Take Me to the River

"Take Me to the River" is a song by Lorde, released on March 28, 2024 as the third single from Everyone's Getting Involved, a tribute-album released by A24 for the American rock band Talking Heads.

The song was originally composed by Al Green and Mabon Hodges, and covered by the band Talking Heads in 1978.

Lorde explained her process in a note to her fans: This version of the first Talking Heads song I ever heard was done in a few days in Echo Park, L.A. with my friend Jimmy. It’s my interpretation of that pixellated spiritual experience. We did it fast, I didn’t let myself tidy it up too much, it had to feel young and imperfect, the peeling posters, the jaw of acne.
It’s beyond a great honour to be part of this compilation. In doing so, I am reaching back through time and pinning something to that kid’s wall.

Lorde is a Talking Heads fan, and spoke about her first time hearing their music: In the video I see a band from another time performing on a TV show. The dark haired man is singing a song about wanting someone, not being sure why. He is a preacher, a controlled fire, a wild animal. He’s moving like I’ve never seen anyone move, and his eyes are rolling back in his head. He knows how it feels to kiss with tongue. The wifi signal drops in and out from downstairs. I feel a portal open between me and the screen. Humour, lust, rhythm and ritual course through me. I don’t understand what I’m feeling, but I do understand that the band in the grainy video live with the same strangeness that I do. My palms tingle. My insides are replaced.