“Someone badly hurt”: Talking Heads’ improvised take on civil indifference
Nonsensical lyricism has always been Talking Heads‘ strong suit by choice, with David Byrne often prioritising feeling and viscera over literal meaning. This worked out in their favour, as it ensured their sound and melodies stood apart from the rest and veiled them in an indisputable layer of mystery and ambiguity that kept audiences coming back for more.
This kind of intrigue follows them no matter what they do, despite the countless times Byrne has dispelled certain lyrical meanings or explained his approach to writing. For instance, he once described why he placed such heady importance on creating music that moves first, regardless of whether it makes sense or not, saying that any distraction with writing the right words starts to put any song at a significant disadvantage.
While Talking Heads were never perceived as lyrical amateurs, Byrne’s abstract words often reflect his disdain for poor lyricism, which he believes can be “a dangerous addition to music” because they can “pin it down”.
He said: “Words imply that the music is about what the words say, literally, and nothing more. If done poorly, they can destroy the pleasant ambiguity that constitutes much of the reason we love music.”
As a result, many of the songs he wrote were driven by emotive intuition, including ‘Blind’, which started as an improvised idea based around the word itself and branched out into something much more affiliated with specific facets of the world. It seemed an image difficult to describe or believe but completely Byrne-esque nonetheless: wearing a suit and horn rims, he built the song at his desk, letting each inflexion unfold organically.
Beyond the obvious political leaning adopted in the music video, which saw a monkey being selected to enter the office, the song’s disposition changes into one far more sinister. However, the song itself is supposedly also a reference to indifference to an array of injustices, not just political ones but across the world, in the subtleties that prove humanity’s shortcomings on a daily basis.
Rather than positioning itself as a commentary on just the 1988 presidential election, ‘Blind’ reflects the ignorance that exists across society and in the many instances when people decidedly switch off to the mishaps of those around them, choosing to shut off instead of observing or supporting those in proximity. As Byrne put it to Q in 1988, “I tell you what I see when I listen to ‘Blind’ I see civil strife, a Sammy And Rosie Get Laid kind of scenario, and someone badly hurt.”
He continued, listing specific examples to bolster his point: “A woman looking out of a window is scared. I use the word ‘blind’ to mean indifference. I don’t think it takes place in New York. I think it takes place in South America or some place.”
Although this likely wasn’t Byrne’s intention when creating the song in the first instance when improvising off the input of those around him, it’s clear that it naturally burgeoned into a more societally critical piece, rising from the singer’s own observations about the world around him. In a way, this proves Talking Heads’ unabashed honesty and ability to write about themes that emerge from within, as though grasping a feather in the wind, capturing fleeting thoughts before they dissipate.
