Who was the real ‘Psycho Killer’ behind the Talking Heads song?
Art-punk stomper ‘Psycho Killer’ is the song that put Talking Heads on the map. Just the second song that lead singer David Byrne ever wrote, he got it pretty much spot on, even before Tina Weymouth placed her iconic disco-inspired bassline right in the slot to take it to the next level.
Dee Dee Ramone went wild for it, as did most of New York’s nascent punk rock scene, when the band played the song during their 1975 sets at CBGBs. And it was one of the key tracks among the demos they recorded for CBS which eventually helped get them signed to burgeoning punk label Sire Records in late 1976.
It was released as the group’s second single the following December after being recognised as one of the standout songs on their debut album and was one of the few American punk singles to make it into the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. Given the timing of its release, it was generally assumed that ‘Psycho Killer’ referred to the real-life serial killer who’d been a constant fixture in American news throughout 1977.
This killer fits the profile of the character described in the song. He murdered six people and attempted to murder 11 others in New York during a 12-month period. The police described him as a paranoid schizophrenic based on two letters he sent them in May 1977, the latter of which he signed “Son of Sam”.
He apparently believed himself to be possessed by the devil and called himself a “spirit of the night” because he was “seldom stopping to rest” and was “anxious” to please his evil master. This description appeared to tally with the lines “I’m tense and nervous, and I can’t relax” and “I can’t sleep ‘cause my bed’s on fire” from the lyrics of ‘Psycho Killer’.
So, who was this killer?
When the “Son of Sam” was finally captured on August 10th, 1977, he was identified as 24-year-old New York resident David Berkowitz. He confessed the day after his arrest and was sentenced to life in prison ten months later. He had been confined to a psychiatric hospital in the meantime, but since he was declared mentally fit to stand trial.
In any case, as Talking Heads drummer Chris Frantz told Smashing Interviews Magazine in 2021, Berkowitz wasn’t really the inspiration for ‘Psycho Killer’. “There’s no question that Son of Sam was a psycho killer,” Frantz said. “But the reason the song was about a psycho killer is because David said that he got the inspiration for it from an Alice Cooper song.” Or, to be more precise, several of the songs off Cooper’s 1973 album Billion Dollar Babies, which covers such wholesome topics as rape and necrophilia.
Indeed, ‘Psycho Killer’ couldn’t have been about Berkowitz, as the band were already playing the song before his infamous “Son of Sam” murder spree began. Instead, Byrne himself has claimed he was inspired by fictional serial killers like Hannibal Lecter and the Joker. The single release coinciding with one of New York’s grizzliest murder cases was just an unhappy accident. And a boon for music conspiracy theorists everywhere.
