David Byrne explains why he found his performance “jarring” when rewatching ‘Stop Making Sense’
David Byrne, the former frontman of Talking Heads, has discussed his feelings after watching the famous Stop Making Sense concert film after many years.
In 1984, Talking Heads made history with the groundbreaking concert film. Directed by Jonathan Demme, the movie was shot across three evenings of live performance at the Pantages Theatre, Hollywood, in December 1983.
“Making that [film] was a great, great time,” bassist Tina Weymouth reflected in a 2022 interview with Far Out. “That was a wonderful band. It was just the travelling and the work were exhausting. But every time we got on stage, we were so energised. And we were young, you know, so we could do it, we could really go there. But it was great fun. I actually think – this is kind of a fantasy – but I felt that I was watching the show. I had a prime position to be able to watch and enjoy the show, and I was just awed by everyone.”
“And I just love the fans,” she continued. “I actually believed that we were doing something good. I thought, ‘This is really spiritual; we’re really communicating some love here.’ So that was my feeling about it at the time. I couldn’t believe it when David said to us, ‘Oh, well, we’re not going to tour anymore because the movie’s gonna tour for us.’ I just scratched my head. Like, ‘What? That’s not the same!'”
Despite the controversial decision to retire from the road, Stop Making Sense served a sweet dessert, a perfect summary of Talking Heads’ success to date. This month, the movie hits IMAX and standard cinema screens across the globe amid encouraging talk of a band reunion thirty years after its breakup.
In a new interview with Steve Inskeep on NPR’s Morning Edition, Byrne reflected on his recent Stop Making Sense rewatch. “I hadn’t seen the film in probably a decade at least, and I’m kind of looking at it and thinking, who is that guy?” Byrne questioned.
“I mean, I’m impressed with the film and impressed with our performance,” he continued. “But I’m also having this really jarring experience of thinking, ‘He’s so serious. He’s very intent. He kind of loosens up towards the end, but in the beginning, he’s really focused.'”
Addressing his personal transformation over the past four decades, Byrne added: “I think I’m a little bit more easygoing, and a little more comfortable talking to people and all that, than I was then.”
At this point, Inskeep noted that the focus and intensity of Byrne’s performance provided much of the show’s allure. “Yeah. I think there might have been something attractive about watching this guy going through this struggle in front of your eyes,” Byrne commented.
The band’s guitarist and keyboardist, Jerry Harrison, also present, chimed in on the matter. “David is 100% in the moment of that performance, and I think that’s part of the attractiveness of the film,” he agreed. “We took great joy in what we were playing on stage and our interactions with each other, but we really wanted the audience to come away and go, ‘That was one of the best things I ever saw’ — like, every night. That was the ethos of this band. And David, being the lead singer, he led the way with a focus on the song, and on getting that across.”
Watch the trailer for the new 4K restoration of Stop Making Sense below.
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