ORIGINAL
PRESS CLIPPINGS

DAVID BYRNE'S KNEE PLAYS MAY NOT MAKE SENSE,
BUT IT'S NOT NONSENSE

If Byrne sticks to traditional forms in the music, his inventiveness is exhibited in the decidedly modern spoken narration. Much of it is elusive and obscure — as is the rest of "The CIVIL warS" — but his distinctive sense of humor comes through on a few pieces.

Take the final track, "In the Future," in which Byrne makes some unusual predictions: "In the future people with boring jobs will take pills to relieve the boredom; In the future everyone but the wealthy will be very happy; In the future everyone but the wealthy will be very filthy; In the future everyone but the wealthy will be very healthy."

Byrne views himself more as an interpreter of modern culture than a creator.

"I don't sort of credit myself most of the time," he says when asked about his witty, clever compositions. "It's more like I've discovered this combination of words or discovered something that's really funny."

That quality of synthesis is evident in Byrne's other work. Byrne the artist — he is one of few mainstream rock figures with a legitimate claim to that title — makes collages from materials he finds around him. In the case of "My Life in the Bush of Ghosts," the medium is sound; Byrne's future film project, "True Stories," is based on assorted stories in tabloid newspapers.

It's no coincidence that Talking Heads commissioned Robert Rauschenberg, the artist known for his assemblages of the debris of modern civilization, to create a special edition album jacket for "Speaking in Tongues."

But for all of Byrne's lofty, intellectual pursuits, he remains surprisingly simple, genuine, even friendly. There is almost a naiveté in the quiet way he sits and answers questions and a convincing enthusiasm in his discussion of his diverse creative career.

He chuckles a little when asked whether he believes people take him too seriously because of his experimental, highly creative work.

"This assumption that I don't have any fun, that I'm serious all the time or that I'm too smart for my own good, I don't feel that's true. Anyhow, it (the assertion that Byrne is humorless) doesn't happen as much as it used to," he says.

Byrne certainly lightened up his image in the recent Talking Heads concert film, "Stop Making Sense." The songwriter, who first attracted attention for a song called "Psycho Killer," spent part of the film cavorting around stage wearing a hilarious, oversized suit.

Maybe he had that big suit in mind when he admitted to enjoying his own work.

"When it works, I think it's pretty cute," he says, cracking a rare smile. "I think I'm pretty cute, pretty funny sometimes."