Popular Culture Review Vol. 1, December 1989 | Page 19

see several scenes to which the narrator couldn’t possibly be privy.
We see disconnected moments in the life of the town: a night
watchman at the celebration site singing an aria, a late-night worker
practicing his dance steps, a couple of teenagers being tested for
DWI, and a young man and woman walking and necking in a field.
Other scenes without the narrator are more fully developed
and more closely connected to whatever story line might exist: We
see Louis in several attempts at courting different women he’s
interested in, we see a rich woman and her secretary as she watches
television and makes various comments, we see an evangelist
haranguing on the conspiracies which control Americans, and we
watch Louis interact with a spiritualist who is attempting to help
Louis find a wife. The narrator isn’t present during these scenes,
but we viewers are.
A fourth view comes through the songs. We leam a lot about
community socialite Kay Culver, the wife o f entrepreneur Earl
Culver, for example, in the song she sings as mistress of ceremo
nies of the mall fashion show. What starts out as a fairly routine
narration of the activities of the show turns into a passionate paean
to Kay Culver’s hopes and dreams. Through a few o f the songs, we
discover feelings and attitudes which the character may not be
otherwise revealing.
When we do see the narrator, we have other problems. Is he
for real? Can we trust him? How closely does he reflect the views
of David Byrne, the writer-director as well as the actor portraying
the narrator?
Here’s part of the problem: David Byrne is the major lyricist
of the iconoclastic rock group The Talking Heads. It’s hard to
separate the persona of the rock star from the other persona o f the
narrator. With the Talking Heads, Byrne’s known for his uncon
ventionality. He and his group don’t look or act like other rock
groups; they are “lovable geeks” in their short hair, their button-

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