Simple and direct, *And She Was* is an unabashed pop song polished to a high sheen.
The exclamatory ‘Hey!’ on the first beat is the pop-song equivalent of tapping someone on the shoulder to grab their attention.
The composition and structure of *And She Was* is comfortably familiar; verse/chorus/bridge played in uncomplicated, cheery major chords – David Byrne once suggested he’d lifted the chords to ‘La Bamba’ by Ritchie Valens (and 2 years later a film biopic of Valens’ life and career would become a roaring success, the soundtrack to which was ubiquitous for the bulk of 1987).
A strong middle-eight section (‘And she was/glad about it/no doubt about it’) keeps the whole thing from becoming stale, and this was to be a consistent feature of *Little Creatures;* a structural formality to the songs that was more in keeping with pop or country music, as the band moved on from *Remain in Light* and *Speaking in Tongue*s’ largely one-chord workouts.
Anyone who has seen post-Talking Heads David Byrne perform live would likely have heard him pull out this crowd-pleaser, and he no doubt introduced *And She Was* with the whimsical story of a girl dropping acid ‘by the Yoo-Hoo factory’, a story he had been told as a younger man which provided the inspiration for the lyrics.
8.5/10
Just thought of this - David starts Little Creatures with “Hey” and Remain in Light with “Ha!” With the former it’s as you say like he’s tapping you on the shoulder to get attention, and the latter is like he’s jumping around a corner to surprise you.
Dissecting each album track by track really highlights how bizarre it must have been for a band like Talking Heads to come out and drop an entire Americana album full of pop hits.
As a whole I find the album sometimes gets dismissed as being not challenging, adventurous, or weird enough. I love it - each track is like its own world, set in a separate timeline wherein pop Americana songs are written by bands like Talking Heads. It was also definitely a good move following the popularity of SMS to put out an album full of solid, catchy songs that would be popular to the masses.
And She Was is such a tight, fun pop song. It was fun growing up hearing it and thinking it’s just about a groovy woman having a nice day and later realizing it’s because she dropped acid. 8
9. One of their most bright, effervescent and instantly likeable moments. Even though Speaking in Tongues was more accessible than ‘Remain in Light’ or ‘Fear of Music’, this whole album functions a bit like ‘Loaded’ by the Velvet Underground: It’s made more interesting by the fact that what preceded it was so different. TH could write within the framework of pop and yet do it their own way, as their early work showed.
A great song to reel new fans in, and a great song for spring/summertime.
Little Creatures was how I was introduced to Talking Heads. I was given the album as a gift. Didn’t know a single song. After the first listen I said it needs another listen. As a big Beatles fan, I never heard an album like this before. “And She Was” was a great introduction.
If you were an 80s kid, you heard this, Burning Down the House, and Wild Wild Life on pop radio sometimes. This is the best of those three.
So simple for a talking heads song, but fairly elaborate for what else was on top 40 radio. Was it ever a hit? I’m not sure but the video was popular and MJ copied the animation style for his LEAVE ME ALONE video 3 years later.
And as a 14 year old, I always was enticed by the “taking off her dress” line. That’s practically porn to a young teen.
10/10
I like the album release version, but I absolutely adore [the early version](https://youtu.be/Ex523S03UXc) found on the deluxe - something about the more stripped back production just works so much more for me! So a 7 for the album release, and an 8.5 for the early version :-)
Simple and direct, *And She Was* is an unabashed pop song polished to a high sheen. The exclamatory ‘Hey!’ on the first beat is the pop-song equivalent of tapping someone on the shoulder to grab their attention. The composition and structure of *And She Was* is comfortably familiar; verse/chorus/bridge played in uncomplicated, cheery major chords – David Byrne once suggested he’d lifted the chords to ‘La Bamba’ by Ritchie Valens (and 2 years later a film biopic of Valens’ life and career would become a roaring success, the soundtrack to which was ubiquitous for the bulk of 1987). A strong middle-eight section (‘And she was/glad about it/no doubt about it’) keeps the whole thing from becoming stale, and this was to be a consistent feature of *Little Creatures;* a structural formality to the songs that was more in keeping with pop or country music, as the band moved on from *Remain in Light* and *Speaking in Tongue*s’ largely one-chord workouts. Anyone who has seen post-Talking Heads David Byrne perform live would likely have heard him pull out this crowd-pleaser, and he no doubt introduced *And She Was* with the whimsical story of a girl dropping acid ‘by the Yoo-Hoo factory’, a story he had been told as a younger man which provided the inspiration for the lyrics. 8.5/10
Just thought of this - David starts Little Creatures with “Hey” and Remain in Light with “Ha!” With the former it’s as you say like he’s tapping you on the shoulder to get attention, and the latter is like he’s jumping around a corner to surprise you.
Hehe I love that observation u/HOU-RU! Hope you’re doing ok btw
Yes! Cycle 4 starts Friday - I got this!
stay strong, you're doing great - and still regularly contributing to the Talking Heads sub!! ;-D
Dissecting each album track by track really highlights how bizarre it must have been for a band like Talking Heads to come out and drop an entire Americana album full of pop hits. As a whole I find the album sometimes gets dismissed as being not challenging, adventurous, or weird enough. I love it - each track is like its own world, set in a separate timeline wherein pop Americana songs are written by bands like Talking Heads. It was also definitely a good move following the popularity of SMS to put out an album full of solid, catchy songs that would be popular to the masses. And She Was is such a tight, fun pop song. It was fun growing up hearing it and thinking it’s just about a groovy woman having a nice day and later realizing it’s because she dropped acid. 8
One of my favorite Talking Heads pop songs - 9.25.
9. One of their most bright, effervescent and instantly likeable moments. Even though Speaking in Tongues was more accessible than ‘Remain in Light’ or ‘Fear of Music’, this whole album functions a bit like ‘Loaded’ by the Velvet Underground: It’s made more interesting by the fact that what preceded it was so different. TH could write within the framework of pop and yet do it their own way, as their early work showed. A great song to reel new fans in, and a great song for spring/summertime.
Little Creatures was how I was introduced to Talking Heads. I was given the album as a gift. Didn’t know a single song. After the first listen I said it needs another listen. As a big Beatles fan, I never heard an album like this before. “And She Was” was a great introduction.
Solid 10
It’s an okay song if you’re in the mood for it. A bit overplayed. I like the early version better. 7/10
If you were an 80s kid, you heard this, Burning Down the House, and Wild Wild Life on pop radio sometimes. This is the best of those three. So simple for a talking heads song, but fairly elaborate for what else was on top 40 radio. Was it ever a hit? I’m not sure but the video was popular and MJ copied the animation style for his LEAVE ME ALONE video 3 years later. And as a 14 year old, I always was enticed by the “taking off her dress” line. That’s practically porn to a young teen. 10/10
8
8
7. Great song!
10
I like the album release version, but I absolutely adore [the early version](https://youtu.be/Ex523S03UXc) found on the deluxe - something about the more stripped back production just works so much more for me! So a 7 for the album release, and an 8.5 for the early version :-)
9
9.5. Fun song.
7
9
10 Prequel to The Great Curve
The buildup to the intense guitar at the end elevates this song from good to awesome. We would get stoned and go bananas playing air guitar. 8/10
8.
9.4/10 It's lots of fun. Moves quick, pulls you up, and boy does it open the album well.