to analyze a piece of abstract art by Kandinski or Pollock. But then, maybe that’s the point – to a lot of folks, this type of writing is art. To be fair, there are some lines here that are relevant to everyone, like the opening “Watch out you might get what you’re after.” Byrne wasn’t exactly the first person to give that warning, but it doesn’t turn up in a lot of songs. And he was consistent with the subject of fire throughout, with lines like “fightin’ fire with fire” and“gonna burst into flame” that tie into the title. Then there are writers whose songs become classics in spite of the fact that the words, unless maybe taken a line at a time, sometimes say almost next to nothing.
Talking Heads Recall How They Made “Burning Down the House”

More than 380 special releases will be available on Saturday, including new releases and reissues from a variety of artists spanning Ernest Tubb to 2 Chainz and Lil Wayne. There's also releases from Elton John, Gorillaz, Kristin Hersh, Parliament, Pearl Jam, Sabrina Carpenter and The Who. The first track from the compilation to be released was Paramore’s version of ‘Burning Down the House’ on January 31. That was the pop-punk band’s first new release since they wiped all of their social media accounts clean, leading to rumours of a split. On Wednesday, the 40th anniversary of the Talking Heads‘ premiere for Stop Making Sense, A24 Music dropped Girl in Red’s cover of “Girlfriend is Better.” The company also revealed the 16-song track list for the tribute project and its release date, May 17.
That film was restored and rereleased by A24 last year, prompting the band to reunite for Q&As. Girl in Red is paying homage to one of the most iconic bands on a special day. The top chant artist in the Western world, Krishna Das talks about how these Hindu mantras compare to Christian worship songs. “Burning Down the House” became Talking Heads' highest charting single in North America. It didn’t appear in the UK Singles Chart at all until Tom Jones and The Cardigans covered it and made it a Top 10 hit in 1999. No surprise, the top selling vinyl artist in the U.S. in 2023 was Taylor Swift, who had the top three sellers – "1989 (Taylor's Version)" was No. 1 – and five of the top seven, according to Luminate Data.
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A year later, an extended live version of the song is a highlight of the band's landmark concert film Stop Making Sense. In September of 2023, commemorating the film's 40th anniversary, a remastered version was released across America in IMAX theaters, and later in conventional theaters worldwide. Olivia Rodrigo covers the title track from Noah Kahan's 2022 album "Stick Season," on one side of a special colored vinyl 7-inch single. On the other, Kahan provides a version of Rodrigo's "Lacy" from her 2023 album "Guts."
As one of the major hits of Jones' later career, it appears on numerous compilations of Jones' work. Here's a quick look at some of the most desired Record Store Day releases. Also released is Teezo Touchdown’s take on ‘Making Flippy Floppy’ and Miley Cyrus’ version of ‘Psycho Killer’. "Closing Time" by Semisonic was written by the lead singer when his wife was pregnant. Holland-Dozier-Holland originally wrote "Where Did Our Love Go" with The Marvelettes in mind, but they turned it down. Marvelettes lead singer Gladys Horton sang in a lower key than Diana Ross, so when The Supremes came to record the tune, Ross was forced to sing in a lower, breathier style than she was used to.
And for only the second time since 1987, vinyl outsold CDs in units (43 million vinyl, compared to 37 million in CDs), the RIAA says. Streaming still accounted 84% of U.S. recorded music revenue, the RIAA says. Talking Heads‘ classic concert film Stop Making Sense got a new 4K restoration and theatrical run via A24 last year.
“There’s not much to chew on for the majority of the record, as Girl In Red plays it safe… the majority of the record sees her sitting safely within the parameters of her previous sound. Other artists on the album include The National, Blondshell, The Cavemen, Jean Dawson, Kevin Abstract, The Linda Lindas, Toro y Moi and BADBADNOTGOOD. Listeners who like their words to convey more easily-understood thoughts might hear this and say, “Uh, what does that mean?
How a melody complements those lyrics has a lot to do with a song’s success, of course. But the true songwriting greats know how to come up with an emotional and universal lyric that can make listeners want to hear a song over and over again. "Burning Down the House" became Talking Heads' highest-charting hit single in North America, becoming their only top ten single on the US Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 9, as well as reaching the top ten in Canada.[5] Despite this success, the song was not a hit outside of North America. In Australia it peaked at a modest No. 94, while in the UK, where Talking Heads would release 14 charting singles, it failed to chart. Speaking of David Byrne, Talking Heads fans can seek out "Live at WCOZ 77," which captures the band's entire radio station performance from Nov. 17, 1977.
Sign up for InsideHook to get our best content delivered to your inbox every weekday. The lyrics of the track are said to centre around a man who is so engulfed by debt that he torches his own house. During a Parliament-Funkadelic show at Madison Square Gardens in New York, George Clinton and the rest of the group were reportedly shouting “Burn down the house” at the audience. Byrne and drummer Chris Frantz, who were present at the show, liked the phrase, with Byrne later saying, “They were just shouting it at the audience and I thought ‘that’s a song.’”. After Cher revived "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss)" in 1990, Salt-N-Pepa released "Shoop" and Whitney Houston had a #1 hit with "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)."
There's a reason vinyl lovers are rewarded in the age of streaming music. Sales of vinyl records rose 10% in 2023 to $1.4 billion – the format's 17th consecutive year of growth, according to the Recording Industry Association of America. Questlove will host the band Q&A and The Linda Lindas will be on hand to perform their cover of “Found a Job” from Everyone’s Getting Involved.
The house used in the video is located on Myrtle Street in Union, New Jersey. Max Illidge (credited as Max Loving), vocalist of the band 40 Below Summer, and Rockets Redglare appear as the younger selves of Byrne and Jerry Harrison, respectively.
Talking Heads talking 'Stop Making Sense' at NYC & LA events ft Questlove, Fred Armisen, more - Brooklyn Vegan
Talking Heads talking 'Stop Making Sense' at NYC & LA events ft Questlove, Fred Armisen, more.
Posted: Thu, 25 Apr 2024 13:35:37 GMT [source]
According to bassist Tina Weymouth, the track “started from a jam” between herself and Frantz. Early demos of ‘Burning Down the House’ show how Byrne’s nonsensical improvisations eventually morphed into the final lyrics. At one point in the track’s history, the chanting of “Burning down the house” was instead “Foam rubber USA”, Byrne once told NPR. Speaking about the track, Byrne revealed how the lyrics came to be, “I would improvise vocal nonsense syllables over the recorded music and go ‘okay now I gotta find words to this’”. Once again, speaking to the influence of groups like Parliament-Funkadelic, improvisation was key in the construction of ‘Burning Down the House’. The country artist has a collection called "The Beginning And Then Some," compiling his first three albums – available on vinyl and CD – with an extra disc of '80s rarities.
The first single to be released from the band’s fifth studio album, Speaking in Tongues, ‘Burning Down The House’ is a synth-heavy dance track with clear influences of funk and early hip-hop. Its eclectic sound, coupled with Byrne’s signature vocal performance, make it one of the more memorable tracks from Speaking in Tongues. The inspiration behind the track came from Parliament-Funkadelic, the music collective that pioneered psychedelic funk and paved the way for the West Coast hip-hop sound. LP, girl in red infused the iconic track with her signature playfulness and persona. “Talking Heads is an iconic band that helped define my identity when I was a teenager and they continue to inspire young people all around the world,” she said in a statement.
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