Favorite Big Songs: The Big Country (#2)

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Some people look forward to a day off. I would rather have gone to work than the medical “management” class I went to. Oh, well, I’ll return to work tomorrow with a little wisdom in that regard, as well as much thanksgiving that we didn’t have major damage from the storms last night. (The worst damage was south of us in the farming region, mostly barns destroyed. For today’s music countdowns, there are NO surprises to be had whatsoever. I’ve used these songs and these people before a time or 80. First up is the old favorite with a song on my list of favorites with “big” in the title. #2: The Big Country - Talking Heads Can you believe I have a song ranked above my beloved Talking Heads? Oh, yeah...and when it’s revealed you’ll see why it ranks above this. What can I say that I haven’t said before? It’s Talking Heads at their best, from the album that introduced me to them (their second, with their initial top 40 hit, “Take Me to the River”). David Byrne is a genius at looking at a picture and telling you about the leaves on the tree in the background instead of the “subject” in the foreground. He was inspired to write this by looking out of a window on an airline flight. The original title for this album was going to be “Oh, What a Big Country,” after this song. Instead, they went with More Songs About Buildings and Food, which is a nod to this song (the only song on the album that mentions food, and in a comical but accurate way: “they grow it in those farm lands, then they take it to the store, they put it in their car trunks then they bring it back home”). No matter what they called it, even today, 40 years after its release, you can call it a classic album. The Big Country Written by David Byrne Recorded by Talking Heads From More Songs About Buildings and Food, 1978 I guess it’s healthy: