Psycho Killer

Infobox Single
Name = Psycho Killer


Artist = Talking Heads
from Album =
B-side = "Psycho Killer" (Acoustic version)
Released = December 1977
Format = 7" single
Recorded = 1977
Genre = New Wave, No Wave
Length = 04:19
Label = Sire Records
Writer = David Byrne, Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth
Producer = Tony Bongiovi & Lance Quinn
Certification =
Chart position =
* #92 (US)
Last single = "Uh-Oh, Love Comes to Town" (1977)
This single = "Psycho Killer" (1977)
Next single = "Pulled Up" (1978)
Misc =

"Psycho Killer" is a song by Talking Heads from their 1977 album "", written by David Byrne, Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth. The band's "signature debut hit" [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/release/bc63/ Talking Heads: 77] review of the re-release from the BBC] features lyrics which seem to represent the thoughts of a serial killer. Allmusic calls it a "deceptively funky New Wave/No Wave song ... [with] an insistent rhythm, and one of the most memorable, driving bass lines in rock & roll." [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=33:nxcm96oowepo "Psycho Killer"] at Allmusic]

"Psycho Killer" was the only song from the album to appear on the Billboard charts, peaking at 92 among Billboard Pop Singles. It placed 32nd on the Triple J Hottest 100 in 1989.

Lyrics

According to the preliminary lyric sheets copied onto the 2006 remaster of "Talking Heads: 77", the song started off as a semi-narrative of the killer actually committing murders. Byrne has said of the song:fact|date=July 2008

The bridge lyrics are in French and include the prominent chorus line, "Qu'est-ce que c'est ?", which translates in English to "What is it?". The rest of the French lyrics are:

:"Ce que j'ai fait ce soir-là":"Ce qu'elle a dit ce soir-là':"Réalisant mon espoir":"Je me lance vers la gloire... OK"

:What I did, that evening:What she said, that evening:Fulfilling my hope:Headlong I go for glory... OK

An early demo version of the song, recorded at CBS Studios, and also performed at CBGB had different lyrics after the first chorus:fact|date=July 2008

:Listen to me, now I’ve passed the test:I think I’m cute, I think I’m the best:Skirt tight, don't like that style:Don’t criticize what I know is worthwhile

Later releases

A live version was released on "The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads" in 1982. Two years later, another live version was included on the soundtrack for "Stop Making Sense", the band's 1984 concert movie. The film opens with Byrne alone onstage, announcing "Hi. I've got tape I want to play... [and] strumming maniacally like Richie Havens", playing an acoustic version of "Psycho Killer", backed only by a Roland TR-808 drum machine whose sound appears to be issuing from a boom box. The drum machine "fires" machine gun riffs that causes Byrne to stagger "like Jean Paul Belmondo in the final minutes of '"Breathless",' a hero succumbing, surprised, to violence that he'd thought he was prepared for." cite web| url=http://www.salon.com/ent/movies/review/1999/09/16/sense/ |title=Salon.com "Stop Making Sense" review| author=Stephanie Zacharek| work=Salon.com| date=1999-09-16]

The song also appears on their 1992 compilation album "" and over a decade later on another compilation album, "The Best of Talking Heads".

Influence

Rapper Ice-T says that "Psycho Killer" was a starting influence for Body Count's controversial hit "Cop Killer".cite web |url=http://www.escapimusic.com/eu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=108&Itemid=31 |title=Body Count |accessdate=2007-08-24 |last= |first= |authorlink= |coauthors= |date= |year= |month= |format= |work= |publisher=Escapi Music Group |pages= |language= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= ] dead link|url=http://www.escapimusic.com/eu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=108&Itemid=31|date=July 2008

The song has been covered by bands such as The Bobs [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=17:1233873~T00C Cover of "Psycho Killer"] from Allmusic] , Brand New, Julie Christensen, Velvet Revolver (in "Melody and the Tyranny "), Cage the Elephant, Local H, Barenaked Ladies (on "Buck Naked"), Phish, Antiseen, Richard Thompson, Faker, Moxy Früvous, Terrorvision, The Flying Pickets (on "Lost Boys"), Rico, The Faint, Bishop Allen, The Kransky Sisters, and Two Sheds. There is also an operatic version by Kate Miller-Heidke, and a version in Polish ("Psychobójca") by Mariusz Lubomski.fact|date=July 2008

Massachusetts-based band The Fools released a cover version in 1979, with parody lyrics entitled "Psycho Chicken"; it was included as a bonus record with their major-label debut album "Sold Out" in 1980 and released in a live version on their 2003 live album "The F In Beach Album".

"Psycho Killer" is used in the 1999 film "Summer of Sam" and during the closing credits of the 2006 film "". It is featured as a playable track in "Rock Band 2".

References