"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
Cash Box said that "this marching single which features David Byrne's soothing lead vocal is a curious and circus-ride look at life."[7]Billboard said that within the song "a cappellagospel 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".
Charlie Crist, in his unsuccessful 2010 run for the U.S. Senate in Florida, used the song in a campaign video without obtaining permission. David Byrne sued for copyright infringement and, in a legal settlement, Crist issued a video apology for his improper use.
