David Byrne and the Utopian Imagination

We’re not fixed, our brains can change. Who we are thankfully extends beyond ourselves . . . to the connections between all of us.

—DavidByrne,American Utopia

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been an enthusiast of singer-songwriter David Byrne. At a young age, my father introduced me to his music through the Talking Heads commercial breakthrough album Speaking in Tongues, a textured art-rock compilation that shaped New Wave music of the 1980s. The album contained well-known tracks like “This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody),” “Slippery People,” and “Burning Down the House,” and has remained in Byrne’s repertoire since the band split in the early 1990s, at which time he launched a successful solo album career while collaborating with numerous artists spanning music, film, theatre, opera, and visual art. But Byrne is not only a brilliant musician: in conceptualizing his concert performances, which might be more aptly described as full-on theatrical productions, he functions as an auteur, collaborating with artists on everything from the set, lighting, and costume design to movement and choreography. He produces conceptual frameworks for his performances that serve to foreground his dynamic stage presence and powerful voice. His work unreservedly crosses artistic boundaries and borrows elements from a wide range of cultural sources, from Noh theatre to downtown experimental dance. More than any other popular rock artist (perhaps aside from Laurie Anderson), Byrne continues to collapse the boundaries between the mainstream and the experimental, always hovering somewhere in between, drawing disparate audiences together that might otherwise never cross paths while remaining part of the cultural zeitgeist.

Byrne’s performances seek to derive an embodied response from audiences: his rhythmic playfulness and off-kilter lyrics necessitate an immediate kinetic reaction, further accentuated by his high-energy stage persona, motivating spectators to move freely and dance together in unison. His penchant for theatricality was famously captured in the live concert footage featured in Jonathan Demme’s renowned 1984 film Stop Making Sense, the first recording I ever saw of Byrne on stage, which expanded my understanding of his vision as a performer. The film showcases his frenetic, ecstatic movements on stage, at times reminiscent of ritual dance or even evangelical preaching. This comparison seems appropriate when considering the ways his songs have the power to induce a trance-like state as he immerses audiences in heightened theatrical worlds. He possesses a keen awareness of the audience and the uncanny ability to make everyone feel connected, creating a theatrical utopia of sorts as a true citizen artist.

Stop Making Sense begins with an empty stage and stripped-down sound; as it progresses, the space slowly fills up with musical equipment, band members, and set pieces so that we see the genesis of the music as the energy crescendos and more and more bodies take up the stage who echo Byrne’s vocals and movement. Byrne oversaw all elements of the stage performance captured in the film, collaborating with lighting designer Beverly Emmons (who had previously worked with Robert Wilson and Philip Glass for Einstein on the Beach) and director JoAnne Akalaitis who Byrne invited to provide feedback on the stage performance (and with whom he would later work on Mabou Mines’ Dead End Kids). As he has stated publicly, Byrne doesn’t want his work to be naturalistic in any way, but prefers his performances to be heightened above the mundane of everyday life.

Byrne’s performance style remains markedly theatrical, influenced by a career-long engagement with the avant-garde. His work is both experimental and popular, allowing him to bring different perspectives to audiences who might otherwise never venture below Fourteenth Street. His collaborations include productions with Robert Wilson, Twyla Tharp, Spalding Gray, and Meredith Monk, among many other experimental artists. These experiences undoubtedly pushed Byrne to adopt a more presentational style in his work. Rebelling against the industry standard of authenticity and naturalism with roots in the 1960s, he opts instead for a unified artistic vision that encompasses all aspects of theatrical and musical production. This aesthetic development and his own performance philosophy are the focus...