"Naive Melody (This Must Be the Place)"

[sprig5]

I like the original by the Talking Heads, from Speaking In Tongues (1983). Also liked the version in the movie Wordplay (2006). Turns out Shawn Colvin did it. In response the the lj poster where I found out about Shawn Colvin covering TH (

Comments

[disclaimerwill]

I don't like the Shawn Colvin version at all. Not just because I think the Talking Heads arrangement is far more memorable (the pitch-bent keyboard line sounds so pained to me), but I think the song requires David Byrne's affect-free singing to really hit you.

Plus, "This Must be the Place" was the first song I learned how to play with both hands on the keyboard, back in middle school, so it has sentimental value to me.

[sprig5]

I don't have time right now to re-listen to Shawn, but please define "pitch-bent." My thought as I gave a listen was "It's so damn earnest!" Sometimes that is what I can't stand about female (and some male) singer-songwriter types. The piece worked well as the backdrop in Wordplay, where it was used to underscore an emotional montage about how all the nerdy crossword puzzle lovers felt that their yearly get-together in a hotel in Connecticut was "home" to them. Funny though that I remembered the version in Wordplay as having more of a beat. Must have been melding it a little witht eh Talking Heads version in my mind.

BTW, enjoying you mix CD! That crazy McDonaldzz (sp??) one is in my head sometimes.

[disclaimerwill]

Oh, I'm talking about the sort of high-pitched keyboard line between verses, where the individual notes are "bent" down to the next note. (It's created with a pitch-bending dial on a keyboard, where instead of playing two notes one after the other, you hold down one key and then turn the dial so the original note slides up or down in pitch.) It's tough to describe, but it's the sort of whistley keyboard line I'm talking about.

I can't remember Shawn Colvin's version being used in Wordplay, though I liked the movie. I imagine that when it came up, I just grumbled at the TV, "They should've used the Talking Heads version, mutter mutter."

Earnest is a good word for it. I don't think Talking Heads songs are meant to be presented that way. A line like "I guess I must be having fun" is, to my ear, far more effective coming at you in David Byrne's clinical style. (But then the "ooooohhhhh" falsetto he hits at the end breaks my heart.)

[disclaimerwill]

Oh! And I'm happy you're digging the CD! Yay!

[twirlgrrl]

I *luv* that song... Talking Heads version only. :-)

[sprig5]

which song?

[twirlgrrl]

The one in your subject line!

Super not into the Shawn Colvin version though. I hadn't heard of it until this post.