Best Talking Heads Songs

The Top Ten
1 Once in a Lifetime

You may find yourself on a top 10 Talking Heads website. You may think yourself a little confused with the results, and you may ask yourself, "Why is 'Once in a Lifetime' not number one?" You may tell yourself, "Well, maybe I should vote for it!"

Yesterday, I was inspecting a wide field of steel reinforcement, away from the 68-year-old project superintendent, waiting to hear my verdict. I (also 68) cracked up when I realized he was over there reciting (not singing) the lyrics to this great song!

Life is good.

What can you say about such a cool song? It's an absolute jam, and it's so inventive. Classic Talking Heads.

2 Psycho Killer

I used to like Once in a Lifetime better, but now I personally can enjoy this song more for hours.

I don't know why everyone prefers Once in a Lifetime better. I think this is their best song!

This one is definitely one of their catchiest and best songs.

3 Burning Down the House

Best song to scream out loud to! Both the recorded version and Stop Making Sense live version are amazing in their own way.

Probably the best of their songs to listen to with a group.

4 This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)

This is my favorite song of all time. It's rare to see David Byrne put so much emotion into a song, and here it creates something beautiful. It's simple and sweet and makes me happy.

Isn't as groovy as some of the others, but has a genuinely heartfelt quality that they'd never achieved up till this point.

I typically don't associate Talking Heads with beautiful love songs. This is the big exception.

5 Life During Wartime

Just the best song. It builds and builds, then finishes in a great crescendo. I can't get sick of listening to it.

David Byrne's voice, Jerry Harrison on percussion, Steve Scales, and all the backup... Stop Making Sense... Just the best of Talking Heads!

If you don't love the version on Stop Making Sense, you're just a horrible person, and I don't want to have anything to do with you.

What a song. Studio version is great, live version is great. It's in rarified air in its ability to capture a moment in time.

6 Wild Wild Life

Got some wild, wild life! Just an incredibly happy song that's fun to sing along to!

My personal favorite Talking Heads song!

7 Born Under Punches

Definitely their most unsettling song, and I love it.

Who could do this except David Byrne? Brilliant!

This is the grooviest and best thing they've ever done. Should be higher.

8 Thank You for Sending Me An Angel

Their best opening track from their best album. Sheer nonsensical beats and riffs coming together to form something amazing, all exemplified in this song.

9 And She Was

I love the music, and the lyrics are fantastic as well!

10 The Great Curve

"The world has a way of looking at people, sometimes it feels like the world is wrong." Some of the lyrics in this are just so powerful. With those instrumentals, this makes one crazy good song.

Sounds like a whole orchestra. Everything fits together so well. You always hear something for the first time when you listen to it again. Comparable to TFF's "Shout."

The Contenders
11 Found a Job
12 Take Me to the River
13 Cities
14 Houses in Motion
15 Road to Nowhere

Impossible! This song should be at least in the top 3. Any self-respecting Talking Heads fan should know that.

I like the singing near the end. "There's a city in my mind..." That was my favorite part of any Talking Heads song.

The most contagious of all TH songs. It could be listened to over and over again.

16 Memories Can't Wait
17 Crosseyed and Painless

Listen to the Stop Making Sense version. It's such a jam and so much fun to listen to.

Too many great songs to pick. Today I pick this one!

18 Stay Up Late
19 (Nothing But) Flowers

Should be higher in my opinion. Once in a Lifetime shouldn't be number one.

20 Girlfriend is Better

"I got a girlfriend with bows in her hair, nothing is better than that. Is it?" Listen to the Stop Making Sense version. It's so much fun. Top 5 of their songs easy.

Way too low. I especially love the Stop Making Sense version.

This definitely deserves to be higher.

21 No Compassion

I think this one's the best on the album, even better than "Psycho Killer." The transition through different sounds makes it just like a mini progressive rock song.

I love the transitions in this song. It almost makes it feel like he's arguing with himself about whether he should be more caring or not.

22 Uh-Oh, Love Comes to Town
23 I Zimbra
24 Artists Only

From humble and mad beginnings, the song branches out into a superb guitar fade-out.

25 Making Flippy Floppy

Second only to Moon Rocks on Speaking in Tongues. Mad and brilliant.

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