Once in a Lifetime ( Talking Heads song ) - wikipedia Once in a Lifetime ( Talking Heads song ) `` Once in a Lifetime '' Cover art of UK 7 '' and 12 '' vinyl singles Single by Talking Heads from the album Remain in Light B - side `` Seen and Not Seen '' `` Crosseyed and Painless '' `` Listening Wind '' Released February 2, 1981 Format 7 '' 12 '' Recorded July -- August 1980 Genre New wave art pop Length 4 : 19 Label Sire Songwriter ( s ) David Byrne Brian Eno Chris Frantz Jerry Harrison Tina Weymouth Producer ( s ) Brian Eno Talking Heads singles chronology `` Crosseyed and Painless '' ( 1980 ) `` Once in a Lifetime '' ( 1981 ) `` String Module Error : Match not found '' ( 1981 ) `` Crosseyed and Painless '' ( 1980 ) `` Once in a Lifetime '' ( 1981 ) `` Houses in Motion '' ( alternate mix ) ( 1981 ) `` And She Was '' ( 1985 ) And She Was 1985 `` Once in a Lifetime '' ( Live ) ( 1985 ) String Module Error : Match not found1985 `` Wild Wild Life '' ( 1986 ) Wild Wild Life 1986 Alternative release A-side label of US vinyl single `` Once in a Lifetime '' is a song by the American rock band Talking Heads, produced and co-written by Brian Eno. The lead single from Talking Heads ' fourth studio album, Remain in Light ( 1980 ), it was released on February 2, 1981, through Sire Records. Eno and the band developed the song through extensive jams, inspired by Afrobeat musicians such as Fela Kuti. David Byrne 's lyrics and vocals were inspired by preachers delivering sermons. The music video has Byrne dancing erratically in a suit over footage of religious rituals. NPR named `` Once in a Lifetime '' one of the 100 most important American musical works of the 20th century. The song is one of the 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll listed by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Contents 1 Production 2 Lyrics 3 Music video 4 Release and reception 5 Personnel 6 Charts 7 References 8 External links Production Like other songs on the album Remain in Light, Talking Heads developed `` Once in a Lifetime '' by recording jams, isolating the best parts, and learning to play them repetitively. The technique was influenced by early hip hop, and the afrobeat music of artists such as Fela Kuti, which producer Brian Eno had introduced to the band. Singer David Byrne likened to the process to modern looping and sampling : `` We were human samplers. '' He said the song was a result of the band trying and failing to play funk, inadvertently creating something new instead. Songwriter Robert Palmer joined the jam on guitar and percussion. The track was initially not one of Eno 's favorites, and it was almost abandoned. According to keyboardist Jerry Harrison, `` Because there were so few chord changes, and everything was in a sort of trance... it became harder to write defined choruses. '' However, Byrne had faith in the song and felt he could write lyrics to it. After Eno developed the chorus melody by singing wordlessly, the song `` fell into place ''. Harrison developed the `` bubbly '' synthesizer line and added the Hammond organ climax, taken from the Velvet Underground 's `` What Goes On ''. Eno interpreted the rhythm differently from the band ; he interpreted the third beat of the bar as the first. He encouraged the musicians to interpret the beat in different ways, thereby exaggerating different rhythmic elements. According to Eno, `` This means the song has a funny balance, with two centers of gravity - their funk groove, and my dubby, reggae - ish understanding of it ; a bit like the way Fela Kuti songs will have multiple rhythms going on at the same time, warping in and out of each other. '' According to bassist Tina Weymouth, her husband, drummer Chris Frantz, created the bassline by yelling during a jam, which she mimicked on bass guitar. She wanted `` leave lots of space for the cacophony that surrounded me. I felt like I was pounding away like a carpenter, just nailing away to get it in the groove. '' Eno wanted to remove the `` one '' in the bassline, as he felt it was too `` obvious '', and rerecorded the part himself. When the band returned to New York and Eno had gone home, the engineer asked Weymouth to record the bassline again. She said : `` It was n't a big fight between me and Brian, as it has sometimes been portrayed, it was just a musical dispute. '' Lyrics According to Frantz, Byrne `` disappeared for two months '' to write the lyrics. Byrne improvised lines as if he were giving a sermon, with a call - and - response chorus like a preacher and congregation. His vocals are `` half - spoken, half - sung '', with lyrics about living in a `` beautiful house '' with a `` beautiful wife '' and a `` large automobile ''. The Guardian suggested that the song could be read `` as an art - pop rumination on the existential ticking time bomb of unchecked consumerism and advancing age ''. According to AllMusic critic Steve Huey, the lyrics address `` the drudgery of living life according to social expectations, and pursuing commonly accepted trophies ( a large automobile, beautiful house, beautiful wife ). '' Although the singer has these trophies, he questions whether they are real and how he got them, a kind of existential crisis. Byrne disagreed that the lyrics address yuppie greed and said the song was about the unconscious : `` We operate half - awake or on autopilot and end up, whatever, with a house and family and job and everything else, and we have n't really stopped to ask ourselves, ' How did I get here ? ' '' Music video In the `` Once in a Lifetime '' music video, singer David Byrne, dressed in a suit, bowtie and glasses, dances erratically over footage of religious rituals. In the `` Once in a Lifetime '' music video, Byrne appears in a large, empty white room, dressed in a suit, bowtie and glasses. He dances erratically, imitating the movements of religious rituals or moving in `` spasmic '' full - body contortions. In the background, inserted via bluescreen, footage of religious rituals or multiple Byrnes appear. At the end of the video, Byrne is replaced by a `` normal '' version of himself in a white, open - collared shirt and no glasses, in a black room. Release and reception The song gained modest chart success, peaking at # 14 on the UK Singles Chart and at # 31 in the Dutch singles chart. A live version, taken from the 1984 concert film Stop Making Sense, charted in early 1986, reaching # 91 on the Hot 100. In 1996, Kermit the Frog performed the song on an episode of Muppets Tonight. Kermit appears in Byrne 's `` big suit '' and mimics Byrne 's dances from Stop Making Sense. In 2016, Guardian writer Malcolm Jack wrote : `` ' Once in a Lifetime ' is a thing of dizzying power, beauty and mystery... it sounds like nothing else in the history of pop. '' In 2000, NPR named `` Once in a Lifetime '' one of the 100 most important American musical works of the 20th century. It is included in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. In 2003, BBC critic Chris Jones wrote : `` ( The ) hilarious video for `` Once in A Lifetime '', with David Byrne 's twitchy Middle American preacher in horn rims, remains as compelling as it was in 1981. And how many other videos can you say that about ? '' An early version of `` Once in a Lifetime '', `` Right Start '', was released on the 2006 Remain in Light reissue. Personnel Talking Heads David Byrne -- vocals, guitar Jerry Harrison -- keyboards, guitar, backing vocals Tina Weymouth -- bass, backing vocals Chris Frantz -- drums Additional personnel Brian Eno -- vocals, keyboards, percussion Nona Hendryx -- backing vocals Adrian Belew -- guitar Charts Original version Chart ( 1981 ) Peak position Australian Singles Chart 23 Canadian Singles Chart 28 Dutch Singles Chart 24 Irish Singles Chart 16 UK Singles Chart 14 US Billboard Bubbling Under the Hot 100 103 Live version Chart ( 1985 ) Peak position Dutch Singles Chart 22 New Zealand Singles Chart 15 US Billboard Hot 100 91 References Jump up ^ Huey, Steve. `` Once In a Lifetime - Talking Heads ''. AllMusic. Retrieved November 7, 2017. Jump up ^ Potton, Ed ( August 15, 2015 ). `` David Byrne : composer, curator, cyclist -- not just a Talking Head ''. The Times. Retrieved February 28, 2016. ^ Jump up to : `` The Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll ''. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on January 2, 2016. Retrieved April 9, 2018. ^ Jump up to : Lewis, John ( November 2007 ). `` The Making Of... Once in a Lifetime by Talking Heads ''. Uncut. ^ Jump up to : `` '' Once in a Lifetime '' National Public Radio broadcast, March 27, 2000 ``. NPR. Retrieved April 7, 2018. Jump up ^ `` The 100 most important American musical works of the 20th century ''. NPR. Retrieved April 7, 2018. ^ Jump up to : Huey, S. `` Once in a Lifetime ''. AllMusic. Retrieved March 30, 2014. ^ Jump up to : Jack, Malcolm ( 21 September 2016 ). `` Talking Heads -- 10 of the best ''. the Guardian. Retrieved 20 March 2018. Jump up ^ Gittens, I. ( 2004 ). Talking Heads : Once in a Lifetime : the Stories Behind Every Song. Hal Leonard. pp. 68 -- 71. ISBN 9780634080333. Jump up ^ `` Ridiculously Awesome Music Videos : The Heads ' `` Once in a Lifetime '' ``. Consequence of Sound. 2008 - 11 - 25. Retrieved 2018 - 03 - 20. ^ Jump up to : `` Chart Stats -- Talking Heads ''. Chart Stats. Archived from the original on February 17, 2012. Retrieved August 13, 2011. ^ Jump up to : `` Discografie Talking Heads ''. Dutchcharts.nl ( in Dutch ). Retrieved August 13, 2011. Jump up ^ `` The Hot 100 : Week of May 3, 1986 ''. Billboard.com. Retrieved April 28, 2015. Jump up ^ Blevins, Joe. `` Kermit The Frog gets existential with this Talking Heads cover ''. News. Retrieved 2018 - 03 - 26. Jump up ^ Karr, Rick ( March 27, 2000 ). `` The 100 Most Important American Musical Works of the 20th Century ''. NPR. Retrieved February 12, 2016. Jump up ^ Jones, Chris ( November 17, 2003 ). `` Music - Review of Talking Heads - Once In A Lifetime ''. BBC. Retrieved February 12, 2016. Jump up ^ `` Once in a Lifetime - Talking Heads - Credits - AllMusic ''. AllMusic. Retrieved April 7, 2018. Jump up ^ `` Discography Talking Heads ''. Australian-charts.com. Retrieved August 13, 2011. Jump up ^ `` Talking Heads Top Singles positions ''. RPM. Archived from the original on September 21, 2011. Retrieved August 13, 2011. ^ Jump up to : `` Talking Heads > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles ''. Allmusic. Retrieved August 13, 2011. Jump up ^ `` Discography Talking Heads ''. Charts.org.nz. Retrieved August 14, 2011. External links `` Once in a Lifetime '' music video on MTV.com ( Windows Media Video format ) NPR interviews David Byrne on the occasion of the Once in Lifetime box set release on November 18, 2003 Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics Talking Heads David Byrne Chris Frantz Jerry Harrison Tina Weymouth Studio albums Talking Heads : 77 More Songs About Buildings and Food Fear of Music Remain in Light Speaking in Tongues Little Creatures True Stories Naked Live albums The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads Stop Making Sense Compilations Sand in the Vaseline : Popular Favorites Once in a Lifetime : The Best of Talking Heads Once in a Lifetime The Best of Talking Heads Talking Heads Bonus Rarities and Outtakes Singles `` Love → Building on Fire '' `` Psycho Killer '' `` Take Me to the River '' `` Life During Wartime '' `` I Zimbra '' `` Cities '' `` Crosseyed and Painless '' `` Once in a Lifetime '' `` Houses in Motion '' `` Burning Down the House '' `` This Must Be the Place ( Naive Melody ) '' `` Girlfriend Is Better '' `` Road to Nowhere '' `` And She Was '' `` Wild Wild Life '' `` Blind '' `` ( Nothing But ) Flowers '' `` Sax and Violins '' Other songs `` Heaven '' `` Born Under Punches ( The Heat Goes On ) '' Filmography Stop Making Sense True Stories Storytelling Giant Related articles Discography How Music Works `` King 's Lead Hat '' My Life in the Bush of Ghosts No Talking, Just Head Sounds from True Stories Tom Tom Club Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Once_in_a_Lifetime_(Talking_Heads_song)&oldid=835498113 '' Categories : Talking Heads songs Songs written by David Byrne 1981 singles 1985 singles Songs written by Brian Eno Sire Records singles Song recordings produced by Brian Eno Songs written by Jerry Harrison Songs written by Chris Frantz Songs written by Tina Weymouth Live singles 1980 songs Music videos directed by Toni Basil Hidden categories : Use mdy dates from February 2016 Music infoboxes with Module : String errors Music infoboxes with deprecated parameters Articles which use infobox templates with no data rows Articles with hAudio microformats Talk Contents About Wikipedia Deutsch Italiano Nederlands Edit links This page was last edited on 9 April 2018, at 01 : 44. 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Question: who sang the song same as it ever was
Answer: Talking Heads