Speaking in Tongues

Speaking in Tongues
File:Talking Heads - Speaking in Tongues.jpg
Studio album by Talking Heads
Released	June 1, 1983
Recorded	July 1982–February 1983
Studio	Blank Tape (New York City) Sigma Sound (Philadelphia) Compass Point (Nassau)
Genre	New wave music
Length	40:51 (LP) 46:56 (cassette)
Label	Sire
Producer	Talking Heads
Talking Heads chronology
The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads (1982) Speaking in Tongues (1983) Stop Making Sense (1984)
Singles from Speaking in Tongues
Burning Down the House Released: July 1983 This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody) Released: November 1983 Swamp Released: December 1983 (NL and AUS)
Special Edition
A yellow plastic case with clear vinyl albums inside that have red and blue photographs stamped onto them 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, 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 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.]"

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 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

All tracks are written by David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Jerry Harrison and Tina Weymouth

Side one

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Burning Down the House"	4:01
2.	"Making Flippy Floppy"	4:34
3.	"Girlfriend Is Better"	4:22
4.	"Slippery People"	3:31
5.	"I Get Wild/Wild Gravity"	4:07
Total length:		20:35

Side two

No.	Title	Length
6.	"Swamp"	5:12
7.	"Moon Rocks"	5:03
8.	"Pull Up the Roots"	5:08
9.	"This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)"	4:53
Total length:		20:16 (40:51)

Cassette/later CD versions

Side one

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Burning Down the House"	4:01
2.	"Making Flippy Floppy" (extended version)	5:54
3.	"Girlfriend is Better" (extended version)	5:44
4.	"Slippery People" (extended version)	5:05
5.	"I Get Wild/Wild Gravity" (extended version)	5:15
Total length:		25:59

Side two

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Swamp"	5:12
2.	"Moon Rocks" (extended version)	5:44
3.	"Pull Up the Roots"	5:08
4.	"This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)"	4:53
Total length:		20:57 (46:56)

2006 DualDisc reissue bonus tracks

No.	Title	Length
10.	"Two Note Swivel" (unfinished outtake)	5:51
11.	"Burning Down the House" (alternate version)	5:09
Total length:		57:56

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 – 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