Psycho Killer: Difference between revisions
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"'''Psycho Killer'''" is a song by American rock band [[Talking Heads]], released on their debut studio album ''[[Talking Heads: 77]]'' (1977). The group first performed it as | "'''Psycho Killer'''" is a song by American rock band [[Talking Heads]], released on their debut studio album ''[[Talking Heads: 77]]'' (1977). The group first performed it as [[The Artistics]] in 1974. | ||
The band also recorded an acoustic version of the song featuring [[Arthur Russell]] on cello. In the liner notes for ''[[Once in a Lifetime: The Best of Talking Heads]]'' (1992), [[Jerry Harrison]] wrote of the A-side and B-side of the single, "I'm glad we persuaded Tony [Bongiovi] and Lance [Quinn] that the version with the cellos shouldn't be the only one." | The band also recorded an acoustic version of the song featuring [[Arthur Russell]] on cello. In the liner notes for ''[[Once in a Lifetime: The Best of Talking Heads]]'' (1992), [[Jerry Harrison]] wrote of the A-side and B-side of the single, "I'm glad we persuaded Tony [Bongiovi] and Lance [Quinn] that the version with the cellos shouldn't be the only one." | ||
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"Psycho Killer" was the only song from the album to appear on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, peaking at number 92. It reached number 32 on the Triple J Hottest 100 in 1989, and peaked at number 11 on the Dutch singles chart in 1977. The song is included in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. | "Psycho Killer" was the only song from the album to appear on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, peaking at number 92. It reached number 32 on the Triple J Hottest 100 in 1989, and peaked at number 11 on the Dutch singles chart in 1977. The song is included in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. | ||
== Background and Recording == | |||
The song that would become "Psycho Killer" was originally performed in 1974 by [[The Artistics]] while David, Chris and Tina were all still studying at [[Rhode Island School of Design|RISD]]. David has talked about trying to write a song that was "maybe a cross between Alice Cooper and Randy Newman."<ref name=":0">Gross, Terry. “For David Byrne, Talking Heads Was about Making Emotional Sense — Not Literal Sense.” ''Spokane Public Radio'', 5 July 2024, www.spokanepublicradio.org/2024-07-05/for-david-byrne-talking-heads-was-about-making-emotional-sense-not-literal-sense. Accessed 10 July 2024.</ref> | |||
==Lyrics== | ==Lyrics== | ||
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The French lyrics were supplied by [[Tina Weymouth]]. According to [[Chris Frantz]], "I told David that Tina's mother is French and that they always spoke French in the home. Tina agreed to do it and just sat down and did it in a little over an hour. I wrote a couple of more verses, and within a few hours, 'Psycho Killer' was more or less done." | The French lyrics were supplied by [[Tina Weymouth]]. According to [[Chris Frantz]], "I told David that Tina's mother is French and that they always spoke French in the home. Tina agreed to do it and just sat down and did it in a little over an hour. I wrote a couple of more verses, and within a few hours, 'Psycho Killer' was more or less done." David has called the French used in the song "very kind of old-fashioned. I think Tina said, this is very Napoleonic kind of French."<ref name=":0" /> | ||
==Later releases== | ==Later releases== | ||