Line #92 Music/Naked


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/8_naked.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:''"From the age of the dinosaurs, cars have run on gasoline."'']]
3	->''"If there is no Tiger in the mountains, the Monkey will be King."''
4	-->-- '''Chinese proverb''', quoted in the LP liner notes (as well as those of the 2005 remastered CD).
5
6	''Naked'', released in 1988, is the eighth and final album by American AlternativeRock band Music/TalkingHeads. It was the band's first and only album to be released through Fly Records, a vanity label briefly used between 1988 and 1990 for two studio albums[[labelnote:]]this one and ''Walk on Water'' by band member Jerry Harrison's "Casual Gods" side-project[[/labelnote]], three singles[[labelnote:]]two of which were off of ''Naked'', and the third off of ''Walk on Water''[[/labelnote]], and a compilation of Brazilian folk songs put together by frontman Music/DavidByrne (which doubled as the debut release by his vanity label Luaka Bop). As with all of Talking Heads' albums since the ''Film/StopMakingSense'' live record in 1984, the Fly Records catalog was distributed by Creator/SireRecords in the United States & Canada and by Creator/{{EMI}} everywhere else until the rights to the band's post-1984 output outside of North America shifted to Creator/ParlophoneRecords in the wake of EMI's collapse.
7
8	Following the middling critical and fan reception of ''Music/TrueStories'' two years prior, the band decided to shake up their ever-malleable sound again, choosing to shift back to a worldbeat sound in response to the UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan administration's increasingly isolationist foreign policy approach. The band recorded around 40 improvisational jam sessions and flew off to Paris to collaborate with a bevy of guest musicians; lyrics and melodies were then written and recorded by Byrne back in New York.
9
10	Produced by Steve Lillywhite (an in-demand producer at the time for his work with Music/{{U2}} and Music/PeterGabriel), the resultant album is a return to the formula fostered by Talking Heads' landmark 1980 album ''Music/RemainInLight'', combining PostPunk & NewWaveMusic with African polyrhythms and the Latin {{funk}} instrumentation that Byrne developed an interest in during the latter half of the decade. The album was a moderate commercial success, reaching No. 19 on the Billboard album charts and going gold (sales of over 500,000 copies), the last Talking Heads album to receive any kind of sales certification by the RIAA going by release order[[note]]The latest certification as of 2019 is a double platinum (sales of over two million) for the ''Film/StopMakingSense'' soundtrack in 1994[[/note]]. However, where exactly Talking Heads would go from here would be a question that would ultimately remain unanswered; the band dissolved shortly after the album's release, first claiming to be on hiatus as Byrne, Harrsion, and Weymouth and Frantz (as the Music/TomTomClub) each released their own projects, before eventually confirming their split at the end of 1991. Byrne would put out his solo sequel to ''Naked'', ''[[Music/UhOhDavidByrneAlbum Uh-Oh]]'', just months later.
11
12	''Naked'' produced two singles: "Blind" and "(Nothing But) Flowers". A promo single of "Mr. Jones" was also released, but was never made commercially available.
13
14	!!Tracklist:
15	# "Blind" (4:58)
16	# "Mr. Jones" (4:18)
17	# "Totally Nude" (4:10)[[labelnote:*]]4:03 on LP[[/labelnote]]
18	# "Ruby Dear" (3:48)
19	# "(Nothing But) Flowers" (5:31)[[labelnote:*]]5:14 on LP[[/labelnote]]
20	# "The Democratic Circus" (5:01)
21	# "The Facts of Life" (6:25)
22	# "Mommy Daddy You and I" (3:58)[[note]]Labeled "Mommy Daddy" on the disc label on LP releases[[/note]]
23	# "Big Daddy" (5:37)[[labelnote:*]]4:01 on LP[[/labelnote]]
24	# "Bill" (3:21)[[note]]Omitted from LP releases[[/note]]
25	# "Cool Water" (5:10)
26
27	!!No one ever said he was involved with tropes:
28	* AdamAndEvePlot: Alluded to in the opening lines of "(Nothing But) Flowers".
29	* AfterTheEnd: The album as a whole uses this as a recurring motif, but it's most noticeable in "(Nothing But) Flowers", which describes the aftermath of an unspecified apocalyptic event that caused Earth to revert to a NewEden.
30	* AlbumTitleDrop: Done in "Totally Nude".
31	-->''I hang around''
32	-->''Where the grass is greener''
33	-->''Totally naked, baby''
34	-->''Totally nude''
35	* AllThereInTheManual: The liner notes detail the process of making the album and the events that spawned its creation.
36	* BizarreTasteInFood: Forced upon the narrator of "(Nothing But) Flowers", who has to resort to eating rattlesnakes for dinner.
37	* BoDiddleyBeat: "Ruby Dear".
38	* BoleroEffect: "Cool Water", which grows louder and angrier as the song progresses before abruptly stopping.
39	* BookEnds: An odd example with ''Music/TalkingHeads77'', the band's first album; both it and ''Naked'' were released in a year where the last and second-to-last digits were identical (1977 for ''Talking Heads: 77'', 1988 for ''Naked''). Both albums also make heavy use of red on their front covers (though this could be attributed more to red being a general ColorMotif for Music/DavidByrne).
40	* BubblegloopSwamp: A photograph of one is featured on the back cover.
41	* CallBack: The line "we used to microwave, now we just eat nuts and berries" in "(Nothing But) Flowers" is one to "Animals" from ''Music/FearOfMusic'', which features the line "they're living on nuts and berries" at multiple points.
42	* ConceptAlbum: Themes of AfterTheEnd feature heavily throughout the album, with almost every song ("Mr. Jones" arguably being the sole exception) having a noticeably post-apocalyptic angle to its lyrics, even if it's not apparent at first glance.
43	* ConceptVideo: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ut5tHfbaJA The music video]] for "Blind" is one of few instances of this trope in Talking Heads' videography, depicting a malevolent monkey wrench's rise to power and eventual overthrowing.
44	* DarkerAndEdgier: The album brings back the anxious, paranoid lyrical undercurrents that were present in ''Music/FearOfMusic'' and ''Music/RemainInLight'', with some tracks being quite dour musically as well; "Cool Water" is a standout example in both cases.
45	* DigitalHeadSwap: Music/DavidByrne's scenes in the music video for "Blind" occasionally feature his band members' faces superimposed onto his own via videotape editing.
46	* DownerEnding: "Cool Water", a dour, droning, minor-key piece about institutional discrimination.
47	* EndOfAnAge: The album unofficially marked the end of Talking Heads, as the band split right after its completion (though they wouldn't announce it until 1991; the single "Sax and Violins" was released just before this announcement, and as such is frequently considered the band's ''official'' GrandFinale).
48	* EpicRocking:
49	** "The Facts of Life"; at 6:25, it's just barely beaten out by "The Great Curve" from ''Music/RemainInLight'' (by one second) for the position of the longest song in Talking Heads' oeuvre.
50	** The CD and cassette versions of the album are also longer than anything the band had put out before it, clocking in at 52:17.
51	* FreezeFrameEnding: The music video for "Blind" ends this way, freezing on a shot of a baby clutching the shrunken-down, defeated monkey wrench in its fist.
52	* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: Done InUniverse with "Mr. Jones", where the titular everyman is placidly ordinary back home but is treated as an A-list celebrity in the town where the song is set.
53	* GhibliHills: The setting of "(Nothing But) Flowers", described in lush detail.
54	* GoodOldWays: Implied in "Big Daddy", in which old-fashioned fishing proves to be a more viable means of living than monetary systems.
55	* HypocriticalHumor: "Totally Nude" features the narrator embracing and advocating the NewEden lifestyle, only for this very concept to get flippantly torn to shreds two songs later.
56	* IncrediblyLongNote: Done courtesy of David Byrne on "The Facts of Life".
57	* LyricVideo: [[PlayingWithATrope Played with]] in the video for "(Nothing But) Flowers", which intersperses excerpts from the song lyrics atop [[PerformanceVideo footage of the band performing.]] In one instance, a "HEY!" is written on David Byrne's palm in black marker. Alongside Music/{{Prince}}'s music video for "Alphabet St." (also released in 1988), the one for "(Nothing But) Flowers" was considered highly innovative for its use of typographic overlays in this manner.
58	* LyricalDissonance: Appears on a number of songs throughout the album, but the singles "Blind" and "(Nothing But) Flowers" particularly stand out, contrasting upbeat melodies and bouncy instrumentation with lyrics about urban apocalypse and a guy getting increasingly fed up with his NewEden environment, respectively.
59	* MadonnaWhoreComplex: "Ruby Dear":
60	-->''Angels and prostitutes''
61	-->''They might look the same''
62	* MythologyGag: In addition to being a Music/PinkFloyd ShoutOut, the "IncrediblyLongNote fading into a synth hum" effect in "The Facts of Life" also harks back to the same technique's usage in "Mind" off of Talking Heads' ''Music/FearOfMusic''.
63	* NewEden: {{Deconstruct\|ion}}ed in "(Nothing But) Flowers". While the narrator is at first happy at the garden paradise the Earth has become following an unspecified apocalyptic event, he quickly grows bored out of his damn mind, deprived of modern luxuries and longing for the days of "honky-tonks, Dairy Queens and 7-Elevens." By the end of the song, he outright ''begs'' to be freed from the GhibliHills he's become trapped in. Amusingly, "(Nothing But) Flowers" is placed just two songs after "Totally Nude", which at face-value ''embraces'' this trope.
64	* NewSoundAlbum: Well, more "New Old Sound Album", if that makes sense. ''Naked'' returns to ''Music/RemainInLight'' and ''Music/SpeakingInTongues''[='=] signature blend of PostPunk & NewWaveMusic with {{Afrobeat}}-inspired polyrhythms, but opts for instrumentation more strongly rooted in Latin funk, building off of the light Tejano influences on ''Music/TrueStories''.
65	* PerformanceVideo: "(Nothing But) Flowers" meshes this together with a LyricVideo, featuring Talking Heads performing alongside Music/JohnnyMarr, Music/KirstyMaccoll, and Yves N'Djock in a seafoam green room while the song lyrics appear atop the footage.
66	* ProductPlacement: "(Nothing But) Flowers" name-drops Pizza Hut, Dairy Queen, and 7-Eleven.
67	* RecordProducer: Steve Lillywhite, thus making ''Naked'' Talking Heads' first album to ''not'' be self-produced since ''Music/RemainInLight'' eight years prior.
68	* ReCut: LP versions of ''Naked'' knock some time off of "Totally Nude", "(Nothing But) Flowers", and "Big Daddy", and omit "Bill" altogether, due to the technical restrictions of the format compared to [=CDs=] and cassettes in the twilight of vinyl as a mainstream format. Not long after the album's release, major labels in the US would start phasing out LP releases altogether.
69	* SpecialGuest: The album makes use of a wide number of guest musicians.
70	** Music/JohnnyMarr, fresh off his work with Music/TheSmiths, plays guitar on "Ruby Dear", "(Nothing But) Flowers", "Mommy Daddy You and I", and "Cool Water".
71	** [[Film/{{Deliverance}} "Dueling Banjos"]] writer Eric Weissberg performs pedal steel guitar on "Totally Nude" and "Bill", as well as dobro on "The Democratic Circus".
72	** Bestselling Guinean kora player Mory Kanté performs the instrument on "Mr. Jones" and "The Facts of Life".
73	** Level 42 collaborator Wally Badarou plays keyboard parts on "Blind" and "The Facts of Life".
74	** Music/WeatherReport percussionist Manolo Badrena plays congas on "Mr. Jones" and "Mommy Daddy You and I" and general percussion parts throughout the rest of the album.
75	** Lenny Pickett of the ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' in-house band and Steve Elson of Broken English play saxophone on "Blind" and "Big Daddy". Earl Gardner, also of the ''SNL'' in-house band, plays trumpet on the same tracks.
76	** Avant-garde cellist Arthur Russell performs the instrument on "Bill".
77	** Music/ThePogues accordionist James Fearnley plays the instrument on "Mommy Daddy You and I".
78	** Music/KirstyMaccoll provides backing vocals on "(Nothing But) Flowers" and "Bill"; she would later sing backup on a number of songs on Music/DavidByrne's solo album ''Music/ReiMomo'' thanks to her work on this album.
79	** Veteran Cameroonian guitarist Yves N'Djock plays the instrument on "Blind", "Totally Nude" and "(Nothing But) Flowers", appearing alongside Marr, [=MacColl=], and Talking Heads in the latter's music video.
80	* ShoutOut:
81	** "Totally Nude" derives its title from the Wallets song of the same name, as stated near the end of the liner notes.
82	** "The Facts of Life" features an effect where an IncrediblyLongNote sung by David Byrne is crossfaded into a synthesizer drone, mimicking a similar effect on [[Music/{{Animals\|1977}} "Sheep"]] by Music/PinkFloyd.
83	** WordOfGod says that the title character in "Mr. Jones" is supposed to be the same guy Music/BobDylan sang about in [[Music/Highway61Revisited "Ballad of a Thin Man"]].
84	* TakeThat:
85	** The music video for "Blind" scathingly lampoons the 1988 American presidential election, depicting a sentient, malevolent monkey wrench being elected into public office and tormenting his audience. At the end of the video, the wrench is overthrown and tossed far into the distance, where it shrinks to a more conventional size and implicitly becomes stripped of its power and sentience. Tina Weymouth stated that the video is meant to be a parody of partisan politics in general, but the timing of its release indicates that it's directed particularly at the election.
86	** "The Democratic Circus" is quite clear about its distaste towards the state of American politics at the tail end of the UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan era, comparing it to a surreal carnival.
87	* TitleOnlyChorus: "Blind", whose chorus uses the single-word title fourteen times each verse.
88	* UpdatedRerelease: The 2005 remastered edition includes "Sax and Violins" as a bonus track.
89	* VisualPun: The music video for "Blind" runs on one, anthropomorphizing the monkey wrench that tends to be figuratively thrown into one's works. The music video additionally features a literal Bible-thumper and the wrench physically chewing off one of his aides' ears.
90	* WeHaveBecomeComplacent: "(Nothing But) Flowers" claims that part of the reason why the world ended was because people simply didn't pay attention to it.
91	* WhiteVoidRoom: [[InvertedTrope Inverted]] in the music video for "Blind", which occasionally cuts to footage of David Byrne singing and gesticulating at the camera in a solid ''black'' void, with the faces of his band members occasionally superimposed onto his own. While [[ShirtlessScene shirtless]].
92	* WorldMusic: Talking Heads' second foray into the genre, incorporating distinctly Latin rhythms and instrumentation; frontman Music/DavidByrne would explore this further with his solo albums ''Music/ReiMomo'' and ''[[Music/UhOhDavidByrneAlbum Uh-Oh]]'' in 1989 and 1992, respectively, and would carry noticeable Latin influences in his following work.

Context Music / Naked