Talking Heads first appeared on the New York music scene as a trio in 1974. At the time, the band consisted only of Byrne and Frantz, and was initially called The Artistics. By 1975, the band had recorded a demo album for CBS Records and landed a gig opening for the Ramones at CBGB in June 1975, which was the first time the band used the name Talking Heads. The band was signed to Sire Records in late 1976 and the group released their first single, "Love → Building on Fire" in February 1977. In March 1977, the band added Jerry Harrison, formerly of Jonathan Richman's band The Modern Lovers.
Their first album, Talking Heads: 77 was released soon afterward and did not contain the earlier single, although it did include the underground singles Psycho Killer and Uh-Oh, Love Comes To Town. Despite being regulars at New York's legendary CBGB, the band only began to break through further with the landmark Brian Eno-produced, 1978 album More Songs About Buildings And Food, an album which continued in the same vein, but with a more accessible style, wittier lyrics, and ultimately better songs. It was a great critical hit with subject matter ranging from home movies to the art world. It also included their cover of Take Me To The River. On the following year's Fear Of Music the band started to dabble in African rhythms, notably on I Zimbra, and more straightforward pop styles, on Life During Wartime and Cities.
1980 brought the band's fourth and most innovative effort Remain In Light. Notable for the single Once In A Lifetime, which became an early MTV staple, Remain In Light saw the band experiment with ambient sounds, fugal structures, polyrhythms, and about everything under the sun to make the body groove. Following this, the group split with Brian Eno, enjoying greater commercial success with 1983's Speaking In Tongues. It took the musical innovations of its predecessor and refined them into pop songs, most notably Burning Down The House, Girlfriend Is Better and This Must Be The Place. This period was topped off with a live album, from Jonathan Demme's documentary, Stop Making Sense. The documentary, with its name taken from a line in Girlfriend Is Better, was a great success, and took their inimitable style to a wider audience.
1985's Little Creatures was an even bigger hit, and exhibited another stylistic shift for the band. It saw the punk styles of '77 almost completely abandoned for simple, three or four chord pop songs. The album produced the singles And She Was, and Road To Nowhere. The following two albums, True Stories and Naked, were both moderate successes, the former producing their biggest radio hits, Love For Sale and Wild Wild Life, and the latter focusing more on Latin influences with hits like (Nothing But) Flowers. After this, a long quiet period followed, with the band eventually officially announcing their break up in 1991. Since the split, Byrne continued his solo career and Weymoth and Frantz continued to record and tour as Tom Tom Club. Weymouth, Harrison and Frantz reunited for an album, "No Talking, Just Head", recorded under the name The Heads in 1996.
The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002. The band reunited for a three song performance at the ceremony. Due to personality conflicts between Byrne and the other members, further reunions are unlikely.
www.talking-heads.net
Road To Nowhere
Talking Heads Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
But we don't know where we've been
And we know what we're knowing
But we can't say what we've seen
And we're not little children
And we know what we want
And the future is certain
Give us time to work it out
Yeah
We're on a road to nowhere
Come on inside
Taking that ride to nowhere
We'll take that ride
I'm feeling okay this morning
And you know
We're on a road to paradise
Here we go, here we go
We're on a ride to nowhere
Come on inside
Taking that ride to nowhere
We'll take that ride
Maybe you wonder where you are
I don't care
Here is where time is on our side
Take you there, take you there
We're on a road to nowhere (ha, ha)
We're on a road to nowhere (ha, ha)
We're on a road to nowhere (ha, ha, woo)
There's a city in my mind
Come along and take that ride
And it's alright, baby, it's all right
And it's very far away
But it's growing day by day and it's all right
Baby, it's all right
Would you like to come along
You can help me sing the song
And it's all right, baby, it's all right
They can tell you what to do
But they'll make a fool of you
And it's all right, baby, it's all right
There's a city in my mind
Come along and take that ride
And it's alright, baby, it's all right
And it's very far away
But it's growing day by day and it's all right
Baby, it's all right, yeah
Would you like to come along
You can help me sing the song
And it's all right, baby, it's all right
They can tell you what to do
But they'll make a fool of you and it's all right
Baby, it's all right
We're on a road to nowhere (hey)
We're on a road to nowhere (ha)
We're on a road to nowhere (ha, ha)
We're on a road to nowhere
The lyrics to Talking Heads’ “Road to Nowhere” are about the journey of life without any specific destination. The opening lines, “Well we know where we're going, but we don't know where we've been, and we know what we're knowing, but we can't say what we've seen,” suggest that although we have an idea of where we are heading, we have no certainty of the path we have taken to get there. The next line “And we're not little children, and we know what we want” suggests that we are mature individuals who are capable of making choices for ourselves, while the line “And the future is certain, give us time to work it out” hints that we need time to figure things out.
The chorus of the song, “We're on a road to nowhere, come on inside, taking that ride to nowhere, we'll take that ride” further emphasizes the notion that life is a journey without any specific destination in mind. As the song progresses, the lyrics become more optimistic: “I'm feeling okay this morning, and you know we're on a road to paradise, here we go, here we go” and “Maybe you wonder where you are, I don't care, here is where time is on our side, take you there, take you there” suggest a carefree attitude and enjoying the journey without worrying about the destination.
In the final verse, “And it's very far away, but it's growing day by day and it's all right, baby, it's all right would you like to come along, you can help me sing the song” implies that the journey is more important than the destination, and that it's a journey that can be shared with others. The song ends with the repetition of “We're on a road to nowhere” emphasizing the concept of the journey without a destination.
Line by Line Meaning
Well we know where we're going
We have a destination that we are heading towards
But we don't know where we've been
Our future is clear, but we are unsure of our past and how we got here
And we know what we're knowing
We are aware of our knowledge and understanding
But we can't say what we've seen
We have experienced things, but are unable to articulate or explain it
And we're not little children
We are grown adults who are capable of making our own decisions
And we know what we want
We have a clear understanding of what we desire
And the future is certain
We are confident about the upcoming events and our future ahead
Give us time to work it out
We need some time to figure things out and make decisions
We're on a road to nowhere
We're on a journey that doesn't seem to have a clear purpose or direction
Come on inside
Join us in this journey
Taking that ride to nowhere
We're willingly taking a ride towards an unknown destination
I'm feeling okay this morning
I'm in a good mood today
And you know
You're aware of the situation too
We're on a road to paradise
We're heading towards a euphoric and perfect destination
Here we go, here we go
We're starting the journey and excited about it
Maybe you wonder where you are
You might be questioning the relevance or purpose of this journey
I don't care
I'm indifferent to your confusion
Here is where time is on our side
We have enough time on this journey and can take it slow
Take you there, take you there
We'll get to the destination eventually
There's a city in my mind
I've got a dream destination in my thoughts
Come along and take that ride
Let's take that journey together
And it's all right, baby, it's all right
It's going to be alright, so don't worry
And it's very far away
Our dream destination is quite distant
But it's growing day by day and it's all right
Each passing day, our dream destination gets closer, and that's reassuring
Would you like to come along
Do you want to accompany us on this journey?
You can help me sing the song
You're welcome to join in and be a part of our experience
They can tell you what to do
Society might dictate norms and expectations
But they'll make a fool of you
But following everything blindly can lead to foolish decisions
We're on a road to nowhere (hey)
We're still on this journey, and it doesn't seem to be taking us anywhere significant
We're on a road to nowhere (ha)
We're still going, but the destination doesn't seem to be in sight
We're on a road to nowhere (ha, ha)
Our journey is starting to feel like a joke, with no clear point or direction
Lyrics © Kanjian Music, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Chris Frantz, David Byrne, Jerry Harrison, Tina Weymouth
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@jaberosier9853
Well, we know where we're goin'
But we don't know where we've been
And we know what we're knowin'
But we can't say what we've seen
And we're not little children
And we know what we want
And the future is certain
Give us time to work it out
We're on a road to nowhere
Come on inside
Takin' that ride to nowhere
We'll take that ride
I'm feelin' okay this mornin'
And you know
We're on a road to paradise
Here we go, here we go
We're on a ride to nowhere
Come on inside
Takin' that ride to nowhere
We'll take that ride
Maybe you wonder where you are
I don't care
Here is where time is on our side
Take you there, take you there
We're on a road to nowhere
We're on a road to nowhere
We're on a road to nowhere
There's a city in my mind
Come along and take that ride
And it's all right, baby it's all right
And it's very far away
But it's growing day by day
And it's all right, baby it's all right
Would you like to come along?
And you could help me sing this song
And it's all right, baby it's all right
They can tell you what to do
But they'll make a fool of you
And it's all right, baby it's all right
There's a city in my mind
Come along and take that ride
And it's all right, baby it's all right
And it's very far away
But it's growing day by day
And it's all right, baby it's all right
Would you like to come along?
You could help me sing this song
And it's all right, baby it's all right
They can tell you what to do
But they'll make a fool of you
And it's all right, baby it's all right
We're on a road to nowhere
We're on a road to nowhere
We're on a road to nowhere
We're on a road to nowhere
@bryanhoffman8441
When your existential crisis is having an existential crisis, you know you are listening to a David Byrne song.
@sallgoodman5610
LETTING THE DAYS GO BY
@danielstockton3707
don't forget the accordion to spice up your depression
@lise4529
Yip😅
@lisab5689
Maybe that was what leaded me here, without knowing
@jessicacisneros2948
#nowhereland
@woodstein
I particularly like the sequence of Chris and Tina meeting, dancing, getting married, having a child, watching the child grow up, turning old and grey and still being in love like crazy birds -- because that's EXACTLY how they turned out!
@charliepanayiotou4305
I read Chris Frantz's book last year and it is very sweet how crazy he is still about Tina
@Tornado1994
@@charliepanayiotou4305 Check them out as a young 20 Something Couple in the mid 70s!
@laylover7621
I can't believe they're still together, that is so beautiful.