Road to Nowhere

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"Road to Nowhere"
Single by Talking Heads
from the album Little Creatures
B-side"Television Man"
ReleasedJune 1985 (US)[1]
30 September 1985 (UK)[2]
RecordedOctober 1984 – March 1985
Genre
Length
  • 4:19 (album version)
  • 3:59 (single edit)
David Byrne
Producer(s)Talking Heads
Talking Heads singles chronology
"The Lady Don't Mind"
(1985)
"Road to Nowhere"
(1985)
"And She Was"
(1985)

"Road to Nowhere" is a song by the American band

Brick box set
.

Production

"I wanted to write a song that presented a resigned, even joyful look at doom," recalls David Byrne in the liner notes of Once in a Lifetime: The Best of Talking Heads. "At our deaths and at the apocalypse... (always looming, folks). I think it succeeded. The front bit, the white gospel choir, is kind of tacked on, 'cause I didn't think the rest of the song was enough... I mean, it was only two chords. So, out of embarrassment, or shame, I wrote an intro section that had a couple more in it."

Reception

gospel leads into Louisiana hootenanny."[8]

Music video

The video for the song was directed by Byrne and Stephen R. Johnson and features the band and various objects revolving, including boxes revolving around David Byrne's head. Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz portray a couple growing older, and masked businessmen pummel each other with briefcases and a runaway shopping cart, as if in their own "road to nowhere".

Some parts were shot in the back yard and pool of actor Stephen Tobolowsky, who was co-writing Byrne's film True Stories at the time.[9] Scenes were also shot at Calvary Baptist Church in Hi Vista, California. Director Johnson re-used some of the effects techniques in award-winning videos for Peter Gabriel the following year: "Sledgehammer" and "Big Time".

It was nominated for Best Video of the Year at the 1986 MTV Video Music Awards, losing out to "Money for Nothing" by Dire Straits.

Personnel

Talking Heads

Additional musicians

Cover versions and other uses

References

  1. .
  2. .
  3. ^ Unterberger, Richie (2012-06-14). "Road to Nowhere". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2022-06-25.
  4. ^ Kreps, Daniel (2019-11-20). "See David Byrne and 'American Utopia' Cast Bring 'Road to Nowhere' to 'Fallon'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2022-06-25.
  5. ^ "SA Charts 1965 – 1989". Retrieved 8 April 2014
  6. ^ Talking Heads: Road To Nowhere top40.nl
  7. ^ "Single Releases" (PDF). Cash Box. June 15, 1985. p. 10. Retrieved 2022-07-29.
  8. ^ "Reviews" (PDF). Billboard. June 15, 1985. p. 71. Retrieved 2022-07-29.
  9. ^ "The Tobolowsky Files Episode 44: The Voice from Another Room". slashfilm.com. 18 February 2011. Retrieved 2011-02-19.