The show wants to be as weird and intellectual as Talking Heads were in the 80s, but either we’ve all just incorporated that weirdness all into our culture for consumption (capitalism seems able to take everything, even critique, into itself) or Byrne himself has become more conventional. I don’t think these are bad things per se, but one can’t help but wonder if it’s enough to actually counter the forces that are arrayed against people these days. In this show he’s no longer pushing people to think beyond, but rather explicitly making an appeal to a relatively straightforward political ethos of democratic liberalism and diversity. Not every avant-garde pop legend is as humanistic and earnest as Byrne appears to be.īut there’s also a sense in which Byrne has lost some of his avant-garde nature. What does come through is Byrne’s heart for people, and one cannot fault him for that. Byrne himself was an immigrant to America and it’s clear he believes in the possibility that the nation represents its greatest ideals, though his experience as a child coming from Scotland must certainly be different from someone coming as a refugee from Latin America or the Middle East today. When Byrne sings “Everybody’s Coming to My House” from his American Utopia album, it’s an appeal to belonging and compassion. While Donald Trump’s name is never mentioned, it’s clear that American Utopia is meant to offer a balm to an American audience tired of the divisions and negativity that have characterized recent history. It becomes too rooted in the moment, making the appeal of the song more narrow rather than opening the audience up to greater experiences and contemplation. In the new film, it’s framed as an appeal to connection, but one that is meant to bring together a fractured American nation. When Byrne in that show cries, “Love me till my heart stops, love me till I’m dead,” it’s a desperate appeal for love, noting the briefness of our lives and how contingent everything that we experience as life is (“Did I find you or you find me? / There was a time before we were born”). There’s perhaps no better example with which to try to do so than in comparing the two performances of what might be Talking Heads’ and Byrne’s masterpiece, “This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody).” In the original, the lyrics’ plaintive longing for connection in our brief lifetimes delivers an existential jolt. ![]() Some of this might be that Talking Heads was more than just Byrne, but I suspect there’s something more to it that’s harder to articulate without sounding like a grouch. American Utopia strips away the discomfort and in the process loses something. Stop Making Sense was strange and wondrous, not in the manner of a Broadway stage production, but of a musical act pushing the limit of what rock music could be and a filmmaker doing his damndest to capture it. Maybe that film couldn’t be replicated by Byrne at this point in his life. American Utopia is the work of an artist presenting the wisdom of years, while the early Byrne was still a searcher. But that is precisely the dissonance that I experienced in watching American Utopia, especially when contrasted with the classic 1984 Talking Heads concert film directed by Jonathan Demme, Stop Making Sense. ![]() While the music is strong and the intentions noble, it’s hard for me to come away from American Utopia not feeling slightly underwhelmed, as both the political messaging and the performances fall short of the promise the collaboration of Byrne and Lee would suggest.īyrne is a consummate artist, and his songwriting is so strong that, especially when he leans on his past hits, one can’t help but find the musical element engaging I will never not love any version of “Once in a Lifetime:” its urgent exclamation of “How did I get here?” when confronting the dissonance between one’s expectations and the accumulations of life experience resonates deeply. ![]() The diverse group of musicians and the hopeful appeal of both Byrne’s banter is meant, as the title suggests, to point toward a vision of a better America. The other notable element of the production is the 11 dancers and musicians on stage with Byrne, all in identical grey suits and barefeet, playing the show live with wireless instruments. ![]() Presenting a mix of hits from his former band, solo pieces, and covers, the film is interwoven with Bryne’s asides, addressing the politically fraught state of contemporary America. Appropriately, as the title suggests, Byrne himself is the central attraction. It is a filmed version of the new stage production by the former Talking Heads lead singer. David Byrne’s American Utopia is a concert film, directed by Spike Lee, created by two artists who mean a great deal to me.
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