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Talking Heads — Take Me To The River
Album: More Songs About Buildings and Food
Avg rating:
7.8

Your rating:
Total ratings: 2207









Released: 1978
Length: 4:58
Plays (last 30 days): 2
I don't know why I love you like I do
All the changes you put me through
Take my money, my cigarettes
I haven't seen the worst of it yet
And I wanna know, can you tell me?
I'd love to stay

Take me to the river
Drop me in the water
Take me to the river
Dip me in the water, washing me down
Washing me down

I don't know why you treat me so bad
Think of all the things we could have had
Love is a notion that I can't forget
My sweet sixteen I would never regret
I wanna know can you tell me
I'd love to stay

Take me to the river
Drop me in the water
Take me to the river
Dip me in the water, washing me down

Washing me
Hold me, squeeze me
Love me, tease me
'Til I can't, 'til I can't
'Til I can't, I can't take no more

Take me to the river
Drop me in the water
Dip me in the water
Drop me to the river
Dip me in the water
Drop me in the river
Push me in the water, washing me down
Washing me down

I don't know why I love you like I do
All the trouble you put me through
Sixteen candles blown on my wall
And am I the biggest fool of them all
I wanna know, can you tell me?
I'd love to stay

Take me to the river
Drop me in the water
Dip me in the water
Drop me to the river
Dip me in the water
Drop me in the river
Drop me in the water, washing me down
Washing me down
Comments (128)add comment
Goddamn, if this isn't a classic I don't know what is.  I don't like live versions of anything very much, but the "Stop Making Sense" version of this really knocks it out of the park.
I would have loved to see & hear Bowie playing with this band!
Oh that baseline, just carries this despite the tempo which IMHO is a tad slow.
 SchrodingersCat wrote:


It isn't.  They're currently 13th.

artists total plays
Radiohead 14,014
R.E.M. 12,729
The Beatles 12,429
U2 12,392
The Shins 11,069
Beck 10,942
The Rolling Stones 10,509
Calexico 10,282
Pearl Jam 10,241
Peter Gabriel 10,200
Pink Floyd 9,934
David Bowie 9,563
Talking Heads 9,380


Not sure where David Byrne ends up on this list, but if you add his solo stuff to Talking Heads plays, I bet they pass the Shins.  Of course if you add John and Paul's non Beatles stuff to Beatles plays -- fugetaboutit.
 SchrodingersCat wrote:


It isn't.  They're currently 13th.

artists total plays
Radiohead 14,014
R.E.M. 12,729
The Beatles 12,429
U2 12,392
The Shins 11,069
Beck 10,942
The Rolling Stones 10,509
Calexico 10,282
Pearl Jam 10,241
Peter Gabriel 10,200
Pink Floyd 9,934
David Bowie 9,563
Talking Heads 9,380


Thanks for pulling this together. Radiohead so doesn't deserve the top spot. Very surprised that the Beatles are that high: I've often wondered why they didn't get more airtime on RP. 
 SchrodingersCat wrote:


It isn't.  They're currently 13th.

artists total plays
Radiohead 14,014
R.E.M. 12,729
The Beatles 12,429
U2 12,392
The Shins 11,069
Beck 10,942
The Rolling Stones 10,509
Calexico 10,282
Pearl Jam 10,241
Peter Gabriel 10,200
Pink Floyd 9,934
David Bowie 9,563
Talking Heads 9,380

In this instance, I'll Agree with GHoffMeyer. There is a WHOLE LOT of T.H. here... and this isn't "Rock", either, IMH(umble)O.
2nd best version of this tune.!  3rd was the Temptations!  Of course, Big Al was 1st!!   
 poetista wrote:

Somehow the charm of the Talking Heads eludes me entirely. This song just seems like a waste of recording studio time to me. I know, I know, they're gods to some. For me, though, I can't get past the artifice.



Have you ever heard of the resonance effect , or the lack of it when you  and TH are concerned? 
 dboseman wrote:

This is the song that made me aware of The Talking Heads.  What a great cover.



The Talking Heads gave us a glimpse of their genius with this cover. So much amazing music followed ❤️ 
 SchrodingersCat wrote:


It isn't.  They're currently 13th.

artists total plays
Radiohead 14,014
R.E.M. 12,729
The Beatles 12,429
U2 12,392
The Shins 11,069
Beck 10,942
The Rolling Stones 10,509
Calexico 10,282
Pearl Jam 10,241
Peter Gabriel 10,200
Pink Floyd 9,934
David Bowie 9,563
Talking Heads 9,380



Thank You for pointing out to the Talking Heads haters that this is NOT the "most played band" on RP!  ...PS: I think they are GREAT!
 Aud wrote:

My #1 Concert was the Big Suit tour!


 bill-1956 wrote:
Talking Heads Concert Ad

One of the Top 5 Concerts of my Life

My #1 Concert was the Big Suit tour!
 GHoffmeyer wrote:

Why is this the most-played band on RP, seemingly by a factor of 10?  I dont understand.



It isn't.  They're currently 13th.

artists total plays
Radiohead 14,014
R.E.M. 12,729
The Beatles 12,429
U2 12,392
The Shins 11,069
Beck 10,942
The Rolling Stones 10,509
Calexico 10,282
Pearl Jam 10,241
Peter Gabriel 10,200
Pink Floyd 9,934
David Bowie 9,563
Talking Heads 9,380
Look up the 1980 show in Rome on YouTube to see the full band at their finest. 
 GHoffmeyer wrote:

Why is this the most-played band on RP, seemingly by a factor of 10?  I dont understand.




Some things are not to be understood!!
GODLIKE!!! Right after this album came out, friends of mine did sound for them at the Cleveland Agora. My girlfriend & me got to hang out on stage, at the monitor console mix position, stage left. It was an amazing show!!!
Why is this the most-played band on RP, seemingly by a factor of 10?  I dont understand.

fabulosos
Tina Weymouth's bass line is so ... menacing.
In 1982 they were invited to the Montreux Jazz Festival to play there. The concert was transmitted and I taped it. It is still one of my favourites and the version of this song is ... how should I say ... spectacular.
Listen to it here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
 bill-1956 wrote:
Talking Heads Concert Ad

One of the Top 5 Concerts of my Life
 
Although I didn't see this show, with a quick  fast forward, I did see what WAS and  REMAINS the best live show I've ever see. The Stop Making Sense tour was special,  and as a former DJ I went to a LOT of shows. Plus Demme's film is the best concert film ever (with The Last Waltz not far behind). 
 danthebeachman wrote:
All three versions are excellent.I thought it would be easy to make a choice and rank them....nope!!....couldn't do it!!

This one's the best.
 dew34 wrote:

XRT was a great station-met these heads in 77 when they were in town for a concert @ the Avalon? I think {#Eh}
 

My oldest brother said "Get off that AM crap, Try an FM station an see what music really sounds like" The musical journey continues... I'm still exploring the music and in 2009 RP comes along and  changes everything! Thank You Bill....still here expanding my horizons
 dboseman wrote:
This is the song that made me aware of The Talking Heads.  What a great cover.
 

Same here. It was played on an alternative radio station in the NY metro area for several months before it got noticed by the more mainstream stations.
All three versions are excellent.I thought it would be easy to make a choice and rank them....nope!!....couldn't do it!!
Sand in the Vaseline pretty much sums it up for me. Just when things were about to get all nice and lubricated - FriCtiOn!
This is the song that made me aware of The Talking Heads.  What a great cover.
 nwfirefly wrote:
As always....love it!!!!
But love the Al Green version too!

 
And don't forget the Bryan Ferry version from his album "The Bride Stripped Bare".  Personally I'd rate that version second behind (well behind) the Al Green original.
 hayduke2 wrote:
is that album cover made of dozens of Polaroids, all scotch-taped together on some big heavy stock backdrop paper found in a dumpster on west 29th, or what !?
 
You missed the part where they photographed that assemblage and printed it at the relevant size (i.e. to fit on a standard record sleeve), I think. Otherwise, a plausible story.
Yeap - Christmas of '78
As always....love it!!!!
But love the Al Green version too!
Then, there's "The Commitments"...
 N1CO wrote:
My all-time favorite band, dIRE sTRAITS, made his first tour by opening for Talking Heads in the late 70's.
I still can't understand the link between the two band's musics {#Ask}

 
They were both different and creative from what was being fed on the mainstream radio- foreigner, styx reo Chicago, doobies.aka that dull boring stuff


 a_genuine_find wrote:

$10.50!

 
I saw them for the Big Suit tour. That was one of my top 5 shows ever.

This album doesn't get old either.


 bill-1956 wrote:
Talking Heads Concert Ad

One of the Top 5 Concerts of my Life

 
$10.50!
Talking Heads Concert Ad

One of the Top 5 Concerts of my Life
good music I like this
Great song, but I'm not convinced it's about either buildings or food.
One of my top 10 bands for sure...Love them all!!! Right up there with Rush and Metallica and The Doors and Led Zeppelin and New Order and The Chemical Brothers...
Teenie Hodges passed away last week, he wrote this with Al, check out the fine documentary about him done just in time before he checked out: https://www.independent.com/news/2014/jan/29/mabon-teenie-hodges-portrait-memphis-soul-origin/ Great version!
is that album cover made of dozens of Polaroids, all scotch-taped together on some big heavy stock backdrop paper found in a dumpster on west 29th, or what !?
{#Wave} ..... well this gets a big FAT 9
Sand in the Vaseline (TM)? Really? Wow! {#Chillpill}
Mmmm hmmm.  
 
 lemmoth wrote:
Loved it massively from the first time I heard it.  Unless you were there - in NYC in the late 70's - hanging out at Max's Kansas City, Hurrah's and the Mudd Club, you have no idea of how strange and different all the "new" music and new bands we were hearing were from what was being played on the radio at the time. 
 
I know what you mean - I went to Max's a few times, and CBGB pretty frequently in the late '70s and early '80s - Peppermint Lounge and The Ritz too.
 poetista wrote:
Somehow the charm of the Talking Heads eludes me entirely. This song just seems like a waste of recording studio time to me. I know, I know, they're gods to some. For me, though, I can't get past the artifice.
 
You know, you could just listen to the wind blowing through the trees if you don't like artifice.  {#Cheesygrin}
this is ok i guess but i still like foghats version better...lot more lively and fun to listen to
I don't know why you treat me so bad
Think of all the things that we could have had
Love is an ocean,
I can't forget My sweet sixteen
I would never regret
My all-time favorite band, dIRE sTRAITS, made his first tour by opening for Talking Heads in the late 70's.
I still can't understand the link between the two band's musics {#Ask}
9
 df1489 wrote:
The very first Talking Heads song I ever heard, '78 I'm pretty sure...WXRT in Chicago, Great station!

 
XRT was a great station-met these heads in 77 when they were in town for a concert @ the Avalon? I think {#Eh}
 pcicatar wrote:
Don't know why I hate this like I do.
 
You don't really need a reason. I feel the same way. It prods along and has the wailing David Byrne. Pretentious rock. We had a good playlist going for awhile and then this one showed up. I suppose it strengthens my liking for anything that is played afterwards. 
Loved it massively from the first time I heard it.  Unless you were there - in NYC in the late 70's - hanging out at Max's Kansas City, Hurrah's and the Mudd Club, you have no idea of how strange and different all the "new" music and new bands we were hearing were from what was being played on the radio at the time. 
Don't know why I hate this like I do.
 Aud wrote:


1975
 
Don't think so. Their first album was Talking Heads '77, in 1977, and this is from their second album.

ai-ai-ai-ai-ai-aiahh
this is sooo cool. could it be the word "cool" has been created for songs like this?
Somehow the charm of the Talking Heads eludes me entirely. This song just seems like a waste of recording studio time to me. I know, I know, they're gods to some. For me, though, I can't get past the artifice.
Love it. Love it. LOVE IT!!!! {#Bananasplit}
iTunes here I come 
 
This is so amazingly overplayed on ALL the radio stations we get here in this back-woods town. Why do I still love it??

Nope. No answer. It's Talking Heads. You'd think that a band with that name would scare all the cow-town radio programmers. Apparently, they just don't get it, or they don't care. Good for the listeners. Except that we're still getting "Rock Star" by Nickleback, with the word "drugs" censored. *facepalm* It's a crazy world...
One of the rare instances where the original and the cover are terrific.
 df1489 wrote:
The very first Talking Heads song I ever heard, '78 I'm pretty sure...WXRT in Chicago, Great station!

 

1975

Jeez!  This is soooooooooo old, but it's holding up well.  (There's something to be said for songs so familiar that you can whistle every note in the guitar solo.)



 bachbeet wrote:
I like this version better than Al Green's.
 
Same here - I've heard them both - David does it better . . . imho. . .

The very first Talking Heads song I ever heard, '78 I'm pretty sure...WXRT in Chicago, Great station!

 catnip wrote:
Cover version? Yes.
 
So then is it a cover of a cover?

 bachbeet wrote:
I like this version better than Al Green's.
 
Sacrilege!

The Rev. will always forgive you, however....

Cover version? Yes.

Adds to the original? Yes, by being spiky, where the original was smooth, by using the Hammond to bring the thing to a close rather than layering it, by using the guitar to add to the spikiness (and I'd love to call it a solo, but it just pings away and adds the madness).

Best cover version ever? It's up for grabs, but this is definitely in the running.

And the Best Of album title deserves a prize for just being so perverse... 

Great version. Wonderful, despite being sung by DB.
I like this version better than Al Green's.
cool & so good for the ears!
 Shesdifferent wrote:
How many times can I bang my head against the wall over hearing this a million times...urrggghhhh
 
Obviously not enough, as you're still conscious and can type.

Keep banging, I like it.


I can't imagine it took a whole lot of tries to finish this track, but I like it a lot anyway.
 DaveInVA wrote:
Oh no, not again {#Puke}
 
Yep Dave... TH AGAIN.   Suck it up!

AMEN!

rporter wrote:


This is actually a cover of an Al Green gospel song. I would argue it is one of the greatest cover songs ever.




 jjfflyboy wrote:
Righteous RP.  A Talking Heads song played by the Talking Heads.  Excellent.
 

This is actually a cover of an Al Green gospel song.  I would argue it is one of the greatest cover songs ever.  

Oh no, not again {#Puke}
How many times can I bang my head against the wall over hearing this a million times...urrggghhhh
 jjfflyboy wrote:
Righteous RP.  A Talking Heads song played by the Talking Heads.  Excellent.
 
(except that it's an Al Green song)

Righteous RP.  A Talking Heads song played by the Talking Heads.  Excellent.
Still a 10 in my book.
pannaramma wrote:
All I can see is the singing fish on the wall.
  
rtrudeau wrote:
Admit it! The singing fish WAS funny. For a while.
 
And now we're talking about singing fish. We need to be taken to the river and thrown in so we can sing with the fishes. {#Eek}
 pannaramma wrote:
All I can see is the singing fish on the wall.
 
Admit it! The singing fish WAS funny. For a while.

 pannaramma wrote:
All I can see is the singing fish on the wall.
 


 pannaramma wrote:
All I can see is the singing fish on the wall.
 
Me too!! Loved that series...

Brilliant.
Anthemic.
Godlike.
I like Talking Heads...the band. I'm curious as to why the album showing is not the original but rather a Greatest Hits?
Not a big fan of Talking Heads, save for the Remain in Light album... and this piece.
For the longest time, I didn't know this was the Talking Heads. It just makes it all the more wonderful. I love the funk! {#Music}
DB just performed this song here in Memphis with Teenie Hodges (who wrote the tune and played on most of Rev. Al Green's recordings.)  DB appreciates the local flavors of music and collaborates with those artists.
So come on down to the river and visit the Stax Museum of American Soul Music.
 CyberCoyote wrote:

No doubt...Talking Heads
 

really? I kinda like The Commitments version better than this...
Still does a very good live show I hear.
This sure brings me back to those "Decade" parties
stradaduro wrote:
... badly dated fluffpop -- what's next, Rock Lobster?
You have something against Rock Lobster?
David B has a sound you either love or hate. Fortunatly, I have a great appreciation for all the great music DB has laid on us over the last 35+ years. David is an extremely talented person in a genre that not all folks can appreciate, but you should appreciate that his music is tight and intact. So he gets a 9er from the "old man on the hill."
aliasnwonderland wrote:
Hey listeners, Which cover do you like best: Annie Lennox, The Commitments, or Talking Heads?
No doubt...Talking Heads
Yes, please. Take him to the river and chuck him in the water.
the guy david b forces his horrible voice on us! yuck. . . . michaeleconomy wrote:
I totally agree, either its talking heads or David Byrne's solo stuff :P
All I can see is the singing fish on the wall.
aliasnwonderland wrote:
This song is an amazing cover. I love it! Hey listeners, Which cover do you like best: Annie Lennox, The Commitments, or Talking Heads? I vote all three.
I gotta go with this one...ah, the memories!
I luv Al Greene's original, and Annie Lennox's later cover, but this also has a really good dangerous feel to it It's also a TH song that mostly doesn't make me feel like I'm at the circus...in a bad way
This song is an amazing cover. I love it! Hey listeners, Which cover do you like best: Annie Lennox, The Commitments, or Talking Heads? I vote all three.
Shimmer wrote:
The live version from Stop Making Sense crushes this one like a grape.
I am going to have to respectfully disagree. I prefer the groove of this version.
The live version from Stop Making Sense crushes this one like a grape.
The tempo needs kicking up... I don't think this song should be as languorous as it is. Love the original, and the Princeton Wildcats' a capella version.
WonderLizard wrote:
I put this up there with The Beatles' cover of "Please, Mr. Postman" or the Stones' "Ain't Too Proud To Beg"--sometimes pretty white boys get it right...
_totally_ agree
I put this up there with The Beatles' cover of "Please, Mr. Postman" or the Stones' "Ain't Too Proud To Beg"--sometimes pretty white boys get it right...
fretman wrote:
Sounds like an Al Greene tune...
It originally was...
Now we're rockin'!!!
Sounds like an Al Greene tune...
FerretRob wrote:
Well sorry to hear Vancouver was such a boring place in the '80s. Oh, and "fluffpop" would be the American Idol soundtrack you keep requesting Bill to play...
I'm from Vancouver and I love the Heads! Don't paint us all with the same brush, pleez. Not exactly sure how the Talking Heads constiture "Fluffpop"?
Nearly perfect cover of Al Green's classic. Sure, it's not Al's original, and it doesn't try to be. It's Eno and the Heads reconfiguring the original's midtempo (andante) funk into a stately, even ghostly adagio that doesn't resemble the original in groove or mood at all. Brilliant job.
ndanger666 wrote:
This is okay but not nearly as good as the original from Al Greene.
I agree. I always liked this one too, but not nearly as good as Rev. Green's.
I find it strange this one only has 64 votes currently...was it just added recently?
Atrail wrote:
What is it with Radio Paradise and Talking Heads. I have to disconnect every time this band comes on cause it is just painful to listen t; which is way too often cause you play them way too much. This is my only complaint against the station as a long time listener, but it is a big one!
I totally agree, either its talking heads or David Byrne's solo stuff :P
Will have to look up Al Green's original version and upload it...it's a litte more upbeat...
Go Tina!
What is it with Radio Paradise and Talking Heads. I have to disconnect every time this band comes on cause it is just painful to listen t; which is way too often cause you play them way too much. This is my only complaint against the station as a long time listener, but it is a big one!
way too overplayed in its day for its musical merits :oops:
Originally Posted by stradaduro: talking heads blecch. badly dated fluffpop -- what's next, Rock Lobster?
Well sorry to hear Vancouver was such a boring place in the '80s. Oh, and "fluffpop" would be the American Idol soundtrack you keep requesting Bill to play...