The story behind the record cover: Remain in Light (1980) - TALKING HEADS
Sometimes everything seems to be turned upside down. A letter A appears to be upside down. Or a red glow seems to cover your colleagues' images on Zoom, like some kind of mask. Am I looking at the cover of "Remain in Light", I ask myself? What is going on? I blink, but the image remains. I've lost my course. Everything becomes mysterious. Are those shadowy masks the true identity of my colleagues and is their image that I normally see merely a facade? The ground opens up underneath my feet, as if disappearing like a torpedo-bomber in the Bermuda Triangle. But then everything becomes light and bright again. I see right through the hypocrisy of the meeting with a few pertinent remarks and finally it turns in the right direction. My colleagues see the cover in my study, but are not aware of its effect on me and therefore on themselves.
"Remain in Light". I actually never really understood the artwork. Now it seems dated, but in the 1980s manipulating portrait photos by means of a computer was groundbreaking. The idea comes from bassist Tina Weymouth and drummer Chris Frantz. "Wow, can you edit photos on the computer?" They asked an acquaintance who worked at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) in Boston. "Yes," he said. He picked up a random photo of the torpedo bombers that suddenly disappeared from radar in the Bermuda Triangle in 1945. This edited photo ended up on the back cover. It is a symbol of inexplicable loss and fits the atmosphere of confusion appearing in singer David Byrne's lyrics.
The acquaintance edited several portraits of the band members and eventually designer Tibor Kalman got to work and designed this cover. Kalman was also well known among the members of Talking Heads. He has produced covers for pretentious American magazines such as "Interview" and "Colors".
The artwork is a nod to African masks, the album is full of African rhythms, which David Byrne and producer Brian Eno patented at the time. Even after 40 years, the music and the album cover retain something mysterious. As a listener you hardly get a grip on it, but it does give you goosebumps. Bizarre guitar solos from guitarist Adrian Belew. He can make a guitar sound like an elephant. Four years ago he played at the Boerderij.
Strange rhythms and beautiful lyrics such as in the song "Once in a Lifetime"; "You may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful wife and a big car" and suddenly you start thinking, "How did I get here?". "Am I right, am I wrong....? My God! What have I done?". The subconsciousness of the human mind is constantly in communication with David Byrne. I can lose myself completely in Byrne's lyrics. The Talking Heads' record sleeves also have a lot to tell. Like the story about the torpedo bomber planes for example; fascinating. When I read more about it, it seemed like I ended up in the Bermuda Triangle. I felt like a pilot. I lost control, my compass turned to all directions. I was completely absorbed in the story. And then suddenly, once again, there's the simple truth. The cover is just a cover. The computer screen is just a computer screen with four frames representing my colleagues. My inner compass is working again and I know which way I want to go. On to the next story behind the record cover.
By Gerrit-Jan Vrielink
Translation: Alex Driessen
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