Century of Song by Noah Lefevre
Author:Noah Lefevre [Lefevre, Noah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Page Street Publishing
Published: 2024-08-21T00:00:00+00:00
When âOnce in a Lifetimeâ came out, the hippie dream was good and dead. The rise of disco and hard rock had brought with it a new wave of consumerism. Ronald Reagan was campaigning for president, and America was gearing up for a hypercapitalistic era of growth and greed. Although Byrne hadnât intended it, âOnce in a Lifetimeâ ended up serving as a cautionary tale for the oncoming generation. In trying to write a song about the unconscious, he had unwittingly written a song about the empty promises of consumer culture. In the song, a âbeautiful house,â a âbeautiful wifeâ and a âlarge automobileâ bring no joy and no fulfillment, only a creeping ennui. This ennui is represented by the motif of water, made audible by Harrisonâs keyboard line. The water is the inevitable flow of time and life. It moves beneath the singersâ feet, pushing them onward toward an inevitable end even as they seek escape in material pleasures.
Talking Heads paired the complex subtext of âOnce in a Lifetimeâ with an abstract, surreal music video. In that video, the band used new blue screen technology to isolate footage of David Byrne performing an odd dance choreographed by director Toni Basil. Byrne and Harrison poured through videos of folk dances and religious rituals, and used them to create an absurd dance sequence. Multiple iterations of Byrne, sweaty and clad in a drab gray suit, are composited on a white background to underline the monotony of the life heâs singing about. Meanwhile, his jittering dance moves look the part of an inhuman ritual.
When âOnce in a Lifetimeâ came out, music videos were just starting to catch on. Most consisted simply of live performances of the band, occasionally with interesting backdrops or novel costumes. This was something else entirely. It was a video with an oblique, artistic message. Rather than serving as a simple accompaniment for the song, the video for âOnce in a Lifetimeâ underlined the lyrical themes and elevated the piece into a larger multimedia work.
Like many artists ahead of their time, Talking Heads didnât get the due they deserved when âOnce in a Lifetimeâ came out. A few critics in the know celebrated the piece, but it failed to have any chart success. As the decade progressed, more and more people would begin to realize the genius of the song. In 1981, MTV went on the air for the first time. As the standout video in a limited field, âOnce in a Lifetimeâ saw tons of early rotation. Meanwhile, the â80s morphed into a decade of consumerist greed, and the songâs themes of alienation grew more and more prescient.
In the modern age, the song has only become more relevant as we reap what was sown in the â80s. So many people today find themselves cold and disconnected in a world that promises escape only through an endless cycle of consumption. Same as it ever was.
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