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Psycho Killer: Difference between revisions
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"'''Psycho Killer'''" is a song by [[Talking Heads]], released in 1977 as a single from their debut studio album, ''[[Talking Heads: 77]]''. This was the earliest Talking Heads song, dating back to 1974 when [[David Byrne]] and [[Chris Frantz]] performed it in their previous band, [[The Artistics]]. | |||
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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== Background and Recording == | == 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> | 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> Tina has added on to this in a quote from a November 1977 interview where she said "''David Started out doing an Alice Cooper song [...] but since he always does everything wrong, he got it different. I think it's popular because people really like the conventional structure - neanderthal [sic] bass, simple drum."''<ref>Toepfer, Susan. “Neanderthal Bass.” ''Daily News'', 20 Nov. 1977, https://ghostarchive.org/archive/3fND1. Accessed 21 Mar. 2025.</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." 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" /> | 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" /> | ||
Additionally, the song features the repeating a nonsense syllable, "Fa-Fa-Fa," which David has said was a reference to "''[[Sad Song (Otis Redding)|Sad Song]]''" by [[Otis Redding]].<ref name=":0" /> | Additionally, the song features the repeating a nonsense syllable, "Fa-Fa-Fa," which David has said was a reference to "''[[Sad Song (Otis Redding)|Sad Song]]''" by [[Otis Redding]].<ref name=":0" /> This was also spotter by certain reviewers of Talking Heads 77.<ref>Syrja, JJ. “Talking Heads’ Realization.” ''The Seguin Gazette-Enterprise'', 22 Dec. 1977, ghostarchive.org/archive/YMqcZ. Accessed 19 Mar. 2025.</ref> | ||
==Later releases== | ==Later releases== | ||
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==Legacy== | ==Legacy== | ||
''See also: [[Covers of | ''See also: [[Studio Covers of Talking Heads Songs]] and also [[History of Live Covers of Talking Heads Songs]]'' | ||
The song has been recorded in cover versions by many bands and musicians including Velvet Revolver, James Hall, the Bobs (''a cappella'' group), Victoria Vox, Wet Leg, Duran Duran featuring Victoria De Angelis, Miley Cyrus, and the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain at the 2009 BBC Proms. | The song has been recorded in cover versions by many bands and musicians including Velvet Revolver, James Hall, the Bobs (''a cappella'' group), Victoria Vox, Wet Leg, Duran Duran featuring Victoria De Angelis, Miley Cyrus, and the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain at the 2009 BBC Proms. | ||