“I’m proud of that song”: the Talking Heads track David Byrne described as goofy and creepy
Talking Heads never took themselves too seriously, and this approach became crucial to the charm of their music. David Byrne was completely unafraid to get on-stage in a suit that was ten sizes too big, swinging his limbs around a lamp with abandon, and he applied the same sense of artistic freedom behind-the-scenes.
Byrne and his bandmates were more than willing to dip into the strangest and silliest areas of songwriting, turning nonsense poetry into lyrics, playing with polyrhythms, and, quite simply, leaning into the endless possibilities of music creation. From the indecipherable lyrics of ‘I Zimbra’ to the bouncy synths of ‘This Must Be The Place’, their music has an intrinsic sense of play.
But even when Talking Heads were at their silliest sonically, experimenting with strange instruments and even stranger lyrics, their music always maintained its humanity. In fact, perhaps it was their commitment to fun that breathed such palpable life into their creations that endeared their kooky compositions to so many listeners.
One of the finest examples of their playful approach to music-making came in 1985 with Little Creatures. With their sixth record, Byrne’s focus was on creating compositions with a sense of familiarity. “I wanted to write stuff that gave you the feeling that you had heard the song before,” he explained during a conversation with David Sheff. It’s a goal that he certainly achieved.
The album is full of observational lyricism and lively instrumentation, giving it a warm, wistful feeling from the outset. From the transcendental feeling of opener ‘And She Was’ to the affecting harmonies on ‘Road to Nowhere’, Little Creatures feels familiar from first listen. It begs you to sing along, fooling you into believing you already know the lyrics.
Outside of the album’s iconic singles, Byrne maintained this vision across the entire album, finding particular success with track three. Over a twangy, Americana soundtrack, Byrne’s ever-familiar voice sings of sex and love. It’s rare that the songwriter dips his toes into such topics, but on ‘Creatures of Love’, he does so while maintaining a sense of humour.
“Well, I’ve seen sex, and I think it’s alright,” he sings, using the verses to poke fun at his perceived absurdity of the act. “I can laugh, or I can turn away,” he continues. But in between his ruminations on the birds and the bees, Byrne grounds it all with some statements about the human condition. “We are creatures, creatures of love,” he sings.
Byrne himself was particularly happy with the track, stating, “I’m proud of that song because it’s goofy and creepy but sentimental at the same time.” It certainly does toe the line between those three descriptions. His third-person observations of sex oscillate between goofy and creepy, but they’re always tied together by his clear focus on humanity.
Between Byrne’s off-kilter observations on the creation of life and the swaying soundscapes that surround them, ‘Creatures of Love’ immediately creates that sense of familiarity that he was hoping to fashion. The track may not be quite as familiar to the masses as the likes of ‘Road to Nowhere’, but it still contains that same unifying quality, as well as Talking Heads’ characteristic mix of the weird and wonderful.
