i was thinking about talking heads today while listening to this song. it occurred to me too, that they filled that spot in the musical spectrum that radiohead fills today. of course radiohead took their name from a talking heads song but there is more to it than that.
some people want more than hard rocking from their favorite band. they may want music that is also going to make them get up and dance. they may want lyrics that are thoughtful, complex and interesting. they may want their music to be high art. they probably want a great voice and great musicianship. they want innovation and timelessness. this is the top of the musical food chain i am talking about.
the talking heads were an ultra smart band. they made records with companion art house films. while lesser bands lke styx continued to pursue the rock operas of 'tommy' and 'the wall,' talking heads discovered or invented the neo-impressionist album with 'little creatures.' 'little creatures,' was a collection of songs with similar themes, which worked together to leave a certain, lasting impression. if forced to sum little creatures up in one sentence, i might come up with: as humans we are little creatures, though of love, and sometimes our lives are sublime, and often we procreate, but in the end we have to guard ourselves from falling prey to the laziness which would cause ignorance. that is 'and she was,' to 'road to nowhere,' in my humble opinion and without little creatures there might never have been an ok computer because one is a blueprint for the other whether it was used and followed or not, (and i doubt it was though i guess it sunk in as great art does.)
the songs on both records stand alone but simultaneously contribute to and evoke the same feelings and emotions. on little creatures there is a simple beauty or a simple happiness that comes with the finite and miniscule. listening you can feel them all at once. similarly on ok computer there are songs that stand alone and have well defined themes in and of themselves but taken together, there is an overall feeling of an impending technological doom and cognitive dissonance that serves as a warning to the little creatures who created all of these machines.
'electioneering' is one of the more obscure tracks from ok computer but it exemplifies the potency of radiohead and particularly, this album.
i will stop at nothing, say the right things when electioneering, i trust i can
rely on your vote. when i go forwards you go backwards...
it's the politician speaking as country preacher with utter honesty and in the end he even tells his would be voters when he goes forward, they will go backwards. it spoke to the confusion of the modern age, of the age of the internet.
there are other great bands. certainly u2, pearl jam, the pixies, and others. they have made truly great records. but they never occupied that niche that is and was the realm of talking heads and radiohead. it is that apex where the art house and mass appeal meet, that place where the vibrating brain meets the shaking ass meets the pulsating heart of the champion, that place where influences lose all pretense at the altar of invention, that place from where everyone takes their cue.
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