"Life During Wartime" is a song by the American new wave band

Talking Heads Talking Heads were an American rock band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991.Talkin ...

, released as the first single from their 1979 album ''

Fear of Music ''Fear of Music'' is the third studio album by American rock band Talking Heads, released on August 3, 1979, by Sire Records. It was recorded at locations in New York City during April and May 1979 and was produced by Brian Eno and Talking Heads ...

''. It peaked at #80 on the US ''Billboard'' Pop Singles Chart. The song is also performed in the 1984 film '' Stop Making Sense'', which depicts a Talking Heads concert. The performance featured in the film prominently features aerobic exercising and

jogging Jogging is a form of trotting or running at a slow or leisurely pace. The main intention is to increase physical fitness with less stress on the body than from faster running but more than walking, or to maintain a steady speed for longer periods ...

by David Byrne and background singers. The ''Stop Making Sense'' live version of the track is featured in the film's accompanying soundtrack album. Its official title as a single, "Life During Wartime (This Ain't No Party... This Ain't No Disco... This Ain't No Foolin' Around)", makes it one of the longest-titled singles. The song is included in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.

Origin

In David Bowman's book ''This Must Be the Place: The Adventures of Talking Heads in the Twentieth Century'' Byrne is quoted as describing the genesis of the song:

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

's Bill Janowitz reviewed the song, calling attention to its nearness to funk, saying that it is a "sort of apocalyptic punk/funk merge" comparable to Prince's later hit single "

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". In 2012, ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issue ...

'' described "Life During Wartime" as, "an apocalyptic swamp-funk transmission in four-four time," adding " tis the band’s pinnacle, and the song is still a hell of a thing to hear."

Lyrics

The lyrics are told from the point of view of someone involved in clandestine activities in the U.S. (the cities

Houston Houston (; ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in Texas, the Southern United States#Major cities, most populous city in the Southern United States, the List of United States cities by population, fourth-most pop ...

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

, and

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

are mentioned) during some sort of civil unrest or

dystopian A dystopia (from Ancient Greek δυσ- "bad, hard" and τόπος "place"; alternatively cacotopiaCacotopia (from κακός ''kakos'' "bad") was the term used by Jeremy Bentham in his 1818 Plan of Parliamentary Reform (Works, vol. 3, p. 493). ...

environment. The line "This ain't no

Mudd Club The Mudd Club was a nightclub located at 77 White Street in the TriBeCa neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It operated from 1978 to 1983 as a venue for underground music and counterculture events. It was opened by Steve Maas, Di ...

CBGB CBGB was a New York City music club opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal in Manhattan's East Village. The club was previously a biker bar and before that was a dive bar. The letters ''CBGB'' were for '' Country'', '' BlueGrass'', and '' Blues'', Kri ...

" refers to two New York music venues at which the band performed in the 1970s. "The line 'This ain't no disco' sure stuck!" remarks Byrne in the

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the record sleeve, sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner n ...

of '' Once in a Lifetime: The Best of Talking Heads''. "Remember when they would build bonfires of

Donna Summer LaDonna Adrian Gaines (December 31, 1948May 17, 2012), known professionally as Donna Summer, was an American singer and songwriter. She gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s and became known as the "Honorific nicknames in popular m ...

records? Well, we liked some

disco music Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...

! It's called 'dance music' now. Some of it was radical, camp, silly, transcendent and disposable. So it was funny that we were sometimes seen as the flag-bearers of the anti-disco movement."

Charts

Chart runs

* ''Billboard'' Hot 100 (5 weeks, entered November 3): Reached #80

Personnel

David Byrne David Byrne (; born 14 May 1952) is a Scottish-American singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, writer, music theorist, visual artist and filmmaker. He was a founding member and the principal songwriter, lead singer, and guitarist of ...

- vocals, guitar * Jerry Harrison - synthesizers * Tina Weymouth - bass guitar *

Chris Frantz Charton Christopher Frantz (born May 8, 1951) is an American musician and record producer. He is the drummer for both Talking Heads and Tom Tom Club, both of which he co-founded with wife and Talking Heads bassist Tina Weymouth. In 2002, Fra ...

- drums *Ari and Gene Wilder - congas

Other versions

An alternative mix of the song featuring heavy guitar was released on the 2005 compilation ''

Talking Heads Talking Heads were an American rock band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991.Talkin ...

''.

Live versions

* 1980 ''Remain in Light'' tour version, appeared on the 1982 live compilation album ''

The Name Of This Band Is Talking Heads ''The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads'' is a double live album by the American new wave band Talking Heads, released in 1982 by Sire Records. The first LP features the original quartet in recordings from 1977 and 1979, and the second LP feat ...

'' * 1983 '' Stop Making Sense'' tour version, appeared on the

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

and film of the same name. * 1992

solo version, from the '' Between the Teeth'' film. * 2001 David Byrne solo version appeared on the 2007 album and film '' Live From Austin TX'' * 2003 David Byrne solo version appeared on the '' Live at Union Chapel'' film. * 2004 David Byrne and

Caetano Veloso Caetano Emanuel Viana Teles Veloso (; born 7 August 1942) is a Brazilian composer, singer, guitarist, writer, and political activist. Veloso first became known for his participation in the Brazilian musical movement Tropicalismo, which encomp ...

version, featured on the 2012 album '' Live at Carnegie Hall'' * 2009 David Byrne solo version, featuring in the 2010 film ''

Ride, Rise, Roar ''Ride, Rise, Roar'' is a documentary film chronicling the Songs of David Byrne and Brian Eno Tour conducted by David Byrne in 2008–2009. The film includes concert footage, footage of the planning and rehearsals for the tour, and exclusive int ...

Cover versions

The Staple Singers The Staple Singers were an American gospel, soul, and R&B singing group. Roebuck "Pops" Staples (December 28, 1914 – December 19, 2000), the patriarch of the family, formed the group with his children Cleotha (April 11, 1934 – February 21, ...

covered this song on their eponymous 1985 album.

In other media

* In the 2020 video game ''

Cyberpunk 2077 ''Cyberpunk 2077'' is a 2020 action role-playing video game developed by CD Projekt Red and published by CD Projekt. Set in Night City, an open world set in the ''Cyberpunk'' universe, players assume the role of a customisable mercenary kno ...

'', a mission is named after the song.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Life During Wartime (Song) 1979 singles 1983 singles Talking Heads songs Songs written by David Byrne Sire Records singles Song recordings produced by David Byrne Song recordings produced by Brian Eno Songs written by Jerry Harrison Songs written by Chris Frantz Songs written by Tina Weymouth Live singles 1979 songs