English, baby!

Talking Heads

Date: Aug 07 2006

Intro

1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

Welcome to Head Week at English, baby! This week, we are going to be talking about some pretty heady issues! Not really. We’ll actually be talking about some pretty light-hearted issues. Like in today’s lesson, we’re talking about the Talking Heads, a classic American band.

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Steph

Cindy

Steph: Have you ever seen the Talking Heads?

Cindy: No.

Steph: Really? I guess it’s not really, they’re not really a band anymore. Um, but David Byrne, he was the leader of the Talking Heads, and he has a solo career now.

Cindy: Oh, that’s right. But he’s not Gabriel Byrne, right? Are they related?

Steph: I really don’t think so. But they could be. I mean, we could google that.

Cindy: Ok.

Steph: Yeah. That’s a good idea. Yeah. But David Byrne is really cool. Is Gabriel Byrne a musician as well?

Cindy: I think so.

Steph: Wow! Huh. I had no idea! Well anyway, yeah, David Byrne is so good. And he wears these really cool costumes when he goes on stage.

Cindy: Ya know, I think I’ve seen them on MTV.

Steph: Probably. He, they had a lot of popular songs in the eighties. And then David Byrne had a lot of popular songs in the nineties.

Cindy: What’s a Talking Heads song?

Steph: Oh. Ya know that song, it goes something like, look at your life, um, ya know, it’s changed so much. I can’t believe this is my life anymore. I’m not really good at lyrics.

Cindy: That’s okay. I think I know the one you’re talking about.

Steph: Well, ya know, it’s so hard. I could sing it for you, but I’d be too embarrassed.

Cindy: No. Go ahead!

Steph: No thanks!

Quizzes

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Discussion

Popular Talking Heads songs include Psycho Killer, Once in a Lifetime, and Burning Down the House. A tremendous live performance can be seen on a DVD called Stop Making Sense.

David Byrne is truly the quirkiest performer I have ever seen in my life. When I saw him perform, he changed outfits like 4 times. That’s not bad for 1 hour! I thought I was bad! Anyway, he is really great. If you ever get the chance to see him perform, you should definitely do it!