This song is about Frontman's experiences as an intelligence asset. He is describing a debriefing. During this period field assets were often debriefed using combination of hypnotherapy and psychotropic drugs. This is why at the end of the "Do you remember anyone here?" line, Eno added a sound effect of a reel-to-reel machine being run backwards, as if to "re-cue the prompt".
Frontman is literally laying on a gurney, in an institutional medical setting, reliving the party over and over again. His employers are concerned with retrieving useful information from the party in his mind (a clever play on words- a political party is intended also).
Frontman is an "alter": an artificial personality embedded within the subject's unconsciousness. Frontman is able to observe things and create intelligence for his handlers while David Byrne is the "active" consciousness. Later, what Frontman saw is extracted through drug assisted hypnosis. With the sole exception of I Zimbra, every song on Remain in Light describes aspects of Frontman's relationship and activities with British and American intelligence.
"Don't look so disappointed
It isn't what you hoped for, is it?"
This song is about Frontman's experiences as an intelligence asset. He is describing a debriefing. During this period field assets were often debriefed using combination of hypnotherapy and psychotropic drugs. This is why at the end of the "Do you remember anyone here?" line, Eno added a sound effect of a reel-to-reel machine being run backwards, as if to "re-cue the prompt".
Frontman is literally laying on a gurney, in an institutional medical setting, reliving the party over and over again. His employers are concerned with retrieving useful information from the party in his mind (a clever play on words- a political party is intended also).
Frontman is an "alter": an artificial personality embedded within the subject's unconsciousness. Frontman is able to observe things and create intelligence for his handlers while David Byrne is the "active" consciousness. Later, what Frontman saw is extracted through drug assisted hypnosis. With the sole exception of I Zimbra, every song on Remain in Light describes aspects of Frontman's relationship and activities with British and American intelligence.
"Don't look so disappointed It isn't what you hoped for, is it?"