Mind

While annoying myself (nothing better to do?) with the tired subject of mankind's folly and the elusiveness of a better world in song I couldn't help but think of "Mind" by the Talking Heads from the 1979 classic "Fear Of Music." The album is notable for its one word titles and varied subject matter . "Air" is about someone who has reached such a point of desperation that even breathing air is painful. "Cities" describes the pros and cons of living in various cities of the world. "Mind" is about someone that cannot be changed. The music surges occasionally like random electricity and is awkward, almost ugly but for that very reason strangely appealing. David Byrne's delivery is cold, robotic and resigned. So who is this person Byrne is trying to change ? Time, money, drugs, religion, science...none of it works. Then Byrne brilliantly drops a hint in the only moment of humanity in the song, "I try to talk to you, to make things clear But you're not even listening to me...And it comes directly from my heart to you... ". "Mind" is picking up the baton where John Lennon's "Imagine" left off but is running in a completely different direction. Where Lennon was the dreamer and hoped that by imagining a better world in song we could join him and learn to "live as one", David Byrne is the realist and has acknowledged the fact that no one is even listening to him. His approach is characterized by resignation ("I haven't got the faintest idea" ) and the song's emotionless musical undertone underscores the abandonment of feeling that occurs when one succumbs to accepting the meaninglessness and absurdity of the world. This is from my blog site uofmusic.com