Psycho Killer (4:19)
1,090,670 plays (229,020 listeners)
“Psycho Killer” is a song by Talking Heads from their 1977 album Talking Heads: 77, written by David Byrne, Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth. The band’s “signature debut hit” features lyrics which seem to represent the thoughts of a serial killer. Allmusic calls it a “deceptively funky New Wave/No Wave song … an insistent rhythm, and one of the most memorable, driving bass lines in rock & roll.”
“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. It almost made the top ten in the Netherlands, peaking at #11 in 1977.
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:
When I started writing this (I got help later), I imagined Alice Cooper doing a Randy Newman-type ballad. Both the Joker and Hannibal Lecter were much more fascinating than the good guys. Everybody sort of roots for the bad guys in movies.
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
“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. It almost made the top ten in the Netherlands, peaking at #11 in 1977.
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:
When I started writing this (I got help later), I imagined Alice Cooper doing a Randy Newman-type ballad. Both the Joker and Hannibal Lecter were much more fascinating than the good guys. Everybody sort of roots for the bad guys in movies.
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
Video
Added by tuchovgray
This is a music video I made of the talking heads super smash hit Psycho Killer
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Stop Making Sense
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Shouts
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bearable-noise wrote:
Que est-ce que c'est
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frogstar70 wrote:
yes yes yes bring back the touth :)
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Crush1800 wrote:
This is the fist song on an album we have that is like a greatest hits. Awesome group, yes, one needs to read the lyrics at times. PEACE
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JimmyDiggs wrote:
i like this live version more than the studio version. david byrne just rocks the fuck out with his little boombox and his acoustic. funky mothafunka.
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unpluggedalex wrote:
Run, run, run, run, run, run, run away.
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Thimsa wrote:
.. Dit nummer mag ontbreken in een collectie ...
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phoenixdbp wrote:
This is not the live version, thank God. The live track has a simpler bass line and this is what makes this better IMO
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paauliii wrote:
fa fa fa fa fa fa ♥ ♥ ♥
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MrsSprout wrote:
so slow can cant stand it
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MrsSprout wrote:
qu"est que jai fais? pass my time typing french
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camilarossi wrote:
Classic song!
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sionborg wrote:
Great Song !!
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Giooz wrote:
My fa fa fa fa favorite! [4]
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rferdinand wrote:
Can´t seem to face up to the facts... i´m tense and nervous and i can´t relax....
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salimos wrote:
the live version from "Stop Making Sense" is like a whole other song and so much better. [3]
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rosebudz wrote:
my song....
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mrfootball70 wrote:
ooohhh live...neat!
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goonerphil wrote:
Can't sleep - bed's on fire... Don't touch me, I'm a real live wire..... !
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ilikebluetooth wrote:
My fa fa fa fa favorite! [3]
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DGBetoDG wrote:
My fa fa fa fa favorite! [2]
Talking Heads
Psycho Killer
30-second preview
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grrgs, miahstoleurface, ldub49 and 11 other people loved Talking Heads – Psycho Killer. 1 hour ago
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