The Talking Heads song inspired by “acid binges” on hired trains
Talking Heads pioneered new wave and post-punk in the late 1970s and early 1980s. After the successful release of their debut album, Talking Heads: 77, they began a long-time collaboration with producer and ambient composer Brian Eno on three albums in three years, beginning with More Songs About Buildings and Food.
The second of these releases, the 1979 LP Fear of Music, has become one of Talking Heads’ most acclaimed projects. It’s also one of their most coherent albums sonically, characterised by psychedelic influences, understated but danceable grooves, and Byrne’s distinctive vocals.
Fear of Music featured singles such as the groovy afrobeat inspired ‘I Zimbra’ and ‘Life During Wartime’, which has since become iconic for frontman David Byrne’s accompanying dance moves. Most notably, in the 1984 concert film Stop Making Sense, Byrne performed the track while running on the spot and, during the instrumental break, running circles around the stage in time with the song’s rhythm. His bandmates and backing singers joined him, running on the spot, which led the vocals to become increasingly breathless.
But this method actually originated from Brian Eno’s influence on another track from Fear of Music, ‘Drugs’. Originally titled ‘Electricity’, the track features a lengthy instrumental opening in which Eno’s ambient influence can be felt. But Eno also contributed to the breathless sound of Byrne’s vocals on the track, encouraging him to run on the spot while recording. Byrne’s vocals only add to the track’s eerie, uneasy atmosphere, as he sings: “I’m charged up, don’t put me down, don’t feel like talking, don’t mess around”.
In its electric lyricism, vocal technique, and instrumentation, it’s easy to see how the track could refer both to drugs and electricity. But the ‘Electricity’ title was abandoned in favour of ‘Drugs’, outlined by Byrne’s comments about the inspiration for the track. David Byrne called it “psychedelic”. He told NME: “I like those ‘60s numbers where they try and describe the experience… They’re stupid”.
He continued to detail the psychedelic movement and his fascination with it while still retaining his distance from the use of acid. He said: “There’s a big resurgence of acid in Paris apparently. The people from the disco where we played go on huge acid binges, hiring trains and stuff. That’s a little intense for me”.
‘Drugs’ seems to encapsulate both Byrne’s fascination with the subject and his anxiety towards it. He breathlessly sings “I’m charged up” over spacey instrumentals, examining his own actions in excruciating detail: “I’m kinda wooden, I’m barely moving, I study motion, I study myself”. In its uncanny, tense instrumentals, the track reflects both the paranoia and anxiety of acid trips as well as Byrne’s trepidation towards them. He even echoes his words in NME: “It’s pretty intense”.
There’s a theory surrounding the Fear of Music album that “fear of” can be placed before the title of each album track. For ‘Drugs’, with all of its protagonist’s high, anxious glory, the theory certainly seems to fit.
