ONCE IN A LIFETIME

I recently saw on TV David Byrne's American Utopia, the excellent concert film (2020) that not only features songs from Byrne's album of the same name but also several classic TALKING HEADS songs. I'm still not a connoisseur of that American new wave band of a cult status, but I'm gradually getting warmer for their music. 'Once in a Lifetime' is one of their best known and most charming songs, appearing on their fourth studio album Remain in Light (1980) which is generally regarded as their best work.

As was the whole album, 'Once in a Lifetime' was created collaboratively by the entire band and the innovative producer Brian Eno. It was developed through extensive jams inspired by Afrobeat musicians such as Fela Kuti, and Byrne's lyrics and vocals were inspired by preachers delivering sermons. So, the song can be seen as a forefather to the rap genre; I personally hate rap music, but I do like this song despite the rap-reminding elements. The soundscape behind Byrne's manic talking and the upliftingly catchy chorus ("Letting the days go by, let the water hold me down") is delicious and hasn't dated at all, it still sounds very fresh. If you're familiar with BRIAN ENO's vocal pieces and especially the album Wrong Way Up (1990) that Eno did with John Cale, you can easily recognize the relation. 'Once in a Lifetime' is a thinking man's pop classic which has appeared on several listings of all-time greatest American songs. David Byrne has said that the lyrics are about the unconscious: "We operate half-awake or on autopilot and end up, whatever, with a house and family and job and everything else, and we haven't really stopped to ask ourselves, How did I get here?"

The single's B side song 'Seen and Not Seen' was also taken from Remain in Light. The soundscape has a lot of electronic experimentation above the dominating, monotonous rhythm pattern, and Byrne's vocal parts are mere talking in a normal voice. As an overall stylistic/atmospheric reference, one could think of Peter Gabriel's third album from the same year or Robert Fripp's Exposure (1979), in addition to Brian Eno. Perhaps these references are a good way to get into Talking Heads, keeping in mind they are not progressive rock.