(Nothing But) Flowers Lyrics

Whoa, the last line sums it all up! The narrator is getting used to the natural worldsomething he has not experienced before. Clearly this is a sarcastic song about commercialism taking over. No way in Heckuvaville, does David Byrne wish for Dairy Queens and Pizza Huts to continue to take over the world.

I think its a send up of the reality we would face if we lost the world we depend on and are habituated to.

A lot of us talk the talk about "getting ourselves back to the garden", but would miss our modern way of "life". Its SATIRE.

The man is speaking for an overwhelming number of human beings who would find themselves confused, frustrated, overwhelmed by the loss of LA, Mumbai, Rio, Rome, Shanghai... as we know them; by the erasure of our brief presence here through our planet's natural processes. However, the very line "I can't get used to this lifestyle..." strikes me as humorously positivist, as if to say that we'll still be around when this all goes down. By the way, I once caught a rattlesnake, and had it for dinner; not so good. Peace

What amazes me most about the reviews on here is how many people have quite obviously never heard a single other David Byrne-penned song in their life. I especially like the person who opined that Byrne "might be ambivalent" on the subject of environmentalism.

Uh....no.

Seriously, get out more.

anti green song,and i agree i love to go out to the countryside,but give me my car and convience food,bynre had foresight in this song ,we moved on from adam and eve,but we can argue forever the true meaning of these lryics,only david knows the truth,i think maybe this was writen after a long trip though the midwest on a tour bus,you have too much countryside

I thought it was just a simple, nice ditty about a guy who was living in the world and then people started getting rid of the buildings and cars and everything and he was the only one, or one of the few who couldn't cope, but reading stuff from you guys I'm starting to think I may be incorrect o.o

Liberals y'all use yer tongues prettier than 20 dollar whores. Militant eruditions and multi-syllablistic interpretations aside, yer all chokin hard on the FACT that this song ain't sayin nuthin about the love of environmentalism. Quie the contrary. Only an irrational silver tongued Lefy could run them lyrics through such a thorough rinse cycle. This song's about the misery that happens when the Prog Dems get their way. You know, when those caring, salt of the earth, people of the land/common clay folks (aka: morons) swing that big 'ol pendulum away from the masses and over to their tiny headed side. So choke on that rattlesnake meat while the rest of us all head out to Dairy Queen. :P

This poetic work, in all its simple, curt, and seemingly innocent subjectivity, comes over to me as an extremely intelligent and timely reminder of our fragile position on this planet. We all know the melody, no? and we all danced to it, no? And some of us have gone so far as to criticize the playful irony inherent in the lyrics, and even to assign a particular Political bent to the message in this short opera.
The fact remains, nonetheless, that we are destroying our world; that WE might just go extinct; and that DAISIES will, in fact, come back....

I have always thought that this song is the rebutal to Big Yellow Taxi ("They paved paradise and put up a parking lot").

Here, they tore up the parking lot to build Paradise. "If this is Paradise, I wish I had a lawn mower."

"The highways and cars were sacrificed for agriculture. I thought that we'd start over, but I guess I was wrong." Obviously, an indictment of the Environmentalist (Communist) push to restrain industry and return to a more natural and agrarian society. It worked so well for Pol Pot. The envirocommies just love the language of sacrifice. Everyone must sacrifice for the common good. The world will become a "peaceful oasis", "all covered with flowers". Graves have flowers on them too.

"Don't leave me stranded here! I can't get used to this lifestyle". Dreadful gallows mockery in that last line. It's just a "lifestyle".

I love this song. It is the best song on one of the weaker Heads albums.

@Andrew in DC

Thank you for telling us all what David Byrne was thinking 30 years ago. I don't know what we'd have done if you weren't here to unequivocally translate his thoughts for us.

See, THAT was sarcasm. What Byrne actually meant only he knows. Like all art, the meaning of this song is subjective; I take it as an expression of ambivalence leaning toward an appreciation for the modern over the primitive; a half-hearted ode to civilization over the natural state. If you take it mean something else that's fine, but don't presume to tell us the "true" meaning of the song.

And as far as Carlos' assessment of "neohippie-anarco-syndicalist-wool-wearing-snobby-vegans" as fascists has less to do with them carrying copies of Sorel's "Reflections on Violence" in their back pockets and more to do with the fact that the path they would take us down leads remorselessly to totalitarianism. True that their Nanny-state only wants to help you but that does not make them any less tyrannical to those who'd rather not be helped.

What strikes me most about the comments, especially by conservatives, is the obtuse belief that human beings cannot simultaneously believe and/or desire multiple truths. I live in a remote area, and there are evenings I'd love to call for take-out. It's a long way to the nearest gas station, but it's a pretty ugly building in the middle of an otherwise unspoiled piece of land. Conversely, having to drive that far renders me a bigger energy consumer in at least that way. Nothing easy about being human.

Does anyone remember Joni Mitchell's "Big Yellow Taxi"? The refrain is "Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
Till it's gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot."

I think you are somewhat twisting the lyrics to fit your own world view rather than Byrne's intended meaning. The more common anti-green-fetishism interpretation is more immediately obvious (at least to me), and I think your interpretation is contradicted by lines like "We caught a rattlesnake / Now we got something for dinner" and "We used to microwave / Now we just eat nuts and berries".

I did think your review was insightful, though. Maybe Byrne feels ambivalent about the issue and both interpretations are partially correct but incomplete.

Good song either way :D

POINT #1

The song is a commentary on society. It is presented in the band's usual Dadaist mode. But it is undeniably political. Like all Dadaist statements, even when it's narrative message is nonsense, the choice of materials used are absolutely intended to deliver a message of their own. Here, the materials are images of natural paradise, and images of the modern man-made environment of consumerism. He didn't juxtapose them for no reason.

POINT #2
When he says "If this is paradise I want a lawnmower" and "don't leave me stranded here, I can't get used to this lifestyle" (in a world of pristine and verdant plenty), he is commenting on the insatiable culture that consumerism has created; he is saying that we wouldn't be happy even in paradise.

It is also possible to read it as saying that we suffer from a sort of Stockholm Syndrome: we feel affection and loyalty toward the forces responsible for the ugliness, cheapness and superficiality of our lives.

POINT #3: I had no idea rightwingers listened to Talking Heads.

But it reminds me of how Dead Kennedy's "Kill the Poor" was a smash hit in El Salvador because the people who bought it took the sentiment seriously (class-conscious Salvadoreans of means happened to be the only people who could afford the single).

Carlos' interpretation of this song is preposterous, first, because I'm not sure what he calls "green fascism" existed in 1986-87 when the song was written (fascism? really? fascism requires coercive state power, specifically coercive state power used by an autocratic state in combination with an industrial oligarchy... but your problem is with sanctimonious individuals who are merely talking to you... That's fascism like splitting a check is socialism... Christ...), and second, because the ideas expressed in the song only ironically take a negative view of flowers. It's as plain as day that he's being sarcastic or chiding when he says that parking lots, Dairy Queens, and discount stores compare favorably to peaceful oases and daisies.

Remember, this song was released before the end of the Cold War. The collapse of civilization seemed imminent, but it was already obvious that authorities routinely used that fear to manipulate public sentiment.

Gen-Xers learned to neutralize that fear by ironically embracing the end of the world. This song seemed like a gently humorous parody of an imaginary, romanticized post-apocalyptic agrarian society. Sort of a "be careful what you wish for" message.

But it was no criticism of environmentalists -- it came across as much more friendly than it might seem in today's desperately polarized climate.

of course it means nothing and it also means everythingk you're the thought put into it... and sew if you've got a problem with the lyrics, then yes it's entire leftist proper-gander... and if you take every word, then yes; spend your time looking up the updated statistics... main question is did it and are you going to take its urging and do something.. if you want to then yes, you are absolutely right to do so; and if you don't then yes, you are absolutely right that it's based on the venison strips on a post apocolyptic highway mentioned in fight club... an masturbatory aids to the final kickings of the 80s pop with lyrics that tried to speak... ok.. that does sound like I'm one sided but so arse you