Three versions of the song “Love → Building on Fire” are readily available. There’s a single, a live version from a 1977 bootleg (the year of the band’s first studio album) and a version on the live album “The Name of this Band is Talking Heads.”
I chose the version from “The Name of this Band…” because the bootleg version has terrible sound quality. Also, the single version suffers from late 70s/early 80s production styles, where everything is either incredibly muffled, it sounds like it was recorded in an empty warehouse and snare drums last a good five seconds with the added reverb. The live, well-recorded version lets the song sound like it should.
The “Love” starts with some crowd noise and applause, which I could do without, but that’s a part of any live album. Then short drum rolls attack and get your attention. Next, David Byrne starts singing. The guitar line sounds a bit like Byrne’s voice, which I don’t think is something guitarists strive for most of the time, but here it adds to the song. The chorus includes the line, “Which is my face, Which is a building, Which is on fire,” and sounds just like a Talking Heads song.
Whenever I go through to try and decide my favorites of anything: music, television, movies, books, etc., I realize that I want whatever it is to be the most of itself that it can be. By that I mean that I want a G-funk hip-hop song to be the g-funkiest, hip-hoppiest song I can imagine. David Byrne songs sound most David Byrneiest when the Talking Heads were still together and when they performed live. You can hear the live improvisations that describe the band better than any words on this song and throughout the band’s live albums. “Love → Building on Fire (Live)” is perhaps the most alternative, new-waviest, talking headiest song I know, which is why it is my favorite song ever, this week.
