‘Naked’: Talking Heads’ politicised attempt at embracing the world
In the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan introduced a new US foreign policy favouring a more assertive stance against perceived threats. In doing so, national and local identity became a forced facet of American civilisation with international approaches to industry being ushered aside, much less celebrated. With their final album, Naked, Talking Heads sought to challenge this inward-looking perspective by embracing a global musical palette.
The 1980s for Talking Heads was filled with a seemingly endless back-and-forth trajectory, where certain styles were celebrated more than others as they grappled with attempting to move forward without stagnating their process as an innovative band. 1983’s Speaking in Tongues might have showcased their seamless blend of world music rhythms, but Little Creatures and True Stories proved that a return to a more accessible, pop-oriented sound could be just as exciting.
Naked, by contrast, saw the band wanting to move away from the typical regional American music style and adapt a fresher sound, proving that international interconnectedness was the way to go if you wanted to break the mould in an increasingly stale industry. Recording the album in Paris and working with a handful of musicians from all over, they set out to achieve everything they came to symbolise—a resistance to narrow political climates through music that resonated with diverse audiences.
Working in Paris with big names like Johnny Marr and Kirsty MacColl was refreshing for various reasons beyond adopting different musical approaches. For instance, they enjoyed breaking free from American culture, which beckoned open-mindedness, an aspect they perhaps didn’t anticipate prior to making the trip. “Paris is a wonderful place to work,” Chris Frantz shared in the liner notes of Once in a Lifetime: The Best of Talking Heads. “We were really embracing world culture fully.”
The entire process reflected Talking Heads’ broader desire to inspire creativity at every turn, with more traditional and restricted approaches like writing lyrics early on being shunned in favour of a more open approach. Many of David Byrne’s lyrics were later added by improvising lines, while the natural rhythms of the percussion were added as a means of adopting a more “warm sound with all for the beats compensated for,” according to producer Steve Lillywhite.
As a result, the songs on the album celebrate the collaborative efforts of musicians worldwide while reflecting ongoing disillusionment with isolationist politics. The lyrics, alongside the choice to put a chimpanzee on the album cover, adopt a strong position about the different ways such political leanings can and will have a detrimental impact on the music industry and the togetherness of people from different walks of life. As Byrne explained in 1988, it’s “about human beings stripped of their pretensions; stripped of their surface trappings.”
However, in doing so, Naked also risked being too overbearing, with more direct experimentalist moves that provoke a dizzying listen amid its more quintessentially Talking Heads sounds that endeared them to audiences in the first place. Songs like ‘(Nothing But) Flowers’ prove that these are some of the best efforts from world-class musicians, and others like ‘Blind’ open the record with a difficult-to-ignore ambience of freedom, but songs like ‘Mr. Jones’ and ‘Big Daddy’ risk losing grip of audiences with rhythms and lyrics that are hard to keep up with.
That said, the cultural importance of Naked is almost as important as the way it sounds, which reflects a bold embrace of global influences and a rejection of insular artistic tendencies. Though not as strong as their previous releases, Naked remains a worthy listen due to its adventurous spirit and eclectic mix of world music elements.
