"Cities" is a single, released in 1980, 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.Talki ...

. It is the fourth track on the 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 ...

''.

Song style

"Cities" is a fast-paced bass and keyboard-led song.

Tina Weymouth Martina Michèle Weymouth (born November 22, 1950) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and a founding member and bassist of the new wave group Talking Heads and its side project Tom Tom Club, which she co-founded with her husband, Tal ...

's bass playing in the song is described by

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 databa ...

as both "melodic" and "funky", while David Byrne's guitar is said to be jittery, but clean-sounding. The song fades both in and out with a very aggressive funky rhythm and the fade-out serves as a build-up to the next song on the album, " Life During Wartime".

Lyrics

The song's meaning is simple: it is mainly about a man looking for a city to live in, though lead singer Byrne's surrealistic yet humorous delivery of the song is anything but simple. The lyrics are both

deadpan Deadpan, dry humour, or dry-wit humour is the deliberate display of emotional neutrality or no emotion, commonly as a form of comedic delivery to contrast with the ridiculousness or absurdity of the subject matter. The delivery is meant to be blun ...

and silly causing a mixed humor in the song. This combination can be seen in lyrics such as "Did I forget to mention, forget to mention Memphis, home of Elvis and the ancient Greeks."

Personnel

Sources: *David Byrne – lead vocals,

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

*Jerry Harrison – guitar,

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are ...

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

*Tina Weymouth –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

, backing vocals *Chris Frantz – drums * Brian Eno – electronic treatments

Other versions

The rock band Phish covered "Cities" on their 1997 album '' Slip, Stitch and Pass'' and it has been played frequently at their concerts.

Track listing

7" release # "Cities" – 4:10 # "Cities" – (live version) 12" release # "Cities" – 4:10 # "Cities" – (live version) # "Artists Only" – 3:36

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cities (Song) 1980 singles Talking Heads songs Songs written by David Byrne Sire Records singles Song recordings produced by David Byrne Song recordings produced by Brian Eno 1979 songs Songs about cities