David Byrne's American Utopia (2020) Movie Script
1
(BIRDSONG)
(AUDIENCE CHATTER)
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
(MUSIC STARTS)
(CHEERING)
Here is a region
Of abundant details
Here is a region
That is seldom used
And here is a region
That continues living
Even when the other
Sections are removed
Put your hand
out of your pocket
Wipe the sweat
off of your brow
Now it feels like
a bad connection
No more information now
As it passes
through your neurons
Like a whisper in the dark
Raise your eyes
to one who loves you
It is safe right where you are
Here is an area
Of great confusion
Here is a section
That's extremely precise
And here is an area
That needs attention
Here's the connection
To the opposite side
Here, too many sounds
For your brain to comprehend
Here the sound gets organized
Into things that
make some sense
Here there is something
We call elucidation
Is it the truth
Or merely a description?
Here
Here
Here
Here
- (SONG ENDS)
- (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you for coming.
Thank you for... Thank
you for leaving your homes.
- (LAUGHTER)
- My name's David Byrne.
- (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
- Thank you.
I can't take any credit for that.
I had no choice in the matter.
I read something, well, kinda
surprising and amazing the other day.
I read that babies' brains
have hundreds of millions more
neural connections than we do as adults
and that as we grow up,
we lose these connections.
So I wondered to myself,
what does this mean?
Does this mean that babies
are smarter than we are
and that as we grow up,
we get stupider and stupider
until we reach a... a
plateau of stupidity?
Which is where
most of us are now.
- Well, what happens is...
- (MUSIC STARTS)
We keep the connections
that are useful to us,
and, yes, there's a process
of pruning and elimination,
and we... we get rid
of a lot of the others
until the ones that are left
define who we are as a person,
who we are as people.
They define how we
perceive the world,
and the world appears to
make some kind of sense to us.
And maybe round about that time,
we start asking ourselves
various questions like, who am I?
What do I want?
How do I work this?
(LAUGHTER)
What are those people doing
over there? Should I be doing that?
Are they looking at
me? Are they like me?
Should I go over
and talk to them?
Huh, maybe not.
Try to figure this out.
Wondering if there's... you know,
wondering if there's a logic to it.
Wondering if it's supposed
to make some kind of sense.
I know sometimes
a man is wrong
I know sometimes I do believe
I know sometimes
a man is wrong
I'll be wrong until
you're next to me
I know sometimes
the world is wrong
I know sometimes I do believe
I know sometimes
the world is wrong
And they'll be wrong
until you're next to me
They'll be wrong
until you're next to me
Oohy ooh
Oohy ooh
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
I see the clouds
that move across the sky
I see the wind that
moves the clouds away
lt moves the clouds
over by that building
I pick the building
that I want to live in
I smell the pine trees
and the peaches in the woods
I see the pinecones
that fall by the highway
That's the highway
that goes to the building
That's the building
that I want to live in
It's over there,
it's over there
My building has
every convenience
It's gonna make
life easy for me
It's gonna be easy
to get things done
I will relax alone
with my loved ones
Loved ones, loved ones
Visit the building
Take the highway, park
and come up and see me
I'll be working, working
But if you come visit,
I'll put down what I'm doing
My friends are important
Don't you worry 'bout me
I wouldn't worry about me
Don't you worry 'bout me
Don't you worry 'bout me
I see the states
across this big nation
I see the laws made
in Washington, D.C.
I think of the ones
I consider my favorites
I think of the people
that are working for me
Some civil servants
are just like my loved ones
They work so hard
and they try to be strong
I'm a lucky guy
to live in my building
They own these
buildings to help them along
It's over there,
it's over there
My building has
every convenience
It's gonna make
life easy for me
It's gonna be easy
to get things done
I will relax alone
with my loved ones
Loved ones, loved ones
Visit the building
Take the highway, park
and come up and see me
I'll be working, working
But if you come visit,
I'll put down what I'm doing
My friends are important
Don't you worry 'bout me
I wouldn't worry about me
Don't you worry 'bout me
Don't you worry 'bout me
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
Oh
I'm wicked and I'm lazy
Oh, don't you wanna save me?
I'm lazy when I'm loving
I'm lazy when I play
I'm lazy with my girlfriend
a thousand times a day
I'm lazy when I'm speaking
I'm lazy when I talk
I'm lazy when I'm dancing
and I'm lazy when I walk
I open up my mouth
Air comes rushing out
Nothing doing, nada,
never, how you like me now?
Wouldn't it be mad?
Wouldn't it be fine?
Lazy, lucky lady
dancing, loving all the time?
Oh, I'm wicked and I'm lazy
Oh, don't you want to save me?
Imagine there's a girlfriend
imagine there's a job
imagine there's an answer
imagine there's a God
imagine I'm a devil
Imagine I'm a saint
Lazy money, lazy
sexy, lazy outer space
No tears are
falling from my eyes
I'm keeping
all the pain inside
Now, don't you
want to live with me?
I'm lazy as a man can be
Oh, I'm wicked and I'm lazy
Oh, don't you want to save me?
Lazy when I work
Lazy all the day
Screaming all you like
But it only fades away
I'm lazy when I'm praying
Lazy on the job
Got a lazy mind, a
lazy eye, a lazy, lazy father
Hard men
Hard lives
Hard keeping it all inside
Good times
Good God
So lazy I almost stopped
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
Oh, I'm wicked and I'm lazy
Oh, don't you want to save me?
Oh, I'm wicked and I'm lazy
Oh, don't you want to save me?
- (SONG ENDS)
- (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
Thank you!
Thank you.
You know...
meeting people is hard,
but I know... I know
we have to do it.
These people over here,
they all met through apps.
(LAUGHTER)
Totally working for them.
These people over
here don't need apps.
They're just
supremely confident.
(AUDIENCE WHOOPS)
Well, some of them
might be bluffing.
Some of them might
be putting up a front,
but that doesn't matter
cos it's all working for them.
Meanwhile, I'm, well,
you know, observing.
Trying to figure this out.
Objectively...
Objectively, I could
never figure out why,
why looking at a person
should be any more interesting
than looking at any other thing,
like, say, a bicycle
or a beautiful sunset
or a, ooh, nice
bag of potato chips.
But, yeah, looking at
people? That's the best.
(SONG STARTS)
(CHEERING)
Home
Is where I want to be
Pick me up and turn me round
I feel numb
Born with a weak heart
Guess I must be having fun
The less we say
about it the better
Make it up as we go along
Feet on the ground
Head in the sky
It's OK
I know nothing's wrong
Nothing
Oh, I got plenty of time
Oh, you got light in your eyes
And you're
standing here beside me
I love the passing of time
Never for money
Always for love
Cover up and say good night
Say good night
(CHEERING)
Home is where I want to be
But I guess I'm already there
I come home
She lifted up her wings
I guess that this
must be the place
I can't tell one from another
Did I find you or you find me?
There was a time
Before we were born
if someone asks,
this is where I'll be
Where I'll be
Oh
We drift in and out
Oh
Sing into my mouth
Out of all those
kinds of people
You got a face with a view
I'm just an animal
looking for a home
And share the same
space for a minute or two
And you love
me till my heart stops
- (SONG STOPS SUDDENLY)
- (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
- (SONG RESUMES)
- Love me till I'm dead
Eyes that light up
Eyes look through you
Cover up the blank spots
Hit me on the head
I got... ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh
Ah-ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh
Ah-ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh
Ah-ooh
Ooh, ooh, ooh
- (SONG ENDS)
- (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
Thank you!
Thank you.
There's more.
My friend Brian Eno suggested that we
use a nonsense poem by a Dada artist
as the lyrics for this
next song, which we did.
I was familiar with a
different Dada artist,
who also wrote nonsense poetry.
His name was Kurt Schwitters,
and he recorded one of these in 1932.
It was called the "Ursonate,"
the primeval sonata.
Schwitters and some of the
others in the... this group were,
well, they were using nonsense
to make sense of a world
that didn't make sense.
To help explain a little
bit what that means,
here's a little bit
of the "Ursonate."
(SPEAKS NONSENSICAL SYLLABLES)
It goes on like
that for 40 minutes.
(LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE)
It'd be a different
kind of movie.
The world they were trying to make
sense of... Yes, it was pretty crazy.
There had recently
been an economic crash.
The Nazis were coming
to power, this is 1932,
and quite a few of the countries
they lived in were sliding into fascism.
The Dada artist Hugo Ball
said that their artistic aims
were to remind the
world that there are people
of different, independent minds
beyond war and nationalism,
who live for different ideals.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
Hugo Ball wrote the
words to this next song.
(SONG STARTS)
(CHEERING)
Gadji beri bimba glandridi
Lauli lonni cadori gad jam
A bim beri glassala glandride
E glassala
tuffm, tuffm, I zimbra
Bim blassa
glallassasa zimbrabim
Blassa glallassasa zimbrabim
A bim beri glassala grandide
E glassala
tuffm, tuffm, I zimbra
Gadji beri bimba glandridi
Lauli lonni cadori gad jam
A bim beri glassala glandrid
E glassala
tuffm, tuffm, I zimbra
(CHEERING)
- (SONG ENDS)
- (CHEERING)
Whoo!
(CHEERING CONTINUES)
(SONG STARTS)
What about the time?
You were rolling over
Fall on your face
You must be having fun
Walk lightly
Think of a time
You'd best believe
that this thing is real
Now put away that gun
This part is simple
Try to recognize
what is in your mind
God help us
Help us lose our minds
These slippery people
Help us understand,
what's the matter with him?
He's all right
- How do you know?
- The Lord won't mind
- Don't know no
games - He's all right
Love from the
bottom to the top
- Turn like a
wheel - He's all right
- See for yourself
The Lord won't mind
We're gonna move right now
Turn like a
wheel inside a wheel
I remember when
Sitting in the tub
Pulled out the plug
The water was running out
Cool down
Stop acting crazy
They're gonna leave
and we'll be on our own now
Seven times five
They were living creatures
Watch them come to
life right before your eyes
Backsliding, how do you do?
These slippery people
gonna see you through
- What's the matter with him?
- He's all right
- How do you know?
- The Lord won't mind
- Don't know no
games - He's all right
Love from the
bottom to the top
- Turn like a
wheel - He's all right
- See for yourself -
The Lord won't mind
We're gonna move right now
Turn like a
wheel inside a wheel
(CHEERING)
Bi, b-b-bi, b-bi-bi, b-bi
B-b-bi, b-b-bi, b-bi-bi, b-bi
Bi, bi, bi, bi, bi, bi, bi
B-b-bi, b-b-bi, b-bi-bi, b-bi
Bi-b-b-bi, bi-b-b-bi
B-b-b-b-b-bi, b-bi-bi, b-bi
B-b-bi, bi, bi, b-bi-bi
Bi, b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-bi
What's the matter with him?
He's all right
- How do you know?
- The Lord won't mind
- Don't know no
games - He's all right
And we're going to the top
- Turn like a
wheel - He's all right
- See for yourself -
The Lord won't mind
We're gonna move right now
Turn like a
wheel inside a wheel
- What's the matter with him?
- He's all right
- How do you know?
- The Lord won't mind
- Don't know no
games - He's all right
Love from the
bottom to the top
- Turn like a
wheel - He's all right
- See for yourself -
The Lord won't mind
We're gonna move right now
Turn like a
wheel inside a wheel
It's all right
The Lord won't mind
It's all right, love
from the bottom to the top
It's all right
The Lord won't mind
Right now turn like
a wheel inside a wheel
- (SONG ENDS)
- (WILD CHEERING)
Thank you!
Whoo!
Thank you.
In 1976, the band I was in, Talking
Heads, we got a record contract.
(CHEERING)
OK. Thank you.
It was a contract, but
not for very much money.
I spent some of my money on
a Sony Trinitron color television.
The screen was about
that big, but it was...
It was state of the
art in those days.
I must have still been a
little bit... a little bit isolated,
still trying to
figure things out,
and I had an idea
that to help with that,
I should watch more TV.
(LAUGHTER)
OK, I saw the TV as
being a kind of window,
and I would see the hopes and
dreams and aspirations and foibles
of my fellow Americans,
and I might learn something
about myself as well,
and maybe, maybe I'd get
some answers to those questions
that I was asking
myself earlier.
And I wondered to myself...
did the TV contain those
millions of lost connections...
between me and them
and them and me?
(SONG STARTS)
I used to think
that I should watch TV
I used to think
that it was good for me
Wanted to know
what folks were thinking
To understand
the land I live in
And I would lose myself
And it would set me free
This is the place
where common people go
A global franchise,
one department store
Yes, there were
many awkward moments
I had to do
some self-atonement
Well, if I opened up
Well, it would set me free
I know I like
Behold and love this giant
Big soul, big lips
That's me and I am this
Everybody gets
a touched-up hairdo
Everybody's
in the passing lane
Had a reason that
she touched all channels
The weird things
that live in there
All right, I took a walk
Down to the park today
I wrote a song called
"Just Like You and Me"
I heard the jokes
from the sports reporters
The rival teams when
they faced each other
The more I lost myself,
the more it set me free
How am I not your brother?
How are you not like me?
Everybody's in the hotel lobby
I'm living in here, yes, I am
I feel it moving in
my arms and fingers
Touch me and feel my pain
All right! It's good to lose
and it's good to win sometimes
It's good to die
and it's good to be alive
Maybe someday
we can stand together
Not afraid of what
our eyes might see
Maybe someday
understand them better
The weird things inside of me
- (SONG ENDS)
- (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
About a year ago...
(LAUGHTER)
We invited a high-school
choir in Detroit, Michigan,
to do an interpretation
of this next song.
The song's called "Everybody's
Coming to My House."
- (MAN CHEERS)
- Thank you.
And in my version, and that's
the version you're gonna hear,
it... it kinda sounds like
the singer is not sure
how he feels about everybody
coming over to his house.
And you can sense, although
he never says it in the song,
you can sense that he's thinking,
"When are they gonna leave?"
(LAUGHTER)
In contrast, their version,
and this was kind of a
profound thing for me,
they didn't change
a single lyric,
they didn't change the melody,
and yet their version has a
completely different meaning.
Their version seems
to be about welcome,
inviting everyone
over, inclusion.
I kinda liked their
version better,
and I didn't know
how they did it.
Unfortunately, I am what I am.
(LAUGHTER)
(APPLAUSE AND CHEERING)
Not sure how to
take that applause.
(CHEERING)
(CHUCKLES)
We have people from many
parts of the world in this band.
I, myself, I'm a
naturalized citizen.
I... My parents brought me over
from Scotland when I was little.
(CHEERING)
We have people from
Brazil, France, Colombia.
Most of us are immigrants, and
we couldn't do it without them.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
(SONG STARTS)
I wish I was a camera
I wish I was a postcard
I welcome you to my house
You didn't have to go far
Well, there's a
house and a garden
There are plants and trees
Make a closer inspection
If you get, get
down on your knees
Now, everybody's
coming to my house
And I'm never gonna be alone
Yeah, everybody's
coming to my house
And they're never
gonna go back home
I'm pointing and describing
And I can be your guide
The skin is just a roadmap
The view is very nice
Imagine looking at a picture
imagine driving in a car
Imagine rolling
down the window
imagine opening the door
Everybody's coming to my house
Everybody's coming to my house
I'm never gonna be alone
And they're never
gonna go back home
We're only
tourists in this life
Only tourists,
but the view is nice
And we're never
gonna go back home
No, we're never
gonna go back home
We're only
tourists in this life
Only tourists,
but the view is nice
And everybody's
coming to my house
And I'm never gonna be alone
Yeah, everybody's
coming to my house
And they're never
gonna go back home
Everybody's coming to my house
Everybody's coming to my house
I'm never gonna be alone
And they're never
gonna go back home
Everybody's coming to my house
Everybody's coming to my house
I'm never gonna be alone
And they're never
gonna go back home
- (SONG ENDS)
- (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
(CHEERING)
(SONG STARTS)
You may find yourself
Living in a shotgun shack
You may find yourself
in another part of the world
You may find yourself behind
the wheel of a large automobile
You may find yourself
in a beautiful house
With a beautiful wife
You may ask yourself
Well, how did I get here?
Letting the days go by
Let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by
Water flowing underground
Into the blue again
After the money's gone
Once in a lifetime
Water flowing underground
You may ask yourself
How do I work this?
You may ask yourself, well,
where is that large automobile?
You may tell yourself
This is not my beautiful house
You may tell yourself
This is not my beautiful wife
Letting the days go by
Let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by
Water flowing underground
Into the blue again
After the money's gone
Once in a lifetime
Water flowing underground
Same as it ever was
Same as it ever was
Same as it ever was
Same as it ever was
Same as it ever was
Same as it ever was
Same as it ever was
Same as it ever was
Water dissolving
And water removing
There is water
At the bottom of the ocean
Remove the water
Carry the water
Remove the water
From the bottom of the ocean
Letting the days go by
Let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by
Water flowing underground
Into the blue again
After the silent water
Under the rocks and stones
There is water underground
You may ask yourself
What is that beautiful house?
You may ask yourself
Well, where does
that highway lead to?
You may ask yourself
Am I right?
Am I wrong?
You may say to yourself
My God, what have I done?
Letting the days go by
Let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by
Water flowing underground
Into the blue again
After the silent water
Under the rocks and stones
There is water underground
Letting the days go by
Let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by
Water flowing underground
Into the blue again
After the money's gone
Once in a lifetime
Water flowing underground
Same as it ever was
Same as it ever was
Same as it ever was
Same as it ever was
Same as it ever was
Same as it ever was
Same as it ever was
Same as it ever was
(CHEERING)
Time isn't holding us
Time isn't after us
Time isn't holding us
Time isn't holding us
Time isn't holding us
Time isn't after us
Here comes the twister now
Here it come, here it comes
Letting the days go by
Letting the days go by
Letting the days go by
Once in a lifetime
Letting the days go by
Letting the days go by
Letting the days go by
Once in a lifetime
- (SONG ENDS)
- (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
Whoo!
Whoo!
(WILD CHEERING)
Whoo!
Thank you!
(WHISTLING)
(SLOW DRUMBEAT)
Now I'm waking
at the break of dawn
To send a little money home
From here to the moon
Is rising like a discotheque
And now my bags are down
And packed for traveling
Looking at happiness
Keeping my flavor fresh
Nobody knows, I guess
How far I'll go
I know, so I'm
leaving at six o'clock
Meet in a parking lot
Harriet Hendershot
Sunglasses on
She waits by this glass
And concrete and stone
And it's just a house
Not a home
Skin that covers
me from head to toe
Except a couple tiny holes
And openings
Where the city's
blowing in and out
And this is
what it's all about
Delightfully
Everything's possible
when you're an animal
Not inconceivable
How things can change
I know
So I'm putting on aftershave
Nothing is out of place
Gonna be on my way
Try to pretend
It's not only glass
And concrete and stone
And it's just a house
Not a home
And my head
ls 50 feet high
Let my body and my soul
Be my guide
(SINGERS VOCALIZE)
- (SONG ENDS)
- (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
Thank you.
In 2016, just before the election, I
went to Charlotte, North Carolina,
to encourage people to
register if they weren't registered,
to encourage them to
vote if they were registered.
The election was
in a couple of days.
We do something similar here.
We've partnered with an
organization called Head Count.
They have a table in the lobby.
They'll register you
instantly, instantly,
no matter what
state you're from.
We also did a thing
called a pledge.
The pledge consists of a
clipboard and a piece of paper,
and I would go up to people and
go, "Are you gonna vote tomorrow?
Will you sign this piece of paper
saying that you're gonna vote tomorrow?"
This is not a legal document.
It was just a piece of paper,
but it's been shown that when
people put their name down,
it was like they'd made
a promise to themselves,
and it increased the odds
that they would actually turn up.
The turnout for that election was
the best it had been in decades.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
Fifty-five percent of
us turned out to vote.
- (GROANS AND SUBDUED LAUGHTER)
- OK.
Local elections
are another matter.
Local elections, the
average turnout is 20 percent.
To give you a visual idea
of what 20 percent looks like,
here are 20 percent of
the people in this theater.
Here they are.
These are the ones that
vote in local elections.
The ones up top are
waving and laughing
because, well, they just decided
your future and the
future of your children.
But you guys seem
to be OK with that.
Here's another little
bit of information.
The average age of the people,
who turn out to vote in local elections,
that 20 percent,
is 57 years of age.
WOMAN: Whoo!
Oh! There we go.
Hey!
Congratulations.
OK, yeah, but 57?
Climate change, right?
- Kids, you're fucked.
- (LAUGHTER)
We gotta do better
than 20 percent, really.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
Local elections do
make a difference.
We gotta do better
than 55 percent, too.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
(SONG STARTS)
I was asked in New York City
Do you like my clothes?
I'm talking to
my tape recorder
Walking down the road
But on Friday
night I'm purified
Now my feet
don't touch the floor
When the rubber meets the road
In between my toes
Na, na, na, na
Na, na, na
Na, na, na, na
Na, na, na
Every day is fucking perfect
It's a paradise
I watch my
life like it's a movie
I had to watch it twice
Now, a boy looks at a girl
And a girl looks like a pony
She gallops all day long
In between my toes
And now every
night she's purified
She don't do
that dance no more
When the rubber meets the road
In between my toes
Na, na, na, na
Na, na, na
Na, na, na, na
Na, na, na
Na, na, na, na
Na, na, na
Na, na, na, na
Na, na, na
Na, na, na, na
Na, na, na
Na, na, na, na
Na, na, na
Na, na, na, na
Na, na, na
Na, na, na, na
Na, na, na
A member of the juju nation
Down in New Orleans
You don't need an application
If you move your feet
Explode if you poke it
Exposed on the floor
It grows if you soak it
It rolls out the door
Now it's
summertime every night
Now my feet
don't touch the floor
She don't do
that dance no more
In between my toes
And now him and you
You and I
I don't do that dance no more
When the rubber meets the road
In between my toes
Na, na, na, na
Na, na, na
Na, na, na, na
Na, na, na
Na, na, na, na
Na, na, na
Na, na, na, na
Na, na, na
(SPEAKS GIBBERISH)
The lady starts to sing
But she ain't no disco dancer
She learned to shake her thing
In between my toes
Explode if you poke it
Exposed on the floor
It grows if you soak it
It rolls out the door
Explode if you poke it
Exposed on the floor
- It grows - Na, na, na, na
- If you soak
it - Na, na, na
- It rolls - Na, na, na, na
- Out the door - Na, na, na
- (SONG ENDS)
- (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
Whoo!
Thank you!
In 2018, we toured a concert version
of this show. We played a lot of places.
We played San Antonio twice.
So a friend of mine
came to the show,
and we were talking
backstage, and he asked me,
"Are you really playing
all that music that we hear,
or do you have, you know, playback
and tracks and stuff like that?"
And I said, "I have nothing
against playback and tracks,
but in this case everything
you hear coming off the stage
is being played by
this incredible band."
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
Whoo!
I figured other people
were maybe thinking
the same thoughts as
my friend was thinking,
so I've continued
to tell this story,
but it's not enough.
Journalists and reporters, they email,
and they call my office, and they go,
"I know what he
says from the stage.
But really? Really?"
So I thought, "OK, we have
to put this matter to rest."
To do that, I'm gonna
introduce the band,
and as I do so, you're gonna hear
how the next song is put together
right in front of your ears.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
From New York City,
Daniel Freedman!
Toronto, Canada,
Jacquelene Acevedo!
Red Bank, New
Jersey, Tim Keiper!
Bahia, Brazil, Gustavo Di Dalva!
Joaaba, Brazil, Mauro Refosco!
Montpelier, France,
Stphane San Juan!
Chicago, Bobby Wooten!
Milwaukee, Angie Swan!
Palo Alto, Karl Mansfield!
Atlanta, Georgia,
Tendayi Kuumba!
Paramus, New
Jersey, Chris Giarmo!
All I want
ls to breathe
Won't you breathe
With me?
Take a look at these hands.
Take a look at these hands.
The hands speak.
The hand of a government man.
Well, I'm a tumbler.
Born under punches.
I'm so thin.
All I want
ls to breathe
Breathe with me.
Won't you breathe
With me?
Find a little space
So we move in between
In between it!
Keep one step ahead
Of yourself
Don't you miss it,
don't you miss it!
Some of you people
just about missed it.
Last time to make plans.
I'm a tumbler. I'm
a government man.
Never seen
anything like that before
What?
Falling bodies tumble
Cross the floor
I said I'm a tumbler.
When you get to
where you wanna be
Well, don't even mention it.
When you get to
where you wanna be
Thank you, thank you.
Take a look at these hands.
They were passing in between us.
Take a look at these hands.
Take a look at these hands.
You don't have to mention it.
No, thanks. No, thanks.
I'm a government man.
Goes on, the heat goes on
The heat goes on
and the heat goes on
The heat goes on
where the hand has been
And the heat goes
on and the heat goes on
- And the heat goes on
- I'm not a drowning man!
And the heat goes on
- And the heat goes on -
And I'm not a burning building.
- And the heat
goes on - I'm a tumbler.
- And the heat goes on -
Drowning cannot hurt a man.
Where the hand has been
- And the heat goes
on - Fire cannot hurt a man
- When the heat goes
on - Not the government man.
- And the heat
goes on - All I want
- ls to breathe -
And the heat goes on
And the heat goes
on and the heat goes on
Won't you breathe with me?
And the heat goes on
- Find a little space -
And the heat goes on
- So we move in between
- And the heat goes on
Keep one step ahead
Of yourself
- (SONG ENDS)
- (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
(SONG STARTS)
(PIANO MUSIC)
In another dimension
Like the clothes that you wear
A mighty, mighty battle
Sprouting illegal hair
A fitness consultant
In the negative zone
Wandering the city
Looking for a home
I dance like this
Because it feels so damn good
if I could dance better
Hey, hey!
Well, you know that I would
I'm working on my dancing
This is the best I can do
I'm tentatively shaking
You don't have to look
I can't say I'm sorry
Can't say I'm ashamed
I can't think of tomorrow
When it seems so far away
We dance like this
Yeah, boy, yeah
Because it feels so damn good
(CHIRRUPS)
If we could dance better
Hey, hey!
Well, you know that we would
(SONG STOPS SUDDENLY)
(CHEERING)
- (SONG RESUMES)
- We dance like this
Because it feels so damn good
If we could dance better
Well, you know that we would
(SONG ENDS)
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
The bullet went into him
His skin did part in two
Skin that women had touched
But the bullet went on through
The bullet went into him
It went its merry way
Like an old gray dog
On a fox's trail
The bullet went into him
His stomach filled with food
Many fine meals
he tasted there
But the bullet went on through
The bullet went into him
It went its merry way
Like an old gray dog
On a fox's trail
The bullet went into him
Through his heart
with thoughts of you
Where your kisses he inhaled
The lies and the truth
The bullet went into him
It traveled up into his head
Through thoughts
of love and hate
The living and the dead
(OVERLAPPING CHATTER)
The bullet went into him
It went its merry way
Like an old gray dog
On a fox's trail
(SONG ENDS)
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
Thank you.
As you can see, we don't
have any cables or wires
attached to us in these shows,
attaching to gear or equipment
or any of those kinds of things.
We're completely untethered.
We can go wherever
we like on the stage.
It's very liberating.
When I began to think
about the show, I realized that,
well, what we humans
like looking at the most is,
yeah, other humans.
More than a bicycle,
more than a beautiful sunset,
and probably more than
a bag of potato chips.
So I thought about the
show, and I wondered,
what if we could eliminate
everything from the stage
except the stuff we
care about the most?
What would be left?
Well, it would be us.
Us and you,
and that's what the show is.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
(SONG STARTS)
The rose is pruned
to a perfect shape
Perfect for whom, I wonder
The chicken thinks
in mysterious ways
But beauty is
not what we're after
Now, the chicken
imagines a heaven
Full of roosters
and plenty of corn
And God is a very old rooster
And eggs are
like Jesus, his son
Every day is a miracle
Every day is an unpaid bill
You've got to
sing for your supper
Love one another
A cockroach might
eat the "Mona Lisa"
The Pope don't
mean shit to a dog
And elephants
don't read newspapers
And the kiss
of a chicken is hot
The brain of a chicken
And the dick of a donkey
A pig in a blanket
And that's why you want me
What does it feel like
To be your tongue
Moving around in your mouth?
To be a flea in
the forest of your love
A cockroach in the
cosmos of your house
Every day is a miracle
Every day is an unpaid bill
You've got to
sing for your supper
Love one another
Oh
Oh
Oh
- Oh - Oh
Oh
- Oh - Every
day is a miracle
- Oh - Every
day is an unpaid bill
- You've got to sing - Oh
For your supper
- Love one another - Oh
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
- (SONG ENDS)
- (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
(SONG STARTS)
Ha
Signs
Signs are lost
Signs disappeared
Turn invisible
Got no sign
Somebody got busted
Got a face of stone
and a ghostwritten biography
You know, well,
dogs started rushing in
And they're looking for food
Dogs started rushing
and they're looking at you
It was light by five
Torn all apart all in
the name of democracy
He's hurt
He's dying
They claimed
he was a terrorist
Claimed to avert a catastrophe
Oh, well, someone should've
told him that the buck stops here
Someone should have said
He was involved with thieves
- And they're blind - Blind
- Blind - Blind
Blind, blind,
blind, blind, blind
- Blind - Blind
- Blind - Blind
Blind, blind,
blind, blind, blind
No sense of harmony
No sense of time
Don't mention harmony
Say, "What is it?
What is it? What is it?"
Give a little shock
and he raises his hand
Somebody shouts out, says,
"What is it? What is it? What is it?"
He was shot down in the night
People ride by
but his body's still alive
The girl in the window,
what has she done?
She looks down at me
and says, "I don't wanna die!"
- And they're blind - Blind
- Blind - Blind
Blind, blind,
blind, blind, blind
- Whoo, they're
blind - Blind
- Blind - Blind
Blind, blind,
blind, blind, blind
Now, someone should
have told me where to go
Crawling all around
looking for foot-foot-footprints
Now tell me what
the hell have we become?
Some dirty little bastards?
What the hell is going on?
No sense of harmony
No sense of time
Don't mention harmony
Say, "What is it?
What is it? What is it?"
Give a little shock
and he raises his hand
Somebody shouts out, says,
"What is it? What is it? What is it?"
He was shot down in the night
People ride by
but his body's still alive
Girl in the window,
what has she done?
She looks down at me
and says, "I don't wanna die!"
- And they're blind - Blind
- Blind - Blind
Blind, blind,
blind, blind, blind
- Yeah, they're
blind - Blind
- Yeah, blind - Blind
Blind, blind,
blind, blind, blind
Whoo!
(CHEERING)
Oh
Oh
Oh
(AUDIENCE CLAPS ALONG)
Oh
- (SONG ENDS)
- (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
(CHEERING)
(AUDIENCE CLAPS ALONG)
Ah, watch out
You might get
what you're after
Cool babies
Strange but not a stranger
I'm an ordinary guy
Burning down the house
Hold tight
Wait till the party's over
Hold tight
We're in for nasty weather
There has got to be a way
Burning down the house
Here's your ticket
Pack your bag, it's
time for jumping overboard
Transportation is here
Close enough but not too far
Maybe you know where you are
Fight fire with fire
Oh, all wet
Hey, you might need a raincoat
Shakedown
Dreams walking
in broad daylight
Whoo, 365 degrees
Burning down the house
It was once upon a place
Sometimes I listen to myself
Gonna come in first place
People on their way to work
said, "Baby, what did you expect?"
Gonna burst into flame
Well, go ahead.
(CHEERING)
Burning down the house
My house
Is out of the ordinary
That's right
Don't wanna hurt nobody
Some things sure
can sweep me off my feet
Burning down the house
No visible means of support
and you have not seen nothing yet
Everything's stuck together
And I don't know what you
expect staring into the TV set
Fight fire with fire
Oh
Burning down the house
Burning down the house
Burning down the house
- (SONG ENDS)
- (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
Thank you!
Thank you. The next song was written
by the actress and singer Janelle Mone.
(CHEERING)
She sang it at the Women's March
in Washington a few years ago.
I was there.
I wrote to her a
little bit afterwards
and asked what she would think
of a white man of a certain age
singing this particular song.
The reason will be
clear in a minute.
She loved the idea.
She said the song is for
everyone. That it's for humanity.
(CHEERING)
It'll be obvious the
song is a protest song.
It's also a requiem,
a requiem for lives that
have been senselessly taken.
I also see the song as
being about possibility,
the possibility of change,
not just in the imperfect
world out there,
but in myself, too.
I also need to change.
(MUSIC STARTS)
Hell you, hell you
Hell you, hell you
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
- Eric Garner.
- SINGERS: Say his name.
- Eric Garner.
- Say his name.
- Eric Garner.
- Say his name.
- Eric Garner.
- Say his name.
- Trayvon Martin.
- Say his name.
- Trayvon Martin.
- Say his name.
- Trayvon Martin.
- Say his name.
- Trayvon Martin.
- Say his name.
- Botham Jean.
- Say his name.
- Botham Jean.
- Say his name.
- Botham Jean.
- Say his name.
- Botham Jean.
- Say his name.
Say his name. Say his
name. Say his name.
Say his name. Say his
name. Say his name.
Say his name. Say his name.
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
- Freddie Gray.
- Say his name.
- Freddie Gray.
- Say his name.
- Freddie Gray.
- Say his name.
- Freddie Gray.
- Say his name.
- Atatiana Jefferson.
- Say her name.
- Atatiana Jefferson.
- Say her name.
- Atatiana Jefferson.
- Say her name.
- Atatiana Jefferson.
- Say her name.
- Sandra Bland.
- Say her name.
- Sandra Bland.
- Say her name.
- Sandra Bland.
- Say her name.
- Sandra Bland.
- Say her name.
Say her name. Say her name.
Say her name. Say her name.
Say her name. Say her
name. Say her name.
Say her name.
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
- Sean Bell.
- Say his name.
- Sean Bell.
- Say his name.
- Sean Bell.
- Say his name.
- Sean Bell.
- Say his name.
- Marielle Franco.
- Say her name.
- Marielle Franco.
- Say her name.
- Marielle Franco.
- Say her name.
- Marielle Franco.
- Say her name.
- Emmett Till.
- Say his name.
- Emmett Till.
- Say his name.
- Emmett Till.
- Say his name.
- Emmett Till.
- Say his name.
Say his name. Say his name.
Say his name. Say his name.
Say his name. Say his name.
Say his name. Say his name.
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
- Tommy Yancy.
- Say his name.
- Tommy Yancy.
- Say his name.
- Tommy Yancy.
- Say his name.
- Tommy Yancy.
- Say his name.
- Jordan Baker.
- Say his name.
- Jordan Baker.
- Say his name.
- Jordan Baker.
- Say his name.
- Jordan Baker.
- Say his name.
- Amadou Diallo.
- Say his name.
- Amadou Diallo.
- Say his name.
- Amadou Diallo.
- Say his name.
- Amadou Diallo.
- Say his name.
Say his name. Say his name.
Say his name. Say his name.
Say his name. Say his name.
Say his name. Say his name.
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
- (SONG ENDS)
- (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
Thank you.
The writer James Baldwin said,
"I still believe that we
can do with this country
something that has
not been done before."
And this, this from a man
who suffered lifelong
oppression and discrimination.
- SINGERS: Oh...
- Despite all that's happened,
and despite all
that's still happening,
I think there's
still a possibility.
We're a work in progress.
We're not fixed.
Our brains can change.
Maybe those millions of
connections in our brains
that got pruned and
eliminated when we were babies
somehow get kind
of re-established,
only now, instead
of being in our heads,
they're between
us and other people.
Who we are is
thankfully not just here,
but it extends beyond ourselves
through the connections
between all of us.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
Oh...
Saw the wandering eye
Inside my heart
Shouts and battle cries
From every part
I can see those tears
Every one is true
When the door appears
I'll go right
Through
Ooh...
In a small, dark room
Where I will wait
Face to face I find
I contemplate
Even though a man
ls made of clay
Everything can change
That one fine
One fine day
One fine day
Then before my eyes
Is standing still
I beheld it
there, a city on a hill
I complete my tasks
One by one
I remove my masks
When I am done
Then a peace
of mind fell over me
In these troubled times
I still can see
We can use the stars
To guide the way
It is not that far
That one fine
One fine day
One fine day
One fine day
Hope, oh, I have hope
- Oh - I have hope
- Oh - I have hope
- Oh - I have hope
- Oh - I have hope
- Oh - I have
Hope
- (SONG ENDS)
- (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
Whoo! Thank you!
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
Whoo-hoo!
Thank you! Thank you!
Whoo!
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
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
And we're not little children
And we know what we want
And the future is certain
Give us time to work it out
(BAND STARTS)
(AUDIENCE CLAPS ALONG)
We're on a road to nowhere
Come on inside
Taking that ride to nowhere
We'll take that ride
I'm feeling OK this morning
And you know
We're on the road to paradise
Here we go
Here we go
We're on a road 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
Whoo! Whoo!
We're on a road to nowhere
Ha! Ha!
We're on a road to nowhere
Whoo! Whoo!
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 faraway
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
this song and it's all right
Baby, it's all right
Don't let them
tell you what to do
Cos 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 faraway
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
this song and it's all right
Baby, it's all right
Don't let them
tell you what to do
They'll make a fool
of you and it's all right
Baby, it's all right
We're on a road to nowhere
Yee-ha!
We're on a road to nowhere
You better believe it, baby!
We're on a road to nowhere
Everybody, now, move about!
We're on a road to nowhere
Yeah! Yeah!
We're on a road to nowhere
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!
We're on a road to nowhere
Whee-ha! Whee-ha!
We're on a road to nowhere
Whoo!
We're on a road to nowhere
Hup, hup, hup,
hup, hup, hup, hup!
We're on a road to nowhere
Come on!
We're on a road to nowhere
(SINGS GIBBERISH)
We're on a road to nowhere
Hey! Hey!
Hey! Hey!
We're on a road to nowhere
Yeah
We're on a road to nowhere
Hey! Hey! Hey!
Hey!
We're on a road to nowhere
Yee-ha!
We're on a road to nowhere
You better believe it, baby!
We're on a road to nowhere
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
Whoo!
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
Whoo!
(CHEERING)
- Oh, my God. You OK?
- Yeah.
- Nice job with that balloon!
- Yeah, right?
Yeah. Whoo!
- Whoo!
- Whoo!
Ah!
- Oh, my God.
- Oh, my God.
- Whoo!
- Oh, my God.
That was the shit right there.
That was the shit
right there. That was it.
That's my boy! That's how you
do it! That's how you do it. Man!
- We need a hype man.
- Now we're home free.
- That's right. World star.
- Now we're home free.
- Thank you, David.
- Oh, thank you.
- That's what I'm talking about.
- That's it right there.
(INDISTINCT SINGING)
(CHEERING)
I wish I was a camera
I wish I was a postcard
I welcome you to my house
You didn't have to go far
A house and a garden
There's plants and trees
Make a
A closer inspection
If you get
Down to your knees
Everybody's coming to my house
And we're never gonna be alone
And everybody's
coming to my house
And we're never gonna go
Back home
I'm pointing and describing
I can be your guide
The skin is just a roadmap
The view is very nice
Imagine looking at a picture
imagine driving in a car
Imagine rolling
down the window
imagine opening the door
Everybody's coming to my house
Everybody's coming to my house
I'm never gonna be alone
And we're never
gonna go back home
We're only
tourists in this life
Only tourists,
but the view is nice
And we're never gonna be alone
And we're never
gonna go back home
(BICYCLE BELL RINGS)
We're only
tourists in this life
Only tourists,
but the view is nice
And we're never gonna be alone
And we're never
gonna go back home
Everybody's coming to my house
Everybody's coming to my house
I'm never gonna be alone
And we're never
gonna go back home
Everybody's coming to my house
Everybody's coming to my house
We're never gonna be alone
And we're never
gonna go back home
- Whoo!
- Yeah.
Ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay!
WOMAN: Oh, wait.
(BIRDSONG)
(BIRDSONG)
(AUDIENCE CHATTER)
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
(MUSIC STARTS)
(CHEERING)
Here is a region
Of abundant details
Here is a region
That is seldom used
And here is a region
That continues living
Even when the other
Sections are removed
Put your hand
out of your pocket
Wipe the sweat
off of your brow
Now it feels like
a bad connection
No more information now
As it passes
through your neurons
Like a whisper in the dark
Raise your eyes
to one who loves you
It is safe right where you are
Here is an area
Of great confusion
Here is a section
That's extremely precise
And here is an area
That needs attention
Here's the connection
To the opposite side
Here, too many sounds
For your brain to comprehend
Here the sound gets organized
Into things that
make some sense
Here there is something
We call elucidation
Is it the truth
Or merely a description?
Here
Here
Here
Here
- (SONG ENDS)
- (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you for coming.
Thank you for... Thank
you for leaving your homes.
- (LAUGHTER)
- My name's David Byrne.
- (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
- Thank you.
I can't take any credit for that.
I had no choice in the matter.
I read something, well, kinda
surprising and amazing the other day.
I read that babies' brains
have hundreds of millions more
neural connections than we do as adults
and that as we grow up,
we lose these connections.
So I wondered to myself,
what does this mean?
Does this mean that babies
are smarter than we are
and that as we grow up,
we get stupider and stupider
until we reach a... a
plateau of stupidity?
Which is where
most of us are now.
- Well, what happens is...
- (MUSIC STARTS)
We keep the connections
that are useful to us,
and, yes, there's a process
of pruning and elimination,
and we... we get rid
of a lot of the others
until the ones that are left
define who we are as a person,
who we are as people.
They define how we
perceive the world,
and the world appears to
make some kind of sense to us.
And maybe round about that time,
we start asking ourselves
various questions like, who am I?
What do I want?
How do I work this?
(LAUGHTER)
What are those people doing
over there? Should I be doing that?
Are they looking at
me? Are they like me?
Should I go over
and talk to them?
Huh, maybe not.
Try to figure this out.
Wondering if there's... you know,
wondering if there's a logic to it.
Wondering if it's supposed
to make some kind of sense.
I know sometimes
a man is wrong
I know sometimes I do believe
I know sometimes
a man is wrong
I'll be wrong until
you're next to me
I know sometimes
the world is wrong
I know sometimes I do believe
I know sometimes
the world is wrong
And they'll be wrong
until you're next to me
They'll be wrong
until you're next to me
Oohy ooh
Oohy ooh
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
I see the clouds
that move across the sky
I see the wind that
moves the clouds away
lt moves the clouds
over by that building
I pick the building
that I want to live in
I smell the pine trees
and the peaches in the woods
I see the pinecones
that fall by the highway
That's the highway
that goes to the building
That's the building
that I want to live in
It's over there,
it's over there
My building has
every convenience
It's gonna make
life easy for me
It's gonna be easy
to get things done
I will relax alone
with my loved ones
Loved ones, loved ones
Visit the building
Take the highway, park
and come up and see me
I'll be working, working
But if you come visit,
I'll put down what I'm doing
My friends are important
Don't you worry 'bout me
I wouldn't worry about me
Don't you worry 'bout me
Don't you worry 'bout me
I see the states
across this big nation
I see the laws made
in Washington, D.C.
I think of the ones
I consider my favorites
I think of the people
that are working for me
Some civil servants
are just like my loved ones
They work so hard
and they try to be strong
I'm a lucky guy
to live in my building
They own these
buildings to help them along
It's over there,
it's over there
My building has
every convenience
It's gonna make
life easy for me
It's gonna be easy
to get things done
I will relax alone
with my loved ones
Loved ones, loved ones
Visit the building
Take the highway, park
and come up and see me
I'll be working, working
But if you come visit,
I'll put down what I'm doing
My friends are important
Don't you worry 'bout me
I wouldn't worry about me
Don't you worry 'bout me
Don't you worry 'bout me
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
Oh
I'm wicked and I'm lazy
Oh, don't you wanna save me?
I'm lazy when I'm loving
I'm lazy when I play
I'm lazy with my girlfriend
a thousand times a day
I'm lazy when I'm speaking
I'm lazy when I talk
I'm lazy when I'm dancing
and I'm lazy when I walk
I open up my mouth
Air comes rushing out
Nothing doing, nada,
never, how you like me now?
Wouldn't it be mad?
Wouldn't it be fine?
Lazy, lucky lady
dancing, loving all the time?
Oh, I'm wicked and I'm lazy
Oh, don't you want to save me?
Imagine there's a girlfriend
imagine there's a job
imagine there's an answer
imagine there's a God
imagine I'm a devil
Imagine I'm a saint
Lazy money, lazy
sexy, lazy outer space
No tears are
falling from my eyes
I'm keeping
all the pain inside
Now, don't you
want to live with me?
I'm lazy as a man can be
Oh, I'm wicked and I'm lazy
Oh, don't you want to save me?
Lazy when I work
Lazy all the day
Screaming all you like
But it only fades away
I'm lazy when I'm praying
Lazy on the job
Got a lazy mind, a
lazy eye, a lazy, lazy father
Hard men
Hard lives
Hard keeping it all inside
Good times
Good God
So lazy I almost stopped
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
Oh, I'm wicked and I'm lazy
Oh, don't you want to save me?
Oh, I'm wicked and I'm lazy
Oh, don't you want to save me?
- (SONG ENDS)
- (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
Thank you!
Thank you.
You know...
meeting people is hard,
but I know... I know
we have to do it.
These people over here,
they all met through apps.
(LAUGHTER)
Totally working for them.
These people over
here don't need apps.
They're just
supremely confident.
(AUDIENCE WHOOPS)
Well, some of them
might be bluffing.
Some of them might
be putting up a front,
but that doesn't matter
cos it's all working for them.
Meanwhile, I'm, well,
you know, observing.
Trying to figure this out.
Objectively...
Objectively, I could
never figure out why,
why looking at a person
should be any more interesting
than looking at any other thing,
like, say, a bicycle
or a beautiful sunset
or a, ooh, nice
bag of potato chips.
But, yeah, looking at
people? That's the best.
(SONG STARTS)
(CHEERING)
Home
Is where I want to be
Pick me up and turn me round
I feel numb
Born with a weak heart
Guess I must be having fun
The less we say
about it the better
Make it up as we go along
Feet on the ground
Head in the sky
It's OK
I know nothing's wrong
Nothing
Oh, I got plenty of time
Oh, you got light in your eyes
And you're
standing here beside me
I love the passing of time
Never for money
Always for love
Cover up and say good night
Say good night
(CHEERING)
Home is where I want to be
But I guess I'm already there
I come home
She lifted up her wings
I guess that this
must be the place
I can't tell one from another
Did I find you or you find me?
There was a time
Before we were born
if someone asks,
this is where I'll be
Where I'll be
Oh
We drift in and out
Oh
Sing into my mouth
Out of all those
kinds of people
You got a face with a view
I'm just an animal
looking for a home
And share the same
space for a minute or two
And you love
me till my heart stops
- (SONG STOPS SUDDENLY)
- (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
- (SONG RESUMES)
- Love me till I'm dead
Eyes that light up
Eyes look through you
Cover up the blank spots
Hit me on the head
I got... ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh
Ah-ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh
Ah-ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh
Ah-ooh
Ooh, ooh, ooh
- (SONG ENDS)
- (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
Thank you!
Thank you.
There's more.
My friend Brian Eno suggested that we
use a nonsense poem by a Dada artist
as the lyrics for this
next song, which we did.
I was familiar with a
different Dada artist,
who also wrote nonsense poetry.
His name was Kurt Schwitters,
and he recorded one of these in 1932.
It was called the "Ursonate,"
the primeval sonata.
Schwitters and some of the
others in the... this group were,
well, they were using nonsense
to make sense of a world
that didn't make sense.
To help explain a little
bit what that means,
here's a little bit
of the "Ursonate."
(SPEAKS NONSENSICAL SYLLABLES)
It goes on like
that for 40 minutes.
(LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE)
It'd be a different
kind of movie.
The world they were trying to make
sense of... Yes, it was pretty crazy.
There had recently
been an economic crash.
The Nazis were coming
to power, this is 1932,
and quite a few of the countries
they lived in were sliding into fascism.
The Dada artist Hugo Ball
said that their artistic aims
were to remind the
world that there are people
of different, independent minds
beyond war and nationalism,
who live for different ideals.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
Hugo Ball wrote the
words to this next song.
(SONG STARTS)
(CHEERING)
Gadji beri bimba glandridi
Lauli lonni cadori gad jam
A bim beri glassala glandride
E glassala
tuffm, tuffm, I zimbra
Bim blassa
glallassasa zimbrabim
Blassa glallassasa zimbrabim
A bim beri glassala grandide
E glassala
tuffm, tuffm, I zimbra
Gadji beri bimba glandridi
Lauli lonni cadori gad jam
A bim beri glassala glandrid
E glassala
tuffm, tuffm, I zimbra
(CHEERING)
- (SONG ENDS)
- (CHEERING)
Whoo!
(CHEERING CONTINUES)
(SONG STARTS)
What about the time?
You were rolling over
Fall on your face
You must be having fun
Walk lightly
Think of a time
You'd best believe
that this thing is real
Now put away that gun
This part is simple
Try to recognize
what is in your mind
God help us
Help us lose our minds
These slippery people
Help us understand,
what's the matter with him?
He's all right
- How do you know?
- The Lord won't mind
- Don't know no
games - He's all right
Love from the
bottom to the top
- Turn like a
wheel - He's all right
- See for yourself
The Lord won't mind
We're gonna move right now
Turn like a
wheel inside a wheel
I remember when
Sitting in the tub
Pulled out the plug
The water was running out
Cool down
Stop acting crazy
They're gonna leave
and we'll be on our own now
Seven times five
They were living creatures
Watch them come to
life right before your eyes
Backsliding, how do you do?
These slippery people
gonna see you through
- What's the matter with him?
- He's all right
- How do you know?
- The Lord won't mind
- Don't know no
games - He's all right
Love from the
bottom to the top
- Turn like a
wheel - He's all right
- See for yourself -
The Lord won't mind
We're gonna move right now
Turn like a
wheel inside a wheel
(CHEERING)
Bi, b-b-bi, b-bi-bi, b-bi
B-b-bi, b-b-bi, b-bi-bi, b-bi
Bi, bi, bi, bi, bi, bi, bi
B-b-bi, b-b-bi, b-bi-bi, b-bi
Bi-b-b-bi, bi-b-b-bi
B-b-b-b-b-bi, b-bi-bi, b-bi
B-b-bi, bi, bi, b-bi-bi
Bi, b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-bi
What's the matter with him?
He's all right
- How do you know?
- The Lord won't mind
- Don't know no
games - He's all right
And we're going to the top
- Turn like a
wheel - He's all right
- See for yourself -
The Lord won't mind
We're gonna move right now
Turn like a
wheel inside a wheel
- What's the matter with him?
- He's all right
- How do you know?
- The Lord won't mind
- Don't know no
games - He's all right
Love from the
bottom to the top
- Turn like a
wheel - He's all right
- See for yourself -
The Lord won't mind
We're gonna move right now
Turn like a
wheel inside a wheel
It's all right
The Lord won't mind
It's all right, love
from the bottom to the top
It's all right
The Lord won't mind
Right now turn like
a wheel inside a wheel
- (SONG ENDS)
- (WILD CHEERING)
Thank you!
Whoo!
Thank you.
In 1976, the band I was in, Talking
Heads, we got a record contract.
(CHEERING)
OK. Thank you.
It was a contract, but
not for very much money.
I spent some of my money on
a Sony Trinitron color television.
The screen was about
that big, but it was...
It was state of the
art in those days.
I must have still been a
little bit... a little bit isolated,
still trying to
figure things out,
and I had an idea
that to help with that,
I should watch more TV.
(LAUGHTER)
OK, I saw the TV as
being a kind of window,
and I would see the hopes and
dreams and aspirations and foibles
of my fellow Americans,
and I might learn something
about myself as well,
and maybe, maybe I'd get
some answers to those questions
that I was asking
myself earlier.
And I wondered to myself...
did the TV contain those
millions of lost connections...
between me and them
and them and me?
(SONG STARTS)
I used to think
that I should watch TV
I used to think
that it was good for me
Wanted to know
what folks were thinking
To understand
the land I live in
And I would lose myself
And it would set me free
This is the place
where common people go
A global franchise,
one department store
Yes, there were
many awkward moments
I had to do
some self-atonement
Well, if I opened up
Well, it would set me free
I know I like
Behold and love this giant
Big soul, big lips
That's me and I am this
Everybody gets
a touched-up hairdo
Everybody's
in the passing lane
Had a reason that
she touched all channels
The weird things
that live in there
All right, I took a walk
Down to the park today
I wrote a song called
"Just Like You and Me"
I heard the jokes
from the sports reporters
The rival teams when
they faced each other
The more I lost myself,
the more it set me free
How am I not your brother?
How are you not like me?
Everybody's in the hotel lobby
I'm living in here, yes, I am
I feel it moving in
my arms and fingers
Touch me and feel my pain
All right! It's good to lose
and it's good to win sometimes
It's good to die
and it's good to be alive
Maybe someday
we can stand together
Not afraid of what
our eyes might see
Maybe someday
understand them better
The weird things inside of me
- (SONG ENDS)
- (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
About a year ago...
(LAUGHTER)
We invited a high-school
choir in Detroit, Michigan,
to do an interpretation
of this next song.
The song's called "Everybody's
Coming to My House."
- (MAN CHEERS)
- Thank you.
And in my version, and that's
the version you're gonna hear,
it... it kinda sounds like
the singer is not sure
how he feels about everybody
coming over to his house.
And you can sense, although
he never says it in the song,
you can sense that he's thinking,
"When are they gonna leave?"
(LAUGHTER)
In contrast, their version,
and this was kind of a
profound thing for me,
they didn't change
a single lyric,
they didn't change the melody,
and yet their version has a
completely different meaning.
Their version seems
to be about welcome,
inviting everyone
over, inclusion.
I kinda liked their
version better,
and I didn't know
how they did it.
Unfortunately, I am what I am.
(LAUGHTER)
(APPLAUSE AND CHEERING)
Not sure how to
take that applause.
(CHEERING)
(CHUCKLES)
We have people from many
parts of the world in this band.
I, myself, I'm a
naturalized citizen.
I... My parents brought me over
from Scotland when I was little.
(CHEERING)
We have people from
Brazil, France, Colombia.
Most of us are immigrants, and
we couldn't do it without them.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
(SONG STARTS)
I wish I was a camera
I wish I was a postcard
I welcome you to my house
You didn't have to go far
Well, there's a
house and a garden
There are plants and trees
Make a closer inspection
If you get, get
down on your knees
Now, everybody's
coming to my house
And I'm never gonna be alone
Yeah, everybody's
coming to my house
And they're never
gonna go back home
I'm pointing and describing
And I can be your guide
The skin is just a roadmap
The view is very nice
Imagine looking at a picture
imagine driving in a car
Imagine rolling
down the window
imagine opening the door
Everybody's coming to my house
Everybody's coming to my house
I'm never gonna be alone
And they're never
gonna go back home
We're only
tourists in this life
Only tourists,
but the view is nice
And we're never
gonna go back home
No, we're never
gonna go back home
We're only
tourists in this life
Only tourists,
but the view is nice
And everybody's
coming to my house
And I'm never gonna be alone
Yeah, everybody's
coming to my house
And they're never
gonna go back home
Everybody's coming to my house
Everybody's coming to my house
I'm never gonna be alone
And they're never
gonna go back home
Everybody's coming to my house
Everybody's coming to my house
I'm never gonna be alone
And they're never
gonna go back home
- (SONG ENDS)
- (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
(CHEERING)
(SONG STARTS)
You may find yourself
Living in a shotgun shack
You may find yourself
in another part of the world
You may find yourself behind
the wheel of a large automobile
You may find yourself
in a beautiful house
With a beautiful wife
You may ask yourself
Well, how did I get here?
Letting the days go by
Let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by
Water flowing underground
Into the blue again
After the money's gone
Once in a lifetime
Water flowing underground
You may ask yourself
How do I work this?
You may ask yourself, well,
where is that large automobile?
You may tell yourself
This is not my beautiful house
You may tell yourself
This is not my beautiful wife
Letting the days go by
Let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by
Water flowing underground
Into the blue again
After the money's gone
Once in a lifetime
Water flowing underground
Same as it ever was
Same as it ever was
Same as it ever was
Same as it ever was
Same as it ever was
Same as it ever was
Same as it ever was
Same as it ever was
Water dissolving
And water removing
There is water
At the bottom of the ocean
Remove the water
Carry the water
Remove the water
From the bottom of the ocean
Letting the days go by
Let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by
Water flowing underground
Into the blue again
After the silent water
Under the rocks and stones
There is water underground
You may ask yourself
What is that beautiful house?
You may ask yourself
Well, where does
that highway lead to?
You may ask yourself
Am I right?
Am I wrong?
You may say to yourself
My God, what have I done?
Letting the days go by
Let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by
Water flowing underground
Into the blue again
After the silent water
Under the rocks and stones
There is water underground
Letting the days go by
Let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by
Water flowing underground
Into the blue again
After the money's gone
Once in a lifetime
Water flowing underground
Same as it ever was
Same as it ever was
Same as it ever was
Same as it ever was
Same as it ever was
Same as it ever was
Same as it ever was
Same as it ever was
(CHEERING)
Time isn't holding us
Time isn't after us
Time isn't holding us
Time isn't holding us
Time isn't holding us
Time isn't after us
Here comes the twister now
Here it come, here it comes
Letting the days go by
Letting the days go by
Letting the days go by
Once in a lifetime
Letting the days go by
Letting the days go by
Letting the days go by
Once in a lifetime
- (SONG ENDS)
- (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
Whoo!
Whoo!
(WILD CHEERING)
Whoo!
Thank you!
(WHISTLING)
(SLOW DRUMBEAT)
Now I'm waking
at the break of dawn
To send a little money home
From here to the moon
Is rising like a discotheque
And now my bags are down
And packed for traveling
Looking at happiness
Keeping my flavor fresh
Nobody knows, I guess
How far I'll go
I know, so I'm
leaving at six o'clock
Meet in a parking lot
Harriet Hendershot
Sunglasses on
She waits by this glass
And concrete and stone
And it's just a house
Not a home
Skin that covers
me from head to toe
Except a couple tiny holes
And openings
Where the city's
blowing in and out
And this is
what it's all about
Delightfully
Everything's possible
when you're an animal
Not inconceivable
How things can change
I know
So I'm putting on aftershave
Nothing is out of place
Gonna be on my way
Try to pretend
It's not only glass
And concrete and stone
And it's just a house
Not a home
And my head
ls 50 feet high
Let my body and my soul
Be my guide
(SINGERS VOCALIZE)
- (SONG ENDS)
- (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
Thank you.
In 2016, just before the election, I
went to Charlotte, North Carolina,
to encourage people to
register if they weren't registered,
to encourage them to
vote if they were registered.
The election was
in a couple of days.
We do something similar here.
We've partnered with an
organization called Head Count.
They have a table in the lobby.
They'll register you
instantly, instantly,
no matter what
state you're from.
We also did a thing
called a pledge.
The pledge consists of a
clipboard and a piece of paper,
and I would go up to people and
go, "Are you gonna vote tomorrow?
Will you sign this piece of paper
saying that you're gonna vote tomorrow?"
This is not a legal document.
It was just a piece of paper,
but it's been shown that when
people put their name down,
it was like they'd made
a promise to themselves,
and it increased the odds
that they would actually turn up.
The turnout for that election was
the best it had been in decades.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
Fifty-five percent of
us turned out to vote.
- (GROANS AND SUBDUED LAUGHTER)
- OK.
Local elections
are another matter.
Local elections, the
average turnout is 20 percent.
To give you a visual idea
of what 20 percent looks like,
here are 20 percent of
the people in this theater.
Here they are.
These are the ones that
vote in local elections.
The ones up top are
waving and laughing
because, well, they just decided
your future and the
future of your children.
But you guys seem
to be OK with that.
Here's another little
bit of information.
The average age of the people,
who turn out to vote in local elections,
that 20 percent,
is 57 years of age.
WOMAN: Whoo!
Oh! There we go.
Hey!
Congratulations.
OK, yeah, but 57?
Climate change, right?
- Kids, you're fucked.
- (LAUGHTER)
We gotta do better
than 20 percent, really.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
Local elections do
make a difference.
We gotta do better
than 55 percent, too.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
(SONG STARTS)
I was asked in New York City
Do you like my clothes?
I'm talking to
my tape recorder
Walking down the road
But on Friday
night I'm purified
Now my feet
don't touch the floor
When the rubber meets the road
In between my toes
Na, na, na, na
Na, na, na
Na, na, na, na
Na, na, na
Every day is fucking perfect
It's a paradise
I watch my
life like it's a movie
I had to watch it twice
Now, a boy looks at a girl
And a girl looks like a pony
She gallops all day long
In between my toes
And now every
night she's purified
She don't do
that dance no more
When the rubber meets the road
In between my toes
Na, na, na, na
Na, na, na
Na, na, na, na
Na, na, na
Na, na, na, na
Na, na, na
Na, na, na, na
Na, na, na
Na, na, na, na
Na, na, na
Na, na, na, na
Na, na, na
Na, na, na, na
Na, na, na
Na, na, na, na
Na, na, na
A member of the juju nation
Down in New Orleans
You don't need an application
If you move your feet
Explode if you poke it
Exposed on the floor
It grows if you soak it
It rolls out the door
Now it's
summertime every night
Now my feet
don't touch the floor
She don't do
that dance no more
In between my toes
And now him and you
You and I
I don't do that dance no more
When the rubber meets the road
In between my toes
Na, na, na, na
Na, na, na
Na, na, na, na
Na, na, na
Na, na, na, na
Na, na, na
Na, na, na, na
Na, na, na
(SPEAKS GIBBERISH)
The lady starts to sing
But she ain't no disco dancer
She learned to shake her thing
In between my toes
Explode if you poke it
Exposed on the floor
It grows if you soak it
It rolls out the door
Explode if you poke it
Exposed on the floor
- It grows - Na, na, na, na
- If you soak
it - Na, na, na
- It rolls - Na, na, na, na
- Out the door - Na, na, na
- (SONG ENDS)
- (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
Whoo!
Thank you!
In 2018, we toured a concert version
of this show. We played a lot of places.
We played San Antonio twice.
So a friend of mine
came to the show,
and we were talking
backstage, and he asked me,
"Are you really playing
all that music that we hear,
or do you have, you know, playback
and tracks and stuff like that?"
And I said, "I have nothing
against playback and tracks,
but in this case everything
you hear coming off the stage
is being played by
this incredible band."
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
Whoo!
I figured other people
were maybe thinking
the same thoughts as
my friend was thinking,
so I've continued
to tell this story,
but it's not enough.
Journalists and reporters, they email,
and they call my office, and they go,
"I know what he
says from the stage.
But really? Really?"
So I thought, "OK, we have
to put this matter to rest."
To do that, I'm gonna
introduce the band,
and as I do so, you're gonna hear
how the next song is put together
right in front of your ears.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
From New York City,
Daniel Freedman!
Toronto, Canada,
Jacquelene Acevedo!
Red Bank, New
Jersey, Tim Keiper!
Bahia, Brazil, Gustavo Di Dalva!
Joaaba, Brazil, Mauro Refosco!
Montpelier, France,
Stphane San Juan!
Chicago, Bobby Wooten!
Milwaukee, Angie Swan!
Palo Alto, Karl Mansfield!
Atlanta, Georgia,
Tendayi Kuumba!
Paramus, New
Jersey, Chris Giarmo!
All I want
ls to breathe
Won't you breathe
With me?
Take a look at these hands.
Take a look at these hands.
The hands speak.
The hand of a government man.
Well, I'm a tumbler.
Born under punches.
I'm so thin.
All I want
ls to breathe
Breathe with me.
Won't you breathe
With me?
Find a little space
So we move in between
In between it!
Keep one step ahead
Of yourself
Don't you miss it,
don't you miss it!
Some of you people
just about missed it.
Last time to make plans.
I'm a tumbler. I'm
a government man.
Never seen
anything like that before
What?
Falling bodies tumble
Cross the floor
I said I'm a tumbler.
When you get to
where you wanna be
Well, don't even mention it.
When you get to
where you wanna be
Thank you, thank you.
Take a look at these hands.
They were passing in between us.
Take a look at these hands.
Take a look at these hands.
You don't have to mention it.
No, thanks. No, thanks.
I'm a government man.
Goes on, the heat goes on
The heat goes on
and the heat goes on
The heat goes on
where the hand has been
And the heat goes
on and the heat goes on
- And the heat goes on
- I'm not a drowning man!
And the heat goes on
- And the heat goes on -
And I'm not a burning building.
- And the heat
goes on - I'm a tumbler.
- And the heat goes on -
Drowning cannot hurt a man.
Where the hand has been
- And the heat goes
on - Fire cannot hurt a man
- When the heat goes
on - Not the government man.
- And the heat
goes on - All I want
- ls to breathe -
And the heat goes on
And the heat goes
on and the heat goes on
Won't you breathe with me?
And the heat goes on
- Find a little space -
And the heat goes on
- So we move in between
- And the heat goes on
Keep one step ahead
Of yourself
- (SONG ENDS)
- (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
(SONG STARTS)
(PIANO MUSIC)
In another dimension
Like the clothes that you wear
A mighty, mighty battle
Sprouting illegal hair
A fitness consultant
In the negative zone
Wandering the city
Looking for a home
I dance like this
Because it feels so damn good
if I could dance better
Hey, hey!
Well, you know that I would
I'm working on my dancing
This is the best I can do
I'm tentatively shaking
You don't have to look
I can't say I'm sorry
Can't say I'm ashamed
I can't think of tomorrow
When it seems so far away
We dance like this
Yeah, boy, yeah
Because it feels so damn good
(CHIRRUPS)
If we could dance better
Hey, hey!
Well, you know that we would
(SONG STOPS SUDDENLY)
(CHEERING)
- (SONG RESUMES)
- We dance like this
Because it feels so damn good
If we could dance better
Well, you know that we would
(SONG ENDS)
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
The bullet went into him
His skin did part in two
Skin that women had touched
But the bullet went on through
The bullet went into him
It went its merry way
Like an old gray dog
On a fox's trail
The bullet went into him
His stomach filled with food
Many fine meals
he tasted there
But the bullet went on through
The bullet went into him
It went its merry way
Like an old gray dog
On a fox's trail
The bullet went into him
Through his heart
with thoughts of you
Where your kisses he inhaled
The lies and the truth
The bullet went into him
It traveled up into his head
Through thoughts
of love and hate
The living and the dead
(OVERLAPPING CHATTER)
The bullet went into him
It went its merry way
Like an old gray dog
On a fox's trail
(SONG ENDS)
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
Thank you.
As you can see, we don't
have any cables or wires
attached to us in these shows,
attaching to gear or equipment
or any of those kinds of things.
We're completely untethered.
We can go wherever
we like on the stage.
It's very liberating.
When I began to think
about the show, I realized that,
well, what we humans
like looking at the most is,
yeah, other humans.
More than a bicycle,
more than a beautiful sunset,
and probably more than
a bag of potato chips.
So I thought about the
show, and I wondered,
what if we could eliminate
everything from the stage
except the stuff we
care about the most?
What would be left?
Well, it would be us.
Us and you,
and that's what the show is.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
(SONG STARTS)
The rose is pruned
to a perfect shape
Perfect for whom, I wonder
The chicken thinks
in mysterious ways
But beauty is
not what we're after
Now, the chicken
imagines a heaven
Full of roosters
and plenty of corn
And God is a very old rooster
And eggs are
like Jesus, his son
Every day is a miracle
Every day is an unpaid bill
You've got to
sing for your supper
Love one another
A cockroach might
eat the "Mona Lisa"
The Pope don't
mean shit to a dog
And elephants
don't read newspapers
And the kiss
of a chicken is hot
The brain of a chicken
And the dick of a donkey
A pig in a blanket
And that's why you want me
What does it feel like
To be your tongue
Moving around in your mouth?
To be a flea in
the forest of your love
A cockroach in the
cosmos of your house
Every day is a miracle
Every day is an unpaid bill
You've got to
sing for your supper
Love one another
Oh
Oh
Oh
- Oh - Oh
Oh
- Oh - Every
day is a miracle
- Oh - Every
day is an unpaid bill
- You've got to sing - Oh
For your supper
- Love one another - Oh
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
- (SONG ENDS)
- (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
(SONG STARTS)
Ha
Signs
Signs are lost
Signs disappeared
Turn invisible
Got no sign
Somebody got busted
Got a face of stone
and a ghostwritten biography
You know, well,
dogs started rushing in
And they're looking for food
Dogs started rushing
and they're looking at you
It was light by five
Torn all apart all in
the name of democracy
He's hurt
He's dying
They claimed
he was a terrorist
Claimed to avert a catastrophe
Oh, well, someone should've
told him that the buck stops here
Someone should have said
He was involved with thieves
- And they're blind - Blind
- Blind - Blind
Blind, blind,
blind, blind, blind
- Blind - Blind
- Blind - Blind
Blind, blind,
blind, blind, blind
No sense of harmony
No sense of time
Don't mention harmony
Say, "What is it?
What is it? What is it?"
Give a little shock
and he raises his hand
Somebody shouts out, says,
"What is it? What is it? What is it?"
He was shot down in the night
People ride by
but his body's still alive
The girl in the window,
what has she done?
She looks down at me
and says, "I don't wanna die!"
- And they're blind - Blind
- Blind - Blind
Blind, blind,
blind, blind, blind
- Whoo, they're
blind - Blind
- Blind - Blind
Blind, blind,
blind, blind, blind
Now, someone should
have told me where to go
Crawling all around
looking for foot-foot-footprints
Now tell me what
the hell have we become?
Some dirty little bastards?
What the hell is going on?
No sense of harmony
No sense of time
Don't mention harmony
Say, "What is it?
What is it? What is it?"
Give a little shock
and he raises his hand
Somebody shouts out, says,
"What is it? What is it? What is it?"
He was shot down in the night
People ride by
but his body's still alive
Girl in the window,
what has she done?
She looks down at me
and says, "I don't wanna die!"
- And they're blind - Blind
- Blind - Blind
Blind, blind,
blind, blind, blind
- Yeah, they're
blind - Blind
- Yeah, blind - Blind
Blind, blind,
blind, blind, blind
Whoo!
(CHEERING)
Oh
Oh
Oh
(AUDIENCE CLAPS ALONG)
Oh
- (SONG ENDS)
- (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
(CHEERING)
(AUDIENCE CLAPS ALONG)
Ah, watch out
You might get
what you're after
Cool babies
Strange but not a stranger
I'm an ordinary guy
Burning down the house
Hold tight
Wait till the party's over
Hold tight
We're in for nasty weather
There has got to be a way
Burning down the house
Here's your ticket
Pack your bag, it's
time for jumping overboard
Transportation is here
Close enough but not too far
Maybe you know where you are
Fight fire with fire
Oh, all wet
Hey, you might need a raincoat
Shakedown
Dreams walking
in broad daylight
Whoo, 365 degrees
Burning down the house
It was once upon a place
Sometimes I listen to myself
Gonna come in first place
People on their way to work
said, "Baby, what did you expect?"
Gonna burst into flame
Well, go ahead.
(CHEERING)
Burning down the house
My house
Is out of the ordinary
That's right
Don't wanna hurt nobody
Some things sure
can sweep me off my feet
Burning down the house
No visible means of support
and you have not seen nothing yet
Everything's stuck together
And I don't know what you
expect staring into the TV set
Fight fire with fire
Oh
Burning down the house
Burning down the house
Burning down the house
- (SONG ENDS)
- (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
Thank you!
Thank you. The next song was written
by the actress and singer Janelle Mone.
(CHEERING)
She sang it at the Women's March
in Washington a few years ago.
I was there.
I wrote to her a
little bit afterwards
and asked what she would think
of a white man of a certain age
singing this particular song.
The reason will be
clear in a minute.
She loved the idea.
She said the song is for
everyone. That it's for humanity.
(CHEERING)
It'll be obvious the
song is a protest song.
It's also a requiem,
a requiem for lives that
have been senselessly taken.
I also see the song as
being about possibility,
the possibility of change,
not just in the imperfect
world out there,
but in myself, too.
I also need to change.
(MUSIC STARTS)
Hell you, hell you
Hell you, hell you
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
- Eric Garner.
- SINGERS: Say his name.
- Eric Garner.
- Say his name.
- Eric Garner.
- Say his name.
- Eric Garner.
- Say his name.
- Trayvon Martin.
- Say his name.
- Trayvon Martin.
- Say his name.
- Trayvon Martin.
- Say his name.
- Trayvon Martin.
- Say his name.
- Botham Jean.
- Say his name.
- Botham Jean.
- Say his name.
- Botham Jean.
- Say his name.
- Botham Jean.
- Say his name.
Say his name. Say his
name. Say his name.
Say his name. Say his
name. Say his name.
Say his name. Say his name.
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
- Freddie Gray.
- Say his name.
- Freddie Gray.
- Say his name.
- Freddie Gray.
- Say his name.
- Freddie Gray.
- Say his name.
- Atatiana Jefferson.
- Say her name.
- Atatiana Jefferson.
- Say her name.
- Atatiana Jefferson.
- Say her name.
- Atatiana Jefferson.
- Say her name.
- Sandra Bland.
- Say her name.
- Sandra Bland.
- Say her name.
- Sandra Bland.
- Say her name.
- Sandra Bland.
- Say her name.
Say her name. Say her name.
Say her name. Say her name.
Say her name. Say her
name. Say her name.
Say her name.
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
- Sean Bell.
- Say his name.
- Sean Bell.
- Say his name.
- Sean Bell.
- Say his name.
- Sean Bell.
- Say his name.
- Marielle Franco.
- Say her name.
- Marielle Franco.
- Say her name.
- Marielle Franco.
- Say her name.
- Marielle Franco.
- Say her name.
- Emmett Till.
- Say his name.
- Emmett Till.
- Say his name.
- Emmett Till.
- Say his name.
- Emmett Till.
- Say his name.
Say his name. Say his name.
Say his name. Say his name.
Say his name. Say his name.
Say his name. Say his name.
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
- Tommy Yancy.
- Say his name.
- Tommy Yancy.
- Say his name.
- Tommy Yancy.
- Say his name.
- Tommy Yancy.
- Say his name.
- Jordan Baker.
- Say his name.
- Jordan Baker.
- Say his name.
- Jordan Baker.
- Say his name.
- Jordan Baker.
- Say his name.
- Amadou Diallo.
- Say his name.
- Amadou Diallo.
- Say his name.
- Amadou Diallo.
- Say his name.
- Amadou Diallo.
- Say his name.
Say his name. Say his name.
Say his name. Say his name.
Say his name. Say his name.
Say his name. Say his name.
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
Hell you talmbout
- (SONG ENDS)
- (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
Thank you.
The writer James Baldwin said,
"I still believe that we
can do with this country
something that has
not been done before."
And this, this from a man
who suffered lifelong
oppression and discrimination.
- SINGERS: Oh...
- Despite all that's happened,
and despite all
that's still happening,
I think there's
still a possibility.
We're a work in progress.
We're not fixed.
Our brains can change.
Maybe those millions of
connections in our brains
that got pruned and
eliminated when we were babies
somehow get kind
of re-established,
only now, instead
of being in our heads,
they're between
us and other people.
Who we are is
thankfully not just here,
but it extends beyond ourselves
through the connections
between all of us.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
Oh...
Saw the wandering eye
Inside my heart
Shouts and battle cries
From every part
I can see those tears
Every one is true
When the door appears
I'll go right
Through
Ooh...
In a small, dark room
Where I will wait
Face to face I find
I contemplate
Even though a man
ls made of clay
Everything can change
That one fine
One fine day
One fine day
Then before my eyes
Is standing still
I beheld it
there, a city on a hill
I complete my tasks
One by one
I remove my masks
When I am done
Then a peace
of mind fell over me
In these troubled times
I still can see
We can use the stars
To guide the way
It is not that far
That one fine
One fine day
One fine day
One fine day
Hope, oh, I have hope
- Oh - I have hope
- Oh - I have hope
- Oh - I have hope
- Oh - I have hope
- Oh - I have
Hope
- (SONG ENDS)
- (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
Whoo! Thank you!
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
Whoo-hoo!
Thank you! Thank you!
Whoo!
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
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
And we're not little children
And we know what we want
And the future is certain
Give us time to work it out
(BAND STARTS)
(AUDIENCE CLAPS ALONG)
We're on a road to nowhere
Come on inside
Taking that ride to nowhere
We'll take that ride
I'm feeling OK this morning
And you know
We're on the road to paradise
Here we go
Here we go
We're on a road 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
Whoo! Whoo!
We're on a road to nowhere
Ha! Ha!
We're on a road to nowhere
Whoo! Whoo!
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 faraway
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
this song and it's all right
Baby, it's all right
Don't let them
tell you what to do
Cos 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 faraway
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
this song and it's all right
Baby, it's all right
Don't let them
tell you what to do
They'll make a fool
of you and it's all right
Baby, it's all right
We're on a road to nowhere
Yee-ha!
We're on a road to nowhere
You better believe it, baby!
We're on a road to nowhere
Everybody, now, move about!
We're on a road to nowhere
Yeah! Yeah!
We're on a road to nowhere
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!
We're on a road to nowhere
Whee-ha! Whee-ha!
We're on a road to nowhere
Whoo!
We're on a road to nowhere
Hup, hup, hup,
hup, hup, hup, hup!
We're on a road to nowhere
Come on!
We're on a road to nowhere
(SINGS GIBBERISH)
We're on a road to nowhere
Hey! Hey!
Hey! Hey!
We're on a road to nowhere
Yeah
We're on a road to nowhere
Hey! Hey! Hey!
Hey!
We're on a road to nowhere
Yee-ha!
We're on a road to nowhere
You better believe it, baby!
We're on a road to nowhere
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
Whoo!
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
Whoo!
(CHEERING)
- Oh, my God. You OK?
- Yeah.
- Nice job with that balloon!
- Yeah, right?
Yeah. Whoo!
- Whoo!
- Whoo!
Ah!
- Oh, my God.
- Oh, my God.
- Whoo!
- Oh, my God.
That was the shit right there.
That was the shit
right there. That was it.
That's my boy! That's how you
do it! That's how you do it. Man!
- We need a hype man.
- Now we're home free.
- That's right. World star.
- Now we're home free.
- Thank you, David.
- Oh, thank you.
- That's what I'm talking about.
- That's it right there.
(INDISTINCT SINGING)
(CHEERING)
I wish I was a camera
I wish I was a postcard
I welcome you to my house
You didn't have to go far
A house and a garden
There's plants and trees
Make a
A closer inspection
If you get
Down to your knees
Everybody's coming to my house
And we're never gonna be alone
And everybody's
coming to my house
And we're never gonna go
Back home
I'm pointing and describing
I can be your guide
The skin is just a roadmap
The view is very nice
Imagine looking at a picture
imagine driving in a car
Imagine rolling
down the window
imagine opening the door
Everybody's coming to my house
Everybody's coming to my house
I'm never gonna be alone
And we're never
gonna go back home
We're only
tourists in this life
Only tourists,
but the view is nice
And we're never gonna be alone
And we're never
gonna go back home
(BICYCLE BELL RINGS)
We're only
tourists in this life
Only tourists,
but the view is nice
And we're never gonna be alone
And we're never
gonna go back home
Everybody's coming to my house
Everybody's coming to my house
I'm never gonna be alone
And we're never
gonna go back home
Everybody's coming to my house
Everybody's coming to my house
We're never gonna be alone
And we're never
gonna go back home
- Whoo!
- Yeah.
Ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay!
WOMAN: Oh, wait.
(BIRDSONG)