“Oh, yeah, everything you read, every movie you watch has a different meaning now. Do you see that differently now that the movie is being shown in people's private homes on HBO Max during a pandemic? Your show’s theme is making connections with other people, maybe people you wouldn't normally make connections with. … They felt that oh, this is a thing that we do, we do this, and we live like this. They hadn't done that in so long, dancing to music together with other people. I was working on a project recently where we got some people together, socially distanced, far enough apart with masks on and all that. Now during the pandemic, not a lot of people are coming over to anyone's house. It can also mean that you're thrilled that everybody's coming over to your house … and you want to see them all.” It completely changed the meaning.Īnd I realized the song has two meanings. It's a little bit more than this person could handle at some point.īut then they hear the exact same words, just slightly done with a slightly different emphasis, slightly different meter. So the idea of having all these people come over to your house is like, well, that's a little bit of an overload. But also, this point, this person is trying to figure out how to be social with other people … didn't quite know how all that worked. You were surprised that the high school choir saw the act of coming over to someone’s house as a great thing. Their version seems to be about welcome, inviting everyone over inclusion. And yet, their version has a completely different meaning. They didn't change a single lyric, they didn't change the melody. In the scene, you say, “Their version of this was kind of a profound thing for me. You tell the audience about how they interpreted the song differently from you. So the audience realizes you're not just saying this stuff at random, you're taking them on a considered journey, step by step, we're going we're actually going somewhere with this.”Īt one point, you’re talking to the audience about a song that you wrote called, “Everybody's Coming to My House.” It was written by a Detroit high school choir. I wouldn't have to be as aware of, okay, you're going to say something now, and you're going to refer back to what you said in the beginning. I've talked to an audience before, but usually, it's not very much in the past. “That was a bit of a learning curve for me. Or you could say that the talking bits break to the songs either way.”ĭo you feel comfortable talking to the audience? When I talk to the audience, and I use the songs to kind of sometimes bridge those talking bits. I use kind of occasional elements from my own life to hang things on. “It has elements of me in it, but it's not completely autobiographical. He's going to do the whole show, isn't he? Okay, he's going to sit at a desk, holding a brain. Some audience members, this has happened, where some friend has told me, he thought, ‘Oh, this is going to be a really self indulgent show. That's his work at the beginning of this show. It also says as far as the character goes … here's a guy who's kind of inside his head … and he's holding a brain in his hand, turning it over and pointing to the different parts, like here's where speech is processed, here's what visual stuff is processed. This is not going to be kind of your usual music concert. What are you asking the audience to consider with that opening?ĭavid Byrne: “An opening like that … it's letting the audience know that you're in for something a little bit unexpected. And then you ask if they're smarter than we are. And you note later that babies have hundreds of millions more neural connections than adults have. You are singing solo and contemplating a plastic brain in your hand. KCRW: The show begins with just you onstage (more band members come on the stage later). “American Utopia” is now a movie, directed by Spike Lee, and premieres on HBO Max on October 17. The live concert was a compilation of new songs from Byrne’s album “ American Utopia ” and old songs from his days with the band Talking Heads. David Byrne’s show “American Utopia” debuted on Broadway to rave reviews a year ago.
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