"Psycho Killer" by Talking Heads is about the inner battle we all face with our unfiltered thoughts and impulses. The narrator is hyperaware of the socially inappropriate things we all think but usually manage to suppress - those moments when we hate someone for being impolite, or ramble without saying anything meaningful, or feel tense and unable to relax in social situations. The song's central figure represents that part of ourselves we need to control to function in society, and the songs' nervous energy and fragmented lyrics capture the constant struggle to keep these thoughts in check.
The repeated urge to "run run run away" is about escaping from our own uncensored thoughts and reactions. It's a surprisingly universal theme dressed up in unsettling language, with the mix of English and French adding to the sense of fractured communication and internal conflict. It turns out Psycho Killer is each and every one of us, if we manage to tune out the noise.
"Psycho Killer" by Talking Heads is about the inner battle we all face with our unfiltered thoughts and impulses. The narrator is hyperaware of the socially inappropriate things we all think but usually manage to suppress - those moments when we hate someone for being impolite, or ramble without saying anything meaningful, or feel tense and unable to relax in social situations. The song's central figure represents that part of ourselves we need to control to function in society, and the songs' nervous energy and fragmented lyrics capture the constant struggle to keep these thoughts in check.
The repeated urge to "run run run away" is about escaping from our own uncensored thoughts and reactions. It's a surprisingly universal theme dressed up in unsettling language, with the mix of English and French adding to the sense of fractured communication and internal conflict. It turns out Psycho Killer is each and every one of us, if we manage to tune out the noise.