David Byrne doesn’t think Talking Heads will perform together again.
The 73-year-old singer and guitarist reunited with Chris Frantz, Jerry Harrison and Tina Weymouth two years ago to promote the rerelease of their concert film Stop Making Sense and while the fact relations seemed amicable suggested the group – who last performed together when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002 – could tour again, the Psycho Killer hitmaker has admitted that is unlikely.
Asked about the possibility, he told Sunday Times Culture magazine: “I recall we were on TV together and people went, ‘Well, they all seem to be getting along.’
“But no, I don’t think so. On a practical level, trying to recreate the feeling that people had when they were in their early twenties? The time that they first heard that music? That’s a fool’s errand.
“And besides, I’m really enjoying what I’m doing.”
David’s new solo album, Who Is the Sky? is his first in seven years and he deliberately tried to avoid writing about his advancing years.
He said: “Well, I’m certainly aware I am older. “But I have consciously tried not to write about ageing or death approaching. It creeps in, but that is a well-trodden subject by songwriters.”
The A Door Called No singer believes he has changed over the years and is a lot more “socially comfortable” than he used to be.
He said: “Well, I am quite a bit more socially comfortable than I was.
“I do think music really helped. It’s a cliché, but music is cathartic.
“And it’s also about getting older. Because you can change with time.
“I have friends who’ve told me, ‘David, some things that you did were ridiculous.’ I’d invite people over to my house and then go and hide. I don’t do that any more.”
David feels he has “failed” as a songwriter if people misunderstand his lyrics.
Asked if it is annoying when people don’t realise what he is singing about, he said: “Well, I cannot help but think I have failed, because I wasn’t able to communicate what I thought I was.”