Talking Heads - “This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)”
The blog post below the divider was written and published on 06 January, 2014. Two years to the day before I landed in Italy as I relocated to Europe for “3-5 years” that became MANY more. I’d not yet experienced one of my life’s most significant heartbreaks, and I’d not yet discovered one of my life’s most significant loves. I’d not yet been engaged, married, or faced the ecstasy and agony of life as an American expat in the heart of chaotic Southern Italy.
What strikes me as I read it now is that (1) this is still among my all-time favorite songs, (2) life has made me even more convinced that this is the song that speaks most to me about the deep, emotional-level understanding of love. It’s home. It’s a feeling of belonging, of radical transparency and candor, and utter confidence that you’re accepted in all versions of yourself.
Home takes on different meanings as an expat. When you’ve been in other countries for 8+ years, is home where you grew up? Where you lived as an adult before you left? Is it where you’ve built a house, a career, and friends that you consider family? Is it where your blood relatives still reside?
In the context of love, home isn’t about geography. It’s about the fact that as Byrne puts it, we’re just animals looking to share the same space for a minute or two… until our heart stops, until we’re dead. Personally, I don’t find this morbid or depressing, I hear it as a call to action. When you find a connection with someone that gives you that feeling, that warmth — make it up as you go along, but recognize and appreciate the value of feeling at home.
To quote myself from below:
Love is a difficult emotion to convey to others… Mr. Byrne begins “This Must Be The Place” saying home is where he wants to be…and in its simplest form, is that not what love is? The completely unadulterated feeling of belonging, of being in the exact right place in the exact right moment in time?
A decade later with much life lived under my belt, love is still difficult to convey, and a feeling of home still feels like love in its simplest form.
Enjoy the analysis of this lovely song and its deeper meaning from past-me.
This may be my favorite song of all time. The music is incredible, the lyrics hit home, and the lamp-dancing is unparalleled. In college, my friend Ashton inadvertently introduced me to the Talking Heads over a pizza at D’Alessandro’s (without question, the best pizza in Charleston). I noted that I really liked the 80’s track that was playing, but given my long history with 80’s music, she was shocked I did not know it. Ever the clever one, Ashton produced that it was “Psycho Killer” by the Talking Heads before I could pull out my phone and Shazam it. From there, I started digging and quickly fell in love with the Heads. “This Must Be The Place” was one of my earliest discoveries after “Psycho Killer”. However, seeing a video of the song performed live convinced me this was one of the most earnest expressions of love that I have encountered and elevated the track to its place among my favorites.
The video is from Stop Making Sense, commonly regarded as one of the finest concert films produced. This was not your average run-of-the-mill video of a band performing live — directed by Jonathan Demme, who went on to direct Silence of the Lambs and Philadelphia, the film was the first of any kind to be recorded exclusively using digital audio. The performance itself is incredibly unique: the film starts with lead singer David Byrne alone on stage with a boom box and guitar and each successive track adds another performer. First, bassist Tina Weymouth joins him for “Heaven” and by the time they reach “This Must Be The Place” in the setlist, the stage is filled with a full band, backup vocalists, and multiple percussionists. The film also is known for David Byrne’s progressively larger suits, reaching cartoonish levels by the time the film reaches “Girlfriend Is Better.” I could speak more on Stop Making Sense, but perhaps that deserves a full review of its own.
David Byrne begins the song by turning on a single lamp that provides modest illumination of the performers now on stage. The straightforward bass and guitar rhythm carries throughout the entire song without alteration, providing a potentially “naive” melody that most artists would shun, according to the bizarre self-interview included with the film. In the instrumental solo, Mr. Byrne performs a quite comical dance with the lamp, possibly representing the comical dance we play navigating the ins and outs of love. Regarding the lyrics, Mr. Byrne has stated:
“That’s a love song made up almost completely of non sequiturs, phrases that may have a strong emotional resonance but don’t have any narrative qualities. It’s a real honest kind of love song. I don’t think I’ve ever done a real love song before. Mine always had a sort of reservation, or a twist. I tried to write one that wasn’t corny, that didn’t sound stupid or lame the way many do. I think I succeeded; I was pretty happy with that.”
From Talking Heads The Band & Their Music, page 113, David Gans ISBN 0-7119-0980-6
Love is a difficult emotion to convey to others. Telling a friend how you met someone with whom you are in love does not express the depth of your feelings. Love is also not strictly romantic — there’s love for family, friends, places and activities as well. Mr. Byrne begins “This Must Be The Place” saying home is where he wants to be…and in its simplest form, is that not what love is? The completely unadulterated feeling of belonging, of being in the exact right place in the exact right moment in time? Yes, Mr. Byrne, I’d say you succeeded.