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Cities Lyrics
Think of London, a small city
It's dark, dark in the daytime
The people sleep, sleep in the daytime
If they want to, if they want to
CHORUS
I'm checking them out
I'm checking them out
I got it figured out
I got it figured out
There's good points and bad points
Find a city
Find myself a city to live in.
There are a lot of rich people in Birmingham
A lot of ghosts in a lot of houses
Look over there!...A dry ice factory
A good place to get some thinking done
Down el Paso way things get pretty spread out
People got no idea where in the world they are
They go up north and come back south
Still got no idea where in the world they are.
Did I forget to mention, to mention Memphis
Home of Elvis and the ancient greeks
Do I smell? I smell home cooking
It's only the river, it's only the river.
The people sleep, sleep in the daytime
If they want to, if they want to
I'm checking them out
I got it figured out
I got it figured out
There's good points and bad points
Find a city
Find myself a city to live in.
A lot of ghosts in a lot of houses
Look over there!...A dry ice factory
A good place to get some thinking done
People got no idea where in the world they are
They go up north and come back south
Still got no idea where in the world they are.
Did I forget to mention, to mention Memphis
Home of Elvis and the ancient greeks
Do I smell? I smell home cooking
It's only the river, it's only the river.
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Memphis was "home to Elvis and the ancient Greeks" because Elvis came from Memphis, Tennessee, which was named after a city in Greece. Conflating the two as though The King and ancient greek philosophers came from the same place (or even coexisted) is a brilliantly surreal move.
I thought the original Memphis was in Egypt? Well there are a lot of ways ancient Greece and Egypt were related to each other, so maybe our narrator was simply confused. He IS "a little freaked out," which somehow didn't make it into the lyrics above (great line, and evidently an understatement)
I thought the original Memphis was in Egypt? Well there are a lot of ways ancient Greece and Egypt were related to each other, so maybe our narrator was simply confused. He IS "a little freaked out," which somehow didn't make it into the lyrics above (great line, and evidently an understatement)
Wouldn't be surprised if this is a transcription of a version which ultimately didn't wind up on the LP. the stuff about El Paso: I don't doubt it's genuine, but on the (standard) recording it's not there.
Wouldn't be surprised if this is a transcription of a version which ultimately didn't wind up on the LP. the stuff about El Paso: I don't doubt it's genuine, but on the (standard) recording it's not there.
I submitted a cleaned up version of the album version, we'll see if they get posted, but to answer comment about the "El Paso" verse, the only place I have heard it is the the live version on the DVD "Talking Heads - Chronology"
I submitted a cleaned up version of the album version, we'll see if they get posted, but to answer comment about the "El Paso" verse, the only place I have heard it is the the live version on the DVD "Talking Heads - Chronology"
Dude - you got it. TH always explored the surreal - the dada. This is a band that wrote a song that sounds like a Joy Division song, without ever hearing Joy Division.
Dude - you got it. TH always explored the surreal - the dada. This is a band that wrote a song that sounds like a Joy Division song, without ever hearing Joy Division.
goes into David Byrne's recurring theme of searching for a home ("find myself a city to live in") as also explored in "The Big Country" and "Don't Worry About the Government."
not to mention, "you may find yourself living..." etc etc.
not to mention, "you may find yourself living..." etc etc.
David went to the Rhode Island School of Design. Wouldn't be surprised if it were a standard exercise--for sparking creativity--to play "what if?" games.
David went to the Rhode Island School of Design. Wouldn't be surprised if it were a standard exercise--for sparking creativity--to play "what if?" games.
seems any printed source w/info on Talking Heads always mentions Byrne having gone to RISD.
seems any printed source w/info on Talking Heads always mentions Byrne having gone to RISD.
a bit of info---either disillusioning or demystifying, depending on attitude/perspective--in an issue of Mojo magazine devoted to "New Wave": David didn't graduate from RISD. Actually, he was given the boot. He showed little interest in working with traditional media, being almost entirely immersed in the conceptual field: and most of his work was confrontational. Examples: eating glass; wearing a beard--of which half had been shaven off--perfectly cleanly left-to-right; performing not-quite-nude with a map of the United States painted on his body. The faculty were...
a bit of info---either disillusioning or demystifying, depending on attitude/perspective--in an issue of Mojo magazine devoted to "New Wave": David didn't graduate from RISD. Actually, he was given the boot. He showed little interest in working with traditional media, being almost entirely immersed in the conceptual field: and most of his work was confrontational. Examples: eating glass; wearing a beard--of which half had been shaven off--perfectly cleanly left-to-right; performing not-quite-nude with a map of the United States painted on his body. The faculty were baffled and didn't want to deal with him.
You get the feeling this guy will never ever find a home. He sounds so anxious and paranoid about it. To me, it's like discussing the meaninglessness of the whole world, like it makes no difference if you live in Memphis, in London or somewhere else. At least, that's the way I think things go for the narrator.
Kinda strange and bizarre song.
I think he realized home was with him all along on This Is The Place (Naive Melody).
Why a "dry-ice factory"? Anyone have any ideas on what that could mean?
@EnduringChill Apparently the real Birmingham AL has a ice-making plant fairly close to the city centre. Don't know if it's a dry ice plant but I've heard it's a good place to get some thinking done...
@EnduringChill Apparently the real Birmingham AL has a ice-making plant fairly close to the city centre. Don't know if it's a dry ice plant but I've heard it's a good place to get some thinking done...
@EnduringChill DRY ICE = the ultimate image of ephemeral being; it goes directly from solid to gas/vapor and disappears. It also combines disparate elements in one weird phrase since ice is usually wet as it melts, not dry...
@EnduringChill DRY ICE = the ultimate image of ephemeral being; it goes directly from solid to gas/vapor and disappears. It also combines disparate elements in one weird phrase since ice is usually wet as it melts, not dry...
a very Byrneian symbol/image...?
a very Byrneian symbol/image...?
i play this in the car everytime i move! along with byrne's glass concrete and stone.
Dry Ice Factory. Byrne loves to ride his bike around towns he's in to explore from ground level. There's no double meaning to the dry ice factory other than he likely biked past one, it was probably fairly deserted and he pulled over for a break to get some thinking done. No mystery. Plus dry ice? What a concept.
Not sure why London is a small city. Unless it's a small-minded city. Or Byrne's version of London is a small area he sticks to.
look over there..drive ice factory good place to get some thinking done
my favorite part..Phish did a really good cover of this song