View source for Speaking in Tongues

{{Infobox album
| name         = Speaking in Tongues
| type         = Studio album
| artist       = [[Talking Heads]]
| cover        = Talking Heads - Speaking in Tongues.jpg
| alt          = 
| released     = June 1, 1983
| recorded     = July 1982–February 1983
| venue        = 
| studio       = *Blank Tape (New York City)
*Sigma Sound (Philadelphia)
*Compass Point (Nassau)
| genre        = *New wave music|New wave
*[[funk]]
*[[art rock]]
*[[funk-rock]]
| length       = 40:51 (LP)<br>46:56 (cassette)
| label        = [[Sire Records|Sire]]
| producer     = Talking Heads
| prev_title   = [[The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads]]
| prev_year    = 1982
| next_title   = [[Stop Making Sense (album)|Stop Making Sense]]
| next_year    = 1984
| misc         = {{Singles
 | name        = Speaking in Tongues
 | type        = studio
 | single1     = [[Burning Down the House]]
 | single1date = July 1983
 | single2     = [[This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)]]
 | single2date = November 1983
 | single3     = [[Swamp]]
 | single3date = December 1983 (NL and AUS)
}}
 {{Extra album cover
 | header  = Special Edition
 | type    = studio
 | cover   = Talking Heads - Speaking in Tongues limited edition.jpg
 | border  =
 | alt     = A yellow plastic case with clear vinyl albums inside that have red and blue photographs stamped onto them
 | caption = Special edition of the album
}}
}}

'''''Speaking in Tongues''''' is the fifth studio album by [[Talking Heads]], released on June 1, 1983, by [[Sire Records]]. After three albums produced by [[Brian Eno]], this was the band's first self-produced album. Recording began in 1982 following a short hiatus in 1981 where the band members all pursued side projects. ''Speaking in Tongues'' became the band's commercial breakthrough and produced the band's sole US top-ten hit, [[Burning Down the House|''Burning Down the House'']], which reached No. 9 in the Billboard Chart.

The album's tour was documented in the 1984 [[Jonathan Demme]]-directed film ''[[Stop Making Sense]]'', which generated [[Stop Making Sense (album)|a live album of the same name]]. The album also crossed over to the dance charts, where it peaked at number two for six weeks. It is the group's highest-charting album on the US ''Billboard'' 200, peaking at number 15. It was also their biggest-selling album in Canada, where it was certified platinum in 1983.

== Background and Production ==
For the songs of the album, the band approached things slightly differently than the previous studio album ''[[Remain in Light]].'' In an interview from 2024, Harrison said "''we wrote the songs and rehearsed them and then went in the studio. And we also built in chord changes, which made writing lyrics [easier.]''"<ref>Pehling, Dave. “CBS SF Talks to Talking Heads Member Jerry Harrison about Remain in Light.” Cbsnews.com, CBS San Francisco, 14 Aug. 2024, www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/interview-talking-heads-jerry-harrison-adrian-belew-remain-in-light/. Accessed 22 Aug. 2024.</ref>

==Artwork==
Talking Heads frontman [[David Byrne]] designed the cover for the general release of the album. Artist [[Robert Rauschenberg]] won a [[Grammy]] Award for his work on the limited-edition LP version, which featured a clear vinyl disc in clear plastic packaging along with three clear plastic discs printed with similar collages in three different colors.

Byrne has said, as a partial explanation of the album's title, "I originally sang nonsense, and... made words to fit that. That worked out all right."

==Release==
Original cassette and later CD copies of the album have "extended versions" of "Making Flippy Floppy", "[[Girlfriend Is Better]]", "Slippery People", "I Get Wild/Wild Gravity" and "Moon Rocks". The album was re-released in February 2006 as a remastered [[DualDisc]]. It contains the extended versions of the songs found on the original cassette, and includes two additional tracks ("Two Note Swivel" and an alternate mix of "[[Burning Down the House]]"). The DVD-A side includes both stereo and 5.1 surround high resolution (96&nbsp;kHz/24bit) mixes, as well as a Dolby Digital 5.1 version of the album, a new alternate version of "Burning Down the House", and videos for "Burning Down the House" and "This Must Be the Place" (videos are two-channel [[Dolby Digital]] only). In Europe it was released as a CD+DVDA two-disc set, rather than a single DualDisc. The reissue was produced by Andy Zax with Talking Heads.

In 2021, Rhino Entertainment re-released the album on sky blue vinyl.


==Track listing==
===LP/early CD version===
{{tracklist
|total_length = 20:35
|headline = Side one
|all_writing = [[David Byrne]], [[Chris Frantz]], [[Jerry Harrison]] and [[Tina Weymouth]]
|title1 = [[Burning Down the House]]
|length1 = 4:01
|title2 = Making Flippy Floppy
|length2 = 4:34
|title3 = [[Girlfriend Is Better]]
|length3 = 4:22
|title4 = Slippery People
|length4 = 3:31
|title5 = I Get Wild/Wild Gravity
|length5 = 4:07
}}
{{tracklist
|total_length = 20:16 (40:51)
|headline = Side two
|title6 = Swamp
|length6 = 5:12
|title7 = Moon Rocks
|length7 = 5:03
|title8 = Pull Up the Roots
|length8 = 5:08
|title9 = [[This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)]]
|length9 = 4:53
}}

===Cassette/later CD versions===
{{tracklist
|total_length = 25:59
|headline = Side one
|title1 = Burning Down the House
|length1 = 4:01
|title2 = Making Flippy Floppy
|note2=extended version
|length2 = 5:54
|title3 = Girlfriend is Better
|note3=extended version
|length3 = 5:44
|title4 = Slippery People
|note4=extended version
|length4 = 5:05
|title5 = I Get Wild/Wild Gravity
|note5=extended version
|length5 = 5:15
}}
{{tracklist
|total_length = 20:57 (46:56)
|headline = Side two
|title1 = Swamp
|length1 = 5:12
|title2 = Moon Rocks
|note2=extended version
|length2 = 5:44
|title3 = Pull Up the Roots
|length3 = 5:08
|title4 = This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)
|length4 = 4:53
}}

===2006 DualDisc reissue bonus tracks ===
{{tracklist
|total_length = 57:56
|title10 = Two Note Swivel |note10=unfinished outtake
|length10 = 5:51
|title11 = Burning Down the House |note11=alternate version
|length11 = 5:09
}}

== Personnel ==
'''Talking Heads'''
*[[David Byrne]] – vocals, guitars, keyboards, synthesizers, bass guitar, percussion
*[[Jerry Harrison]] – keyboards, synthesizers, guitars, backing vocals
*[[Tina Weymouth]] – bass guitar, backing vocals, synthesizer, guitar 
*[[Chris Frantz]] – drums, backing vocals, synthesizer

'''Additional musicians'''
*[[Wally Badarou]] – synthesizers (1, 6, 9)
*[[Bernie Worrell]] – synthesizers (3)
*[[Alex Weir (musician)|Alex Weir]] – guitar (2, 6, 7, 8)
*[[Steve Scales]] – percussion (1, 7)
*[[Raphael Dejesus]] – percussion (4, 5, 8)
*[[David Van Tieghem]] – percussion (5, 9)
*[[L. Shankar]] – double violin (2)
*[[Richard Landry]] – saxophone (4)
*[[Nona Hendryx]] – backing vocals (4)
*[[Dolette McDonald]] – backing vocals (4)

'''Technical'''
*Talking Heads – producers
*Butch Jones – recording
*John Convertino – recording assistant
*Alex Sadkin – overdubbing, mixing
*Frank Gibson – overdubbing assistant, mix assistant 
*Jay Mark – overdubbing assistant, mix assistant 
*Ted Jensen – mastering at Sterling Sound (New York City, New York)
*Brian Kehew – 2006 Dual Disc bonus mixes
*[[Robert Rauschenberg]] – limited edition cover art
*David Byrne – original cover design
[[Category:Albums]]
[[Category:Talking Heads Albu]]