Road to Nowhere

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Template:Short description Script error: No such module "other uses". Script error: No such module "Unsubst". Script error: No such module "Unsubst". Script error: No such module "Infobox".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". "Road to Nowhere" is a song by the American band Talking Heads from their 1985 album Little Creatures. The song was written by David Byrne[1][2] and released as a single in 1985. It reached Template:Thinspace on the US Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart and entered the top 10 in eight other countries. It appeared on Best of Talking Heads, Sand in the Vaseline: Popular Favorites, the Once in a Lifetime box set and the Brick box set.

Production

"I wanted to write a song that presented a resigned, even joyful look at doom," recalls David Byrne in the liner notes of Once in a Lifetime: The Best of Talking Heads. "At our deaths and at the apocalypse... (always looming, folks). I think it succeeded. The front bit, the white gospel choir, is kind of tacked on, 'cause I didn't think the rest of the song was enough... I mean, it was only two chords. So, out of embarrassment, or shame, I wrote an intro section that had a couple more in it."

Reception

Cash Box said that "this marching single which features David Byrne's soothing lead vocal is a curious and circus-ride look at life."[3] Billboard said that within the song "a cappella gospel leads into Louisiana hootenanny."[4]

Music video

The video for the song was directed by Byrne and Stephen R. Johnson and features the band and various objects revolving, including boxes revolving around David Byrne's head. Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz portray a couple growing older, and masked businessmen pummel each other with briefcases and a runaway shopping cart, as if in their own "road to nowhere".

Some parts were shot in the back yard and pool of actor Stephen Tobolowsky, who was co-writing Byrne's film True Stories at the time.[5] Scenes were also shot at Calvary Baptist Church in Hi Vista, California. Director Johnson re-used some of the effects techniques in award-winning videos for Peter Gabriel the following year: "Sledgehammer" and "Big Time".

It was nominated for Best Video of the Year at the 1986 MTV Video Music Awards, losing out to "Money for Nothing" by Dire Straits.

Personnel

Talking Heads

Additional musicians

Charts

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Certifications

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Cover versions and other uses

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  • Charlie Crist, in his unsuccessful 2010 run for the U.S. Senate in Florida, used the song in a campaign video without obtaining permission. David Byrne sued for copyright infringement and, in a legal settlement, Crist issued a video apology for his improper use.

References

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  1. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
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  3. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  4. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  5. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  6. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  7. ↑ "Script error: No such module "WLink".&titel=Script error: No such module "WLink".&cat=s Talking Heads – Road to Nowhere" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved March 19, 2025.
  8. ↑ "Script error: No such module "WLink".&titel=Script error: No such module "WLink".&cat=s Talking Heads – Road to Nowhere" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved March 19, 2025.
  9. ↑ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 0551." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved March 19, 2025.
  10. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  11. ↑ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Road to Nowhere". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved March 19, 2025.
  12. ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 48, 1985" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved March 19, 2025.
  13. ↑ "Script error: No such module "WLink".&titel=Script error: No such module "WLink".&cat=s Talking Heads – Road to Nowhere" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved March 19, 2025.
  14. ↑ "Script error: No such module "WLink".&titel=Script error: No such module "WLink".&cat=s Talking Heads – Road to Nowhere". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved March 19, 2025.
  15. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  16. ↑ "Script error: No such module "WLink".&titel=Script error: No such module "WLink".&cat=s Talking Heads – Road to Nowhere". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved March 19, 2025.
  17. ↑ Template:Digits/7501/ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 19, 2025.
  18. ↑ Script error: No such module "WLink"./chart-history/RTT "Talking Heads Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved March 19, 2025.
  19. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Talking Heads – Road to Nowhere" Template:In lang. GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved March 19, 2025.
  20. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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