(Credits: Shervin Lainez)
Thu 25 December 2025 20:45, UK
David Byrne is such a life force that it’s almost too unthinkable to imagine the concept that one day, possibly in the not-too-distant future, he may no longer be here.
That’s not an attempt to sound like the Grim Reaper, because the Talking Heads frontman is no doubt still in very good health, but it doesn’t escape the fact that he is now 73 years old. In some ways, he is equally as effervescent on stage and in the studio as he ever was, but within this is the slight acknowledgement of the days and decades being left behind him.
Of course, it’s clear that Byrne has set to work in allaying fears that increasing age is holding him back in any way, shape or form. Indeed, if the singer continues on the road which he has currently set for himself, no one would frankly be surprised if he lives past 100. But nevertheless, just like anyone entering into the twilight era of their life, Byrne has taken to thinking about life beyond the pearly gates.
Even if he’s thought ahead and already bought a policy for the most extravagant and luxurious Hollywood-style funeral plan one could ever dream of, it still doesn’t absolutely rubber-stamp your fate as to whether there is a life after death, or indeed a heaven and hell. But even still, Byrne has his preferred playlist for entering the afterlife already queued – and there’s one song which tops the bill.
Inspired by the sentiment of the Talking Heads song ‘Heaven’, and the lyric about the band there playing his “favourite song […] all night long”, Byrne was asked in a 2020 Rolling Stone interview which tune this would exactly be. There was one clear response.
“I really like a Beatles song, ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’,” he replied. “It’s a really well-known song, but that’s a particular time in my life, and I heard that, and it blew my mind. I never get tired of hearing it.”
It’s in no way an obscure choice but perhaps an intriguing one, given that the Talking Heads largely picked up where The Beatles left off and propelled music into a whole new direction in the form of the new wave. But then again, you only have to look as far as the cover for Byrne’s most recent solo album, Who is the Sky?, to realise that such swirling psychedelia has always been near the forefront of his mind.
This links directly to what Byrne said in the interview after revealing his heavenly song of choice, adding, “I also realise part of that is because I have not stopped and kind of gone, ‘No, I’m not going to listen to any music past 1973’. I have moved on.”
In his eyes, that kaleidoscope of colour clearly did not stop spinning as soon as the curtains were drawn on the 1960s – its legacy was only just beginning, and its influence could be found in every pocket of the musical world.
However, in this respect, it’s not completely clear whether his version of heaven is the traditional gates shrouded by angels, or indeed the world-famous strawberry fields. Of course, one is not better than the other, and perhaps it seems only fitting that a psychedelic king should return to his spiritual home. But maybe he should hold off on making the journey quite yet.
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