Pick four songs from any band and you can tell a lot about their sound. This summer, I’m featuring #RockBlocks, four picks from bands across various genres. They might be wildly different from each other, but what binds them together is the fact that they’re all a part of my life soundtrack.
The biggest complement I can give about this track is that I thought it was a Talking Heads song all this time. I had no idea it was penned by Al Green. The original studio recording is really, really good. But what Talking Heads did was make it all their own. It’s one of my favorite songs from the band —not just because it’s so irresistibly catchy, but because it’s a foreshadowing of more great things to come.
In helping to shape the sound of new wave, “Take Me to the River” borrowed from blues, gospel and rock & roll. “Take Me to the River” was a blueprint for Talking Heads’ subsequent recordings and for other bands in the new wave genre. While certainly complementary, each instrument doesn’t bleed into the others. Instead, they each have their own moment. There’s a subtlety and use of restraint in Byrne’s vocals and Harrison’s synth creations, yet there’s so much character and power in every note. Meanwhile, Tina Weymouth’s bass lines are bold, muscular and playful, in stark contrast to another influential post punk era bassist: Peter Hook.
“Dip me in the river, drop me in the water. Washing me down, washing me down.”