TALKING HEADS - TAKE ME TO THE RIVER

Released: June 30, 1978

Charts:  US: #26 

“Take Me to the River” occupies a unique place in the Talking Heads catalogue: it is their biggest early hit, and the only cover song they ever officially recorded. Originally written by Al Green and his guitarist Teenie Hodges in 1974, the song was rooted in Southern soul and gospel imagery. Few could have predicted that a New York art-rock band would deliver its most commercially successful interpretation.

Al Green’s original recording, released on “Al Green Explores Your Mind”, was steeped in spiritual metaphor, using baptism as both religious symbol and emotional cleansing. Although Green’s version wasn’t a hit, the song circulated widely in R&B circles and inspired multiple covers. It took Talking Heads to carry it into the new wave mainstream, where it reached No. 26 on the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1979—higher than any previous version.

Initially, David Byrne resisted recording the song, believing the band should focus exclusively on original material, but producer Brian Eno convinced him otherwise, framing the cover not as homage but as transformation. Eno’s key instruction was radical in its simplicity: play it as slowly as possible. That decision reshaped the song.

Unlike the expressive warmth of Al Green’s take, the Talking Heads version is deliberately restrained, tense, and seductive. The slowed tempo gives the track a simmering intensity, turning the familiar gospel plea into something uneasy and hypnotic. The groove barely moves forward, creating a sense of ritual—appropriate for a song about baptism, surrender, and rebirth.

Byrne’s vocal performance is crucial. He does not sing like a soul preacher; instead, he inhabits the role, sounding detached and anxious, as though unsure whether salvation is coming or something more dangerous. That ambiguity makes the song feel modern, even unsettling, and foreshadows Byrne’s later sermon-like delivery on “Once in a Lifetime.”

Released as the only single from “More Songs About Buildings and Food”, “Take Me to the River” became Talking Heads’ first major commercial breakthrough, earning them a coveted spot on American Bandstand and introducing the band to a national audience. While the group never positioned themselves as hit-makers, this single proved that boundary-pushing music could still connect widely.

The track also marked the strengthening collaboration between Talking Heads and Brian Eno. Recorded at the newly opened Compass Point Studios in Nassau, the sessions were marked by experimentation and mythology—Island Records founder Chris Blackwell famously surrounded the studio grounds with chicken blood to ward off evil spirits. Whether coincidence or voodoo, the result was an album—and a song—that helped define the band’s artistic direction.