Psycho Killer (4:19)
1,057,740 plays (222,995 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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Albums featuring this track
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Stop Making Sense
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77
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The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads
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Shouts
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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]
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Brooklyn211 wrote:
nice
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henri-Q wrote:
the live version from "Stop Making Sense" is like a whole other song and so much better. [2]
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lsoldmarcelis wrote:
first time I heard the live version....NICE
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gertski wrote:
me like this song!
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Luigicamp wrote:
I agree with some of the posts.. the live version from "Stop Making Sense" is like a whole other song and so much better.
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tryxee wrote:
My fa fa fa fa favorite!
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Zunshine wrote:
classic
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mimilamigale wrote:
fafafa fafafa fafa @@@@@@@@@;-)
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ghschilder wrote:
wohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
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ionbulgar wrote:
the live version is twice as great :D
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nocturana wrote:
*****
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forensicista wrote:
I forget how great this is, then I hear it again!
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kikikirsche wrote:
:-)))))
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rogums wrote:
Ohh....an all time fav song
Talking Heads
Psycho Killer
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xbigfredx, umigiri, mixs and 1 other person loved Talking Heads – Psycho Killer. 7 minutes ago
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