Addendum to "Misc. Monday Song (12.26.05)"

Artist: Talking Heads
Song: (Nothing But) Flowers
Album: Naked









Briefly: While I don't especially like to ride on Rob's coattails, I am equally enraptured with the Talking Heads right now. I'm not saying they're my favorite band, but, my love for their music has been growing over the years and it is at an all time high right now. I recently heard "Road To Nowhere" and "(Nothing But) Flowers" for the first time in my life (yeah, I know my cred is slipping through the cracks right now). Since Rob has already got "Road To Nowhere" covered, I wanted to praise "(Nothing But) Flowers."

Why?: "(Nothing But) Flowers" sounds very much like a brilliant outtake from Paul Simon's Graceland while still retaining a uniquely Talking Heads vibe. Lyrically, it is the utopian flipside to Modest Mouse's dystopian "Teeth Like God's Shoeshine." I make this point mainly because Isaac Brock has gone on record as being a devout Talking Heads fan ("Tiny Cities Made of Ashes" anyone?) and because Isaac Brock's songs are frequently preoccupied with fear and anxiety over the ongoing commodification of America, urban sprawl, etc. Converse to Brock's bleak outlook, Davd Byrne's "(Nothing But) Flowers" imagines an Eden where strip malls and restaurant chains are replaced by flowers, streams, and cornfields. It also helps that Byrne's lyrics are bouncing alongside one of his most immortal melodies.

Lyrics:

Here we stand

Like an Adam and an Eve

Waterfalls

The Garden of Eden

Two fools in love

So beautiful and strong

The birds in the trees

Are smiling upon them

From the age of the dinosaurs

Cars have run on gasoline

Where, where have they gone?

Now, it's nothing but flowers

There was a factory

Now there are mountains and rivers

you got it, you got it

We caught a rattlesnake

Now we got something for dinner

we got it, we got it

There was a shopping mall

Now it's all covered with flowers

you've got it, you've got it

If this is paradise

I wish I had a lawnmower

you've got it, you've got it

Years ago

I was an angry young man

I'd pretend

That I was a billboard

Standing tall

By the side of the road

I fell in love

With a beautiful highway

This used to be real estate

Now it's only fields and trees

Where, where is the town

Now, it's nothing but flowers

The highways and cars

Were sacrificed for agriculture

I thought that we'd start over

But I guess I was wrong

Once there were parking lots

Now it's a peaceful oasis

you got it, you got it

This was a Pizza Hut

Now it's all covered with daisies

you got it, you got it

I miss the honky tonks,

Dairy Queens, and 7-Elevens

you got it, you got it

And as things fell apart

Nobody paid much attention

you got it, you got it

I dream of cherry pies,

Candy bars, and chocolate chip cookies

you got it, you got it

We used to microwave

Now we just eat nuts and berries

you got it, you got it

This was a discount store,

Now it's turned into a cornfield

you got it, you got it

Don't leave me stranded here

I can't get used to this lifestyle