Song
"Genius of Love" was Tom Tom Club's second single. Although the album had not been released in North America, over a hundred thousand copies of the single sold as imports from Island Records's UK, at which point Sire Records made a deal to release the single and the album in North America in late 1981.
"Genius of Love" was a huge hit making the top 40 on the US Billboard Hot 100 (Peaking at #31), in the clubs and on the R&B and dance charts, soon earning the Tom Tom Club LP a Gold Sales Award in 1982. Despite its relatively low chart position in the United Kingdom, the song received a great deal of airplay on UK radio and became a club favorite in Britain, helped by the popularity of the accompanying video. A song based on the keyboards-and-bass rhythm in "Genius of Love" was used in a long-running TV advertising campaign in the UK by the Bird's desserts company in the second half of the 1980s, the commercials featuring a spin on the psychedelic animation of the Tom Tom Club video using rudimentary CGI. In 2002 it was also used in a popular TV commercial for Kia cars.
The song's narrator implies that her boyfriend is a "maven of funk mutation" and compares him to James Brown, Bob Marley, Smokey Robinson, Hamilton Bohannon, George Clinton, Bootsy Collins, Sly and Robbie, and Kurtis Blow.
Tom Tom Club appeared in the 1984 Talking Heads concert movie Stop Making Sense performing "Genius of Love," although this incarnation of the group did not include Tina Weymouth's sisters Laura and Lani. Director Jonathan Demme added "Genius of Love" to the concert primarily so that David Byrne could exit the stage and change into his oversized suit, and he assured Weymouth that the performance would not be included on the final cut of the film. When Weymouth saw an early screening of the film she was thus surprised and irritated to see "Genius of Love," but Demme refused to change anything before the official release.
Genius of Love
Talking Heads Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I'm gonna have some fun
What do you consider fun?
Fun, natural fun
I'm in heaven
With my boyfriend, my laughing boyfriend
There's no beginning and there is no end
He'll take my arm
When we're walkin', rolling and rocking
It's one time I'm glad I'm not a man
Feels like I'm dreaming, but I'm not sleeping
I'm in heaven
With the maven of funk mutation
Clinton's musicians such as Bootsy Collins
Raise expectations to a new intention
No one can sing
Quite like Smokey, Smokey Robinson
Wailin' and skankin' to Bob Marley
Reggae's expanding with Sly and Robbie
Oops! Your mama said uh
Oops! Your mama said uh
Oops! Your mama said uh
Oops! Your mama
All the weekend
Boyfriend was missing
I surely miss him
The way he'd hold me in his warm arms
We went insane when we took cocaine
"Bohannon, Bohannon, Bohannon, Bohannon"
"Bohannon, Bohannon, Bohannon, Bohannon"
Stepping in a rhythm to a Kurtis Blow
Who needs to think when your feet just go?
With a hippie-the-hip and a hippie-the-hop
Who needs to think when your feet just go
"Bohannon, Bohannon, Bohannon, Bohannon"
Who needs to think when your feet just go
"Bohannon, Bohannon, Bohannon, Bohannon"
James Brown, James Brown
James Brown, James Brown
If you see him
Please remind him, unhappy boyfriend
Well he's the genius of love
He's got a greater depth of feeling
Well he's the genius of love
He's so deep
The song Genius of Love is all about having fun and enjoying the natural pleasures of life. The lyrics of the song are divided into various segments that are somewhat disjointed but all loosely connected by the theme of natural fun. The first segment of the song speaks about getting out of jail and having fun, which sets the tone for the rest of the song. The second segment of the song is all about the singer being in heaven with her laughing boyfriend, where there is no beginning or end, and time doesn't exist. The impression is that the singer and her boyfriend are having a great time, being carefree and enjoying each other's company.
Line by Line Meaning
What you gonna do when you get out of jail?
What will you plan to do when you're free?
I'm gonna have some fun
I'm looking forward to enjoying myself.
What do you consider fun?
What, specifically, do you find entertaining or enjoyable?
Fun, natural fun
Just simple, authentic, and genuine amusement or pleasure.
I'm in heaven
I feel incredibly happy and content.
With my boyfriend, my laughing boyfriend
With the guy who brings me joy and makes me laugh.
There's no beginning and there is no end
Our love doesn't have a specific start or finish.
Time isn't present in that dimension
We are so wrapped up in each other that time becomes meaningless.
He'll take my arm
He'll put his arm around me.
When we're walkin', rolling and rocking
When we're strolling together, enjoying and moving to the beat.
It's one time I'm glad I'm not a man
I'm grateful to be experiencing this moment as a woman.
Feels like I'm dreaming, but I'm not sleeping
It seems surreal, but I'm fully conscious and aware.
With the maven of funk mutation
In the company of the funky trendsetter.
Clinton's musicians such as Bootsy Collins
The band members who back George Clinton, including Bootsy Collins.
Raise expectations to a new intention
Elevate the standards to a fresh level of purpose.
No one can sing
There's no one who can match the vocals of
Quite like Smokey, Smokey Robinson
As brilliantly and distinctively as Smokey Robinson does.
Wailin' and skankin' to Bob Marley
Singing and dancing to Bob Marley's lively and rhythmic music.
Reggae's expanding with Sly and Robbie
Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare are helping to propagate and diversify reggae music.
Oops! Your mama said uh
Whoops! Did your mother just say something?
All the weekend
Throughout the entire weekend.
Boyfriend was missing
My boyfriend was absent, nowhere to be found.
I surely miss him
I really miss him and want him back.
The way he'd hold me in his warm arms
How he used to embrace me with his cozy and affectionate gestures.
We went insane when we took cocaine
We acted recklessly and crazily when we consumed cocaine.
"Bohannon, Bohannon, Bohannon, Bohannon"
Repeating this phrase as if it were part of the music we were grooving to.
Stepping in a rhythm to a Kurtis Blow
Dancing to the beat of Kurtis Blow's music.
Who needs to think when your feet just go?
Why should you bother overthinking when you can simply let your body move with the rhythm?
With a hippie-the-hip and a hippie-the-hop
To the sound of the funky music, featuring a mix of hip-hop and hippie styles.
James Brown, James Brown
Acknowledging the King of Soul, James Brown.
If you see him
If you happen to see him,
Please remind him, unhappy boyfriend
Tell him to remember that he's unhappy with his current circumstances.
Well he's the genius of love
He's exceptional when it comes to matters of the heart.
He's got a greater depth of feeling
He feels things more profoundly and deeply than most people do.
He's so deep
He's incredibly profound and insightful, especially when it comes to love.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Tina Weymouth, Christopher Frantz, Adrian Belew, Steven J.C. Stanley
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind