Released 1988 Recorded 1987 Label Warner Bros. | Format 7" Genre New wave, worldbeat | |
Length 5:39 (Album Version)
4:15 (Single Version)
3:28 (Radio Edit) | ||
"(Nothing But) Flowers" is a song by rock band Talking Heads. It appears on the band's final album Naked, released in 1988. It was also released as a single accompanied by a music video, which featured innovative uses of typography by graphic designer Tibor Kalman. In addition to the band, the song features Kirsty MacColl on backup vocals and The Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr. It peaked at number 79 in the UK Singles Chart.
Contents
Lyrics
The lyrics describe a world where modern progress has been reverted to a more natural state, due either to a political movement, a global disaster, or by a necessity, such as dealing with overpopulation. While the protagonist may have once been in favor of the transformation, he finds himself now missing the conveniences and culture of the modern world.
2010 TED Conference
David Byrne performed a briefer version of the song at the 2010 TED conference accompanied by Thomas Dolby on keyboard and the string quartet ETHEL.
Covers
The song was covered by Guster on their live album Guster on Ice, as well as by Caetano Veloso on his album A Foreign Sound.
Appearances in other media
The song appears during the opening credits of the Kevin Smith film Clerks II. In an interview, Smith named the song when he was asked "what song best represents the soundtrack of your life?"