Every Talking Heads Song Was About Vampires: 50 Lyrics That Definitively Prove That David Byrne Was Hunting The Undead By Night During The 1980s
David Byrne, a successful musician, composer, producer, filmmaker, and artist, is most notably known as the singer and primary songwriter for Talking Heads — one of the most influential and groundbreaking musical groups to come out of the 1980s. Curiously, however, David Byrne’s potential greatest contribution to modern society has yet to be publicly acknowledged in any official capacity. I am speaking, of course, about his career as a vampire hunter. After conducting extensive research over the past hour and forty-five minutes, I am prepared to argue not only that David Byrne was a vampire hunter, but also that every Talking Heads song is about vampires. The following are fifty lyrics I have compiled that strongly support this theory.
1. “I’m tense and nervous and I can’t relax” (Psycho Killer, 77)
In “Psycho Killer” — frequently cited as the first song Talking Heads wrote together — David Byrne makes a direct reference to the inexorable sense of paranoia inherent to his vampire hunting lifestyle, suggesting that he may have been aware of the undead as early as the mid-1970s.
2. “His skin is the same as yours / Is he not made the same as you? / And some have fallen down / And blood spilled on the ground” (Cool Water, Naked)
The 1988 Talking Heads album, Naked, may be the most deeply affecting album about vampire hunting of all time. Throughout the album, Byrne examines the ethics of slaying vampires and even begins to question what separates him from the creatures he hunts.
3. “Time won’t change you” (Mind, Fear of Music)
Vampires are immortal — ageless and unmarred by the relentless passage of time.
4. “I will fight” (The Good Thing, More Songs About Buildings and Food)
He will fight the vampires.
5. “Your glassy eyes and your open mouth” (Warning Sign, More Songs About Buildings and Food)
In this entirely unambiguous line, Byrne vividly recreates an image he has almost certainly directly encountered: the face of the undead.
6. “Gonna burst into flames” (Burning Down The House, Speaking in Tongues)
Vampires’ vulnerability to sunlight routinely results in disintegration or spontaneous nonhuman combustion.
7. “Never for money” (This Must Be The Place, Speaking in Tongues)
This line is an explicit reference to the Vampire Hunters’ Code of Ethics that was secretly signed into law at the Second Geneva Convention. The code — known only to those who are intimately familiar with vampire hunting tradition — directly states that a hunter must never accept payment for the noble service they provide.
8. “They were living creatures / Watch them come to life / Right before your eyes” (Slippery People, Speaking in Tongues)
Few mortals have witnessed the creation of a new vampire and lived to tell the tale, but it is possible that David Byrne is one of those few.
9. “That word does not exist in any language / It will never be uttered by a human mouth” (Give Me Back My Name, Little Creatures)
Clearly, Byrne is hinting at the fabled ancient vampiric language, said to contain words too powerful to be spoken or even heard by a mortal being.
10. “Sleep in the daytime” (Cities, Fear of Music)
Vampires sleep — often in coffins — during the day in order to avoid their bodies disintegrating in the sunlight.
11. “All that blood / They’re gonna swallow you whole” (Swamp, Speaking in Tongues)
This line employs hyperbole — vampires’ jaws do not have the capacity to swallow someone whole — to emphasize the terror that the undead are capable of.
12. “Take a walk through the land of shadows” (Memories Can’t Wait, Fear of Music)
Here David Byrne explicitly mentions The Land of Shadows, the dark realm typically thought to contain the damned souls of vampires killed by hunters.
13. “You may tell yourself: This is not my beautiful wife!” (Once in a Lifetime, Remain in Light)
It is no secret to a knowledgeable vampire hunter that many vampires are able to change their form at will. You never know when you may find yourself saying, “This is not my beautiful wife; it is a shape-shifting vampire!”
14. “Faces pressed against the window” (Making Flippy Floppy, Speaking in Tongues)
This line is a subtle allusion to vampires’ helplessness in the face of doors. The undead, of course, are unable to enter a home without an invitation. In “Making Flippy Floppy”, Byrne mocks this particular weakness by creating a scenario in which vampires, denied an invitation to enter a home, are forced to watch its inhabitants from the windows.
15. “Something sweet and sticky / Running down my hand” (Popsicle, Sand in the Vaseline)
It goes without saying that the lyrics of this Speaking in Tongues outtake are not about an actual popsicle. Instead, the “sweet and sticky” substance described here is, of course, blood that the narrator is cleverly employing to lure in his unsuspecting vampire target.
16. “We’ve been here forever / Before you were born” (Creatures of Love, Little Creatures)
The undead are ancient creatures who show no signs of aging; David Byrne has probably encountered vampires who were centuries old.
17. “See in the dark” (Animals, Fear of Music)
Vampires have superior darkvision, meaning that within a sphere of 120 feet, they can see in dim light as if it were bright light and darkness as if it were dim light, and can discern color in darkness. They also have a natural armor class of 16.
18. “Run run run run run run run away” (Psycho Killer, 77)
David Byrne expertly conjures up the image of a vampire’s fleeing victim.
19. “My chest is aching / It burns like a furnace” (Life During Wartime, Fear of Music)
One of the most common ways to kill a vampire is a stake through the heart.
20. “There will come a knockin’ at the door” (Lifetime Piling Up, Sand in the Vaseline)
Another obvious reference to the fact that a vampire can not enter a home unless invited inside.
21. “I’ve met the people that you read about in books” (Uh Oh, Love Comes to Town, 77)
Could this line be implying that David Byrne has come face to face with Dracula himself? Its certainly possible. More likely, however, he is simply referring to the prominence of vampires in folklore and pop culture.
22. “Heard of some grave sites out by the highway” (Life During Wartime, Fear of Music)
It is common knowledge that vampires enjoy hanging out in graveyards.
23. “Lifting my head / Looking for the danger signs” (Crosseyed and Painless, Remain in Light)
He is constantly on the lookout, watching for signs of undead activity.
24. “Turn invisible” (Blind, Naked)
In “Blind” Byrne makes a direct reference to the fact that vampires can, of course, turn invisible.
25. “And if to Hell we’re going / I’ll see you there” (Ruby Dear, Naked)
The narrator here is a vampire hunter who, upon realizing he has won a fight, delivers an extremely cool one liner.
26. “I cast a shadow on the living room wall/Dark and savage with a profile so sharp” (Pulled Up, 77)
In typical David Byrne fashion, there are multiple layers of meaning found within this line. It would be easy to assume that in mentioning this “dark and savage” character, he is switching viewpoints and speaking from the perspective of the undead. Notice, however, that the previous line mentions casting a shadow — something vampires are unable to do. Who, then, is casting the aforementioned shadow? Is it Byrne himself, or is he perhaps imagining who his undead prey may have been in life? In “Pulled Up”, the narrator leaves the listener wondering just how different the vampire and the hunter truly are.
27. “Well, the lady don’t mind / No, no, no, the lady don’t mind” (The Lady Don’t Mind, Little Creatures)
This line is most likely meant to convey that “the lady” doesn’t mind Byrne’s unusual and mysterious lifestyle choice. Furthermore, by revealing that the aforementioned lady doesn’t mind, Byrne may be alluding to the fact that vampire hunter has been consistently voted among the world’s sexiest professions, ranking in at number four — following cowboy, doctor, and vampire — on the United Nations’ official list three years in a row during the 1980s.
28. “See him drink” (Stay Up Late, Little Creatures)
Vampires must drink human blood to sustain themselves.
29. “Softly he glides along the streets and alleys” (Listening Wind, Remain in Light)
This is what vampires do. Picture Antonio Banderas in Interview With The Vampire.
30. “Somebody said there’s too much light / Pull down the shade and it’s alright” (Drugs, Fear of Music)
The narrator in “Drugs” observes this unusual reaction to sunlight and suspects he may be in the presence of an undead being.
31. “I’m taking off my clothes” (Popsicle, Sand in the Vaseline)
Vampire hunting is a messy profession, and it is not unusual for a hunter to find themselves with blood on their clothing. In these scenarios, it is usually best to remove and wash the clothing right away, in order to prevent stains, which is indisputably what David Byrne is suggesting here.
32. “She is only partly human” (The Great Curve, Remain in Light)
Part human, part dead, all vampire.
33. “I’ll walk in circles ‘round you” (Thank You For Sending Me An Angel, More Songs About Buildings and Food)
He walks in circles around his vampire prey, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
34. “I’m still thinking / Thinking about my friends” (New Feeling, 77)
In “New Feeling”, Byrne reveals the true selflessness behind his choice to pursue the sometimes isolating life of a vampire hunter. Deep down, he simply wants to protect his friends from the curse of deathless eternity.
35. “Look over there!” (Cities, Fear of Music)
A warning that there is a vampire over there.
36. “Who, who, who is it? / Who, who, who is it? / Who, who who is it? / Who, who, who is it? / Who, who, who is it? / Who, who, who is it? / Who, who, who is it? / What is it? / What is it? / What is it? / What is it?” (Who Is It?, 77)
In an evocative recollection of his first encounter with a vampire, David Byrne recounts the questions that ran through his mind.
37. “I sleep in the daytime / I work in the nighttime / I might not ever get home” (Life During Wartime, Fear of Music)
In possibly their most direct reference to his vampire hunting lifestyle, Talking Heads tell us that Byrne sleeps during the day and works at night — constantly aware that any night of hunting has the potential to be his last.
38. “Expose yourself out there for a minute / Some rays pass right through” (Paper, Fear of Music)
If a vampire were to take this advice and expose themselves to the sun, its rays would destroy them within moments.
39. “You’ll say to yourself: What is happening to my skin?” (Air, Fear of Music)
A vampire asks himself, “what is happening to my skin?” before presumably realizing that his skin is disintegrating because he is standing in direct sunlight.
40. “Gradually his face would change its shape / A more hooked nose / Wider, thinner lips / Beady eyes / A larger forehead” (Seen and Not Seen, Remain in Light)
An accurate portrayal of the transformation from human to vampire.
41. “Never get to say much, never get to talk / Tell us a little bit, but not too much” (Houses in Motion, Remain in Light)
In “Houses in Motion”, Byrne struggles with the secrecy involved in his chosen profession.
42. “Kill the beast / Kill it!” (Making Flippy Floppy, Speaking in Tongues)
A vampire hunter kills vampires.
43. “Its a dangerous life” (Sax and Violins, Naked)
In keeping with the rest of Naked, Byrne is no longer simply focused on the logistics of vampire hunting. Instead, he laments the dangerous lifestyle that he has chosen.
44. “Believe, believe in mystery” (Uh Oh, Love Comes To Town, 77)
Learning to accept one’s fate as a slayer of the undead often means learning to embrace the mysterious and the unknown.
45. “Put away that gun” (Slippery People, Speaking in Tongues)
An ordinary gun would be useless against a vampire…
46. “Now I am the gun” (Puzzlin’ Evidence, True Stories)
…but a skilled vampire hunter wouldn’t be!
47. “ Every night when the sun goes down / And the people are staying at home” (Hey Now, True Stories)
In “Hey Now”, David Byrne reminds his listeners that every night while they are sound asleep in their homes, he is out, roaming the streets, keeping them safe.
48. “I feel numb, born with a weak heart” (This Must Be The Place, Speaking in Tongues)
This bittersweet line is written from the perspective of a vampire in its final moments. This imagined vampire, defeated by their biggest weakness (a stake through the heart) begins to feel numb (no longer plagued by an unyielding thirst for blood).
49. “And everything is real / Do I like the way I feel?” (Television Man, Little Creatures)
Talking Heads deliver a poignant acknowledgement of the deep uncertainty that stems from living with the knowledge that the undead are real and walk among us.
50. “What is a man? / What are we working for?” (In Asking Land, Once in a Lifetime)
In this outtake from the 1988 album Naked, released in 2003 as a bonus track on the Once in a Lifetime box set, it is apparent that David Byrne was beginning to grow weary of his vampire hunting lifestyle. He questions what his purpose is. He asks: What is a man? What distinguishes man from vampire? And what happens when the line between the two begins to blur? We can only hope he found the answers he was looking for.
