Line #67 Music/TrueStories


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/talking_heads_true_stories.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:''"Love is here, c'mon and try it! I got love for sale!"'']]
3	[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click to see the cover for the 2018 soundtrack album.]]\
4	https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/talking_heads_true_stories_a_film_by_david_byrne_the_complete_soundtrack.jpg[[/labelnote]]]]
5
6	->''"This is not the soundtrack to the movie,'' Film/TrueStories. ''Rather, this album contains Talking Heads' versions of songs from the film. In the movie, which I directed, most of the songs are sung by the actors, [[ExactWords and will be available on separate recordings.]] Additionally, the musical score to'' True Stories ''is available on Creator/SireRecords, Cassettes, and Compact Discs. Thanks, this was fun."''
7	-->-- '''Music/DavidByrne''' in the Talking Heads album's liner notes, explaining the complicated situation behind it.
8
9	''True Stories'' is the seventh album by American AlternativeRock band Music/TalkingHeads, released in 1986 through Creator/SireRecords in North America and Creator/{{EMI}} internationally. Despite having the same name as [[Film/TrueStories the film]] released that same year, which Talking Heads frontman David Byrne both directed and starred in, and despite the fact that every song on the album is featured in the film, it is not a true soundtrack album. Only three of its songs ("Wild Wild Life" "Love For Sale", and "City of Dreams", in film order) were used as-is in the movie; the rest were re-recorded by a variety of other artists for use in the film.
10
11	The album exists solely from ExecutiveMeddling; despite Byrne's objections, Creator/WarnerBros (who distributed the ''True Stories'' film and owned Creator/SireRecords, onto whom Talking Heads were signed in the US and Canada[[note]]by this time, they'd signed to Creator/{{EMI}} in the rest of the world[[/note]]) demanded that Talking Heads record their own versions of the lyrical songs from the movie so as to capitalize on its potential box office sales. The incidental songs from the film were concurrently compiled on a soundtrack album titled ''Sounds from True Stories'', released solely on LP and cassette and with no reissues past the original 1986 release. A proper ''True Stories'' soundtrack album wouldn't be put out for roughly 32 years, with ''True Stories, A Film by David Byrne: The Complete Soundtrack'' releasing alongside and as part of Creator/TheCriterionCollection[='s=] Blu-ray release of the film.
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13	Regarding the Talking Heads album, ''True Stories'' continues the shift away from the eccentric PostPunk that defined the band's 1977-1983 output, a change in sound that had been instigated by the previous album, ''Music/LittleCreatures''. Doing away with the latter's CountryMusic influences (save for the penultimate track, "People Like Us"), the album presents the most mainstream-friendly album that Talking Heads ever put out, though still retaining the quirkiness from the band's prior output. At the same time however, the album also hints at the fascination with Latin music and culture displayed in Talking Heads' next and final album, ''Music/{{Naked}}'', as well as Byrne's solo albums ''Music/ReiMomo'' and ''[[Music/UhOhDavidByrneAlbum Uh-Oh]]''. With the use of GratuitousSpanish in "Papa Legba" and the Tejano influences visible in "Hey Now" and "Radio Head", the album preludes to the more expansive exploration of Latin rhythms and instrumentation that Byrne would implement throughout the turn of the decade. Thus, ''True Stories'' can be thought of as a transitional album, sitting between the country-influenced pop rock of ''Little Creatures'' and the ''Music/RemainInLight''-esque blend of PostPunk & NewWaveMusic with Latin funk throughout ''Naked''.
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15	''True Stories'' was supported by four singles: "Wild Wild Life", "Love For Sale", "Hey Now" (released only in Australia and New Zealand), and "Radio Head". "Puzzlin' Evidence" was also released as a promotional single in the US.
16
17	!!'''1986 Talking Heads album tracklist:'''
18
19	[[AC:Side One]]
20	# "Love for Sale" (4:30)
21	# "Puzzlin' Evidence" (5:23)
22	# "Hey Now" (3:42)
23	# "Papa Legba" (5:54)
24
25	[[AC:Side Two]]
26	# "Wild Wild Life" (3:39)
27	# "Radio Head" (3:14)
28	# "Dream Operator" (4:39)
29	# "People Like Us" (4:26)
30	# "City of Dreams" (5:06)
31
32	[[AC:CD-Exclusive Bonus Track]]
33	# "Wild Wild Life (Extended Mix)" (5:30)
34
35	!!'''2018 film soundtrack tracklist:'''
36	!!!LP One
37	[[AC:Side A]]
38	# "Road Song" (3:19)
39	# "Freeway Son" (3:05)
40	# "Disco Hits!" (2:03)
41	# "Cocktail Desparado" (3:00)
42	# "Wild Wild Life" (3:40)
43	# "City of Steel" (3:34)
44
45	[[AC:Side B]]
46	# "Mall Muzak" (5:33)
47	# "Dream Operator (Featuring Annie [=McEnroe=])" (4:18)
48	# "Love Theme from ''True Stories''" (1:28)
49	# "Brownie's Theme" (2:26)
50	# "Dinner Music" (3:32)
51	# "Puzzlin' Evidence" (3:55)
52
53	!!!LP Two
54	[[AC:Side C]]
55	# "Glass Operator" (2:31)
56	# "Hey Now" (3:57)
57	# "I ❤ Metal Buildings" (1:39)
58	# "Love for Sale" (4:31)
59	# "Soy de Tejas" (2:45)
60	# "Buster's Theme" (2:35)
61
62	[[AC:Side D]]
63	# "Festa Para Um Rei Negro" (2:19)
64	# "Radio Head (Featuring Esteban Jordan and Tito Larriva)" (3:49)
65	# "Papa Legba (Featuring Pops Staples)" (5:07)
66	# "People Like Us (Featuring Creator/JohnGoodman)" (4:28)
67	# "City of Dreams" (5:08)
68
69	[-Note: CD releases are on a single disc.-]
70
71	!!''Peace of mind? It's a piece of tropes!''
72	* AlternateAlbumCover: Cassette releases feature a revised version of the front cover that includes both the band name and album title in rectangular bars on the front, with the colors of the text and background swapped around (namely, "Talking" and "True" are in white text against a red backdrop, while "Heads" and "Stories" are in black text against a white backdrop). A modified version of this is also used for international CD releases by Creator/{{EMI}}; Creator/SireRecords' US [=CDs=], meanwhile, stick with the LP cover.
73	* BrokenRecord: David Byrne repeats "love" several times near the end of "Love For Sale".
74	* CallBack: The music video for "Wild Wild Life" features a shot of the janitor trying out some very David Byrne-in-''Film/StopMakingSense''-style dance movies.
75	* CardiovascularLove: "I ❤ Metal Buildings" in the 2018 soundtrack album; also crosses over with LuckyCharmsTitle.
76	* ColonCancer: The full title of the 2018 soundtrack album is "''True Stories: A Film by David Byrne: The Complete Soundtrack''."
77	* ConspiracyTheorist: "Puzzlin' Evidence" plays off of the idea of a church preacher believing in every possible conspiracy he can think of regarding mass media and commercialism, as portrayed in the film.
78	* CoveredInGunge: The music video for "Love for Sale" features the band being coated in chocolate before being individually wrapped and sold as confectioneries. Tina seems to get the most of it, even acting as a chocolate bar model at one point.
79	* CoversAlwaysLie: The back of the North American CD release by Creator/SireRecords features a stock disclaimer stating that the album was recorded on analog equipment and that any problems with the sound quality are carried over from the source tape. However, the album was actually recorded with digital equipment, one of two Talking Heads albums to be made this way (alongside its follow-up, ''Music/{{Naked}}''). Meanwhile, the concurrent international CD by Creator/{{EMI}} correctly sports a SPARS code of DDD (i.e. digitally recorded, digitally mixed, and digitally mastered) on its own back cover.
80	* EpicRocking: The Talking Heads version of "Puzzlin' Evidence" just barely falls short of the 6-minute mark.
81	* FloatingHeadSyndrome: Creator/JohnGoodman's disembodied upside-down head on the 2018 soundtrack album, also doubling as the cover for the film's Blu-ray. Interestingly, the angle of the shot and the fact that it's vertically inverted makes Goodman's portrait closely resemble David Byrne at first glance.
82	* GenreRoulette: The album shifts between ProtoPunk, children's songs, pop, country, easy listening, and Tejano, among others, with pop rock being the glue holding everything together.
83	* GeorgeLucasAlteredVersion: The Talking Heads album existed as this for the actual film soundtrack for more than three decades.
84	* GratuitousPanning: The Talking Heads version of "Papa Legba" makes frequent use of this, among other things opening with a high-pitches, mechanical whirring moving between the left and right audio channels.
85	* GratuitousSpanish: "Papa Legba" features the phrase "rompiendo la monotonia del tiempo," Spanish for "breaking the monotony of time," in one of its two different choruses. Oddly, the phrase doesn't include "estar" or any of its conjugations at the start, leaving it unclear who exactly is doing the breaking.
86	* InTheStyleOf: WordOfGod states that "Love for Sale" was an attempt at mimicking the style of Music/TheStooges, while "Wild Wild Life" was intended as a pastiche of the kind of music commonly heard on Creator/{{MTV}}.
87	* IWantSong: The first and second verses of "Hey Now" pretty much sound like this, being written for a bunch of boys no older than 12.
88	-->''I want to bicycle''
89	-->''I want to popsicle''
90	-->''I want to space face''
91	-->''Buy me a cherry face now''
92	-->...
93	-->''I want to video''
94	-->''I want to rock and roll''
95	-->''Take me to the shopping mall''
96	-->''Buy me a rubber ball now''
97	* ItsAllAboutMe: "Hey Now" also has the children singing, "I am the King of the World!" during their IWantSong.
98	* MinimalisticCoverArt: Just the name of the band in big letters with alternating colors on the original 1986 album cover, mimicking the film's title logo (also displayed on the back cover of the album).
99	* NewSoundAlbum: The Music/TalkingHeads album continued the trend toward straightforward pop rock mixed with AlternativeRock from ''Music/LittleCreatures''. The WorldMusic elements from previous albums were still there, namely in the form of light Tejano elements, but are de-emphasized in favor of Americana. David Byrne would later go on to describe the album's sound as "Tex-Mex."
100	* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: The music video for "Wild Wild Life" (taken from the film) had band members pretending to be popular musicians like Music/{{Prince}} and Music/BillyIdol.
101	* RearrangeTheSong: "Wild Wild Life (Extended Mix)", included as a bonus track on CD copies. As the name implies, it's a rearrangement of "Wild Wild Life" that stretches the song out, featuring a longer intro and a few extra interludes.
102	* RecordProducer: Talking Heads are credited with the role on the 1986 album, making it their third and final self-produced record. Their next album, ''Music/{{Naked}}'', would return to using an outside producer in the form of Music/PeterGabriel and Music/{{U2}} collaborator Steve Lillywhite.
103	* ShoutOut:
104	** "Love for Sale" quotes several famous advertising slogans, such as Greyhound Lines' "Leave the Driving to Us" and Coca-Cola's "It's the Real Thing!"
105	** "Puzzlin' Evidence" name-drops Creator/{{CBS}}, Creator/{{ABC}}, ''Magazine/{{Time\|Magazine}}'', and ''Newsweek''. The song title itself is also taken from a character in the lore for the Church of the [=SubGenius=], in which "Puzzlin' Evidence" is the name of the man who assassinates figurehead J.R. "Bob" Dobbs.
106	** The video for "Wild Wild Life" features a scene of Jerry Harrison miming a Music/{{Prince}} impersonation, complete with goatee and frilly costume. Harrison also imitates Music/BillyIdol.
107	** Meta: the track name "Radio Head" might ring a bell to younger listeners, given that it served as the namesake of Music/{{Radiohead}}, one of the most popular alternative rock bands since the mid-1990s. During his 2019 induction of Radiohead into the UsefulNotes/RockAndRollHallOfFame, David Byrne expressed a longstanding lighthearted sense of bewilderment at the fact that they chose ''that'' particular song, bemusedly describing it as a "Tex-Mex ditty" that he never held in much regard.
108	* SpecialGuest: Music/MeatLoaf prominently appears in the video for "Wild Wild Life".
109	* TitleOnlyChorus: "Hey Now".
110	* UpdatedReRelease: The 2005 remastered version adds two extra bonus tracks in the form of the film versions of "Papa Legba" and "Radio Head", making this the only official audio release of any music from the film (beyond "Love for Sale", "Wild Wild Life", and "City of Dreams", which were performed by Talking Heads both in the film and on the album) prior to the 2018 soundtrack release.
111	* WordSaladLyrics: A mild example on "Hey Now"; whatever "space face" and "cherry face" means is never actually explained, though they respectively sound like a children's attraction and a type of candy. The oddly disjointed nature of the lyrics in "Hey Now" tie in with the fact that the song appears in the film as a tune being sung by a crowd of young boys: the song isn't ''supposed'' to make sense specifically ''because'' it's meant to be sung by literal children.
112	* TheXOfY: "City of Dreams".

Context Music / TrueStories