Big Suit, Big Thrills

Many consider the 1984 Talking Heads documentary Stop Making Sense the greatest concert film ever made. I certainly do.

Qu'est-ce que c'est?

Directed by the late, great Jonathan Demme, and lasting 1 hour and 28 minutes, the film is “all killer, no filler,” starting with Heads frontman David Byrne setting down a boombox playing a drum machine track and performing a solo acoustic guitar version of the signature 1977 song “Psycho Killer.”

Byrne and Weymouth

From there, Byrne is joined by bassist Tina Weymouth and the other members of Talking Heads, notably Chris Frantz on drums and Jerry Harrison on guitar, along with assorted backup singers and additional musicians.

The iconic image from Stop Making Sense is Byrne in his enormous grey business suit, which conveys a sense of existential dislocation. The suit brings a smile and a nod of recognition during “Girlfriend Is Better” as Byrne warbles and shrugs through the jittery song:

I, takes over slowly
But doesn't last very long
I, I, I, I, no need to worry
Everything's under control
O-U-T, but no hard feelings
What do you know? Take you away
We're being taken for a ride again.

Re-experiencing this thrilling, Kabuki-like journey through sixteen of the Heads’ most memorable songs, the joy and athleticism of the performances strike me. Byrne and the other musicians’ stylized, herky-jerky movements, which some might call dancing, are nerdy and cool, like the birth of a new, troubled bodily language. 

Near the end of one of the many show-stoppers, “Life During Wartime,” Byrne, sweaty from exertion, does laps around the stage like an anxious marathon runner.

In 2021, Joe and I were lucky to see the penultimate performance of Byrne’s American Utopia on Broadway. For someone who wishes he could have attended the filming of Stop Making Sense at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre in December 1983, this was a worthy substitute. Barefooted musicians strutted and pranced around the stage, wearing their instruments, and played many Talking Heads tunes.

Talking Heads officially disbanded in late 1991. It was a rough breakup and a sad moment for fans like me, who played their music in college dorm rooms and uttered “same as it ever was” from “Once in a Lifetime” over and over.

Luckily, we still have Stop Making Sense to remind ourselves and show later generations what a time that was.

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