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Once in a Lifetime: Difference between revisions
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Like other songs on ''[[Remain in Light]]'', Talking Heads and the producer [[Brian Eno]] developed ''Once in a Lifetime'' by recording jams, isolating the best parts, and learning to play them repetitively. The English musician [[Robert Palmer (singer)|Robert Palmer]] joined the jam on guitar and percussion.<ref name=":02">{{Cite journal|last=Lewis|first=John|date=November 2007|title=The Making Of... Once in a Lifetime by Talking Heads|journal=[[Uncut (magazine)|Uncut]]}}</ref> The technique was influenced by early hip hop and the [[Afrobeat]] music of artists such as [[Fela Kuti]], which Eno had introduced to the band. The singer, [[David Byrne]], likened the process to modern looping and sampling, describing the band as "human samplers". He said the song was a result of the band trying and failing to play funk, inadvertently creating something new instead | Like other songs on ''[[Remain in Light]]'', Talking Heads and the producer [[Brian Eno]] developed ''Once in a Lifetime'' by recording jams, isolating the best parts, and learning to play them repetitively. The English musician [[Robert Palmer (singer)|Robert Palmer]] joined the jam on guitar and percussion.<ref name=":02">{{Cite journal|last=Lewis|first=John|date=November 2007|title=The Making Of... Once in a Lifetime by Talking Heads|journal=[[Uncut (magazine)|Uncut]]}}</ref> The technique was influenced by early hip hop and the [[Afrobeat]] music of artists such as [[Fela Kuti]], which Eno had introduced to the band. The singer, [[David Byrne]], likened the process to modern looping and sampling, describing the band as "human samplers". He said the song was a result of the band trying and failing to play funk, inadvertently creating something new instead | ||
The track was initially not one of Eno's favorites, and the band almost abandoned it. According to the keyboardist, [[Jerry Harrison]], "Because there were so few chord changes, and everything was in a sort of trance... it became harder to write defined choruses." However, Byrne had faith in the song and felt he could write lyrics to it. Eno developed the chorus melody by singing wordlessly, and the song "fell into place". Harrison developed the "bubbly" synthesizer line and added the Hammond organ climax, taken from [[the Velvet Underground]]'s | The track was initially not one of Eno's favorites, and the band almost abandoned it. According to the keyboardist, [[Jerry Harrison]], "Because there were so few chord changes, and everything was in a sort of trance... it became harder to write defined choruses." However, Byrne had faith in the song and felt he could write lyrics to it. Eno developed the chorus melody by singing wordlessly, and the song "fell into place". Harrison developed the "bubbly" synthesizer line and added the Hammond organ climax, taken from [[the Velvet Underground]]'s [[What Goes On (Velvet Underground song)|''What Goes On'']]. | ||
Eno interpreted the rhythm differently from the band, with the third beat of the bar as the first. He encouraged the band members to interpret the beat in different ways, thereby exaggerating different rhythmic elements.<ref name="NPR">{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2000/03/27/1072131/once-in-a-lifetime|title=Once in a Lifetime|date=March 27, 2000|first1=Rick|last1=Karr|publisher=[[NPR]]|access-date=April 7, 2018}}</ref> According to Eno, "This means the song has a funny balance, with two centers of gravity – their funk groove, and my dubby, reggae-ish understanding of it; a bit like the way Fela Kuti songs will have multiple rhythms going on at the same time, warping in and out of each other." | Eno interpreted the rhythm differently from the band, with the third beat of the bar as the first. He encouraged the band members to interpret the beat in different ways, thereby exaggerating different rhythmic elements.<ref name="NPR">{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2000/03/27/1072131/once-in-a-lifetime|title=Once in a Lifetime|date=March 27, 2000|first1=Rick|last1=Karr|publisher=[[NPR]]|access-date=April 7, 2018}}</ref> According to Eno, "This means the song has a funny balance, with two centers of gravity – their funk groove, and my dubby, reggae-ish understanding of it; a bit like the way Fela Kuti songs will have multiple rhythms going on at the same time, warping in and out of each other." | ||
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In the ''Once in a Lifetime'' music video, Byrne appears in a large, empty white room, dressed in a suit, bowtie and glasses. In the background, inserted via bluescreen, footage of religious rituals or multiple Byrnes appears. Byrne dances erratically, imitating the movements of the rituals and moving in "spasmic" full-body contortions. At the end of the video, a "normal" version of Byrne appears in a black room, dressed in a white, open-collared shirt, without glasses. | In the ''Once in a Lifetime'' music video, Byrne appears in a large, empty white room, dressed in a suit, bowtie and glasses. In the background, inserted via bluescreen, footage of religious rituals or multiple Byrnes appears. Byrne dances erratically, imitating the movements of the rituals and moving in "spasmic" full-body contortions. At the end of the video, a "normal" version of Byrne appears in a black room, dressed in a white, open-collared shirt, without glasses. | ||
The video was directed by Byrne and [[Toni Basil]] and choreographed by Basil. They studied archive footage of religious rituals from around the world, including footage of evangelists, African tribes, Japanese sects and people in trances, for Byrne to incorporate into his performance. The televangelist Ernest Angley was another inspiration. According to Basil, "David kind of choreographed himself. I set up the camera, put him in front of it, and asked him to absorb those ideas. Then I left the room so he could be alone with himself. I came back, looked at the videotape, and we chose physical moves that worked with the music. I just helped to stylize his moves a little." | The video was directed by Byrne and [[Toni Basil]] and choreographed by Basil. They studied archive footage of religious rituals from around the world, including footage of evangelists, African tribes, Japanese sects and people in trances, for Byrne to incorporate into his performance. The televangelist Ernest Angley was another inspiration. According to Basil, "David kind of choreographed himself. I set up the camera, put him in front of it, and asked him to absorb those ideas. Then I left the room so he could be alone with himself. I came back, looked at the videotape, and we chose physical moves that worked with the music. I just helped to stylize his moves a little." To emphasize Byrne's jerky movements, Basil used an "old-fashioned" zoom lens. The video was made on a low budget; Basil described it as "about as low-tech as you could get and still be broadcastable". | ||
== Release == | == Release == | ||