(Nothing But) Flowers
“(Nothing But) Flowers” is a five minute and thirty-two second romp out of 1988. When I came across this track on one of my old Spotify playlists. It reminded me that satire is a way to deal with the surreality of the current moment (“And as things fell apart nobody paid much attention”). This tongue-in-cheek lyrics romanticize urban sprawl (the factory, shopping mall, real estate) at the expense of the natural world and its pristine features (mountains and rivers, flowers, fields and creeks). David Byrne and band manage to have a lot of fun in the process. Like the show Fallout except instead of a nuclear wasteland, people come out of bunkers to discover rewilded landscapes devoid of human touch and, yes, Pizza Huts.
This song is from Naked, the final album Talking Heads released. The bass line is playful, especially in the opening and extended instrumental section, but is easily surpassed by additional rhythmic elements at 4:04, including congas, an organ, and surf-style guitars. They went out with a bang and, ironically, with understatement as well. The song title is mentioned in the bridge rather than the chorus, a clever and relatively unconventional feat in popular music. To me, it further exemplifies how the majesty of this post-apocalyptic world is completely lost on its occupants who see “nothing but” flowers and wish for a lawnmower to tame “paradise.” The parking lot here becomes a peaceful oasis—much the opposite of Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi.” My partner sometimes (half) jokes about depopulation being the best thing for the planet. As the Rolling Stone review of the album portended, “The human race… [has]… got a very destructive monkey on its back. Human survival is not guaranteed.” If we do survive, what kind of world will we inherit, and what exactly will we make of it? In these times, we cannot afford to think, “Not my circus, not my monkeys.”
DeCurtis, Anthony. “Naked.” Rolling Stone, 7 Apr. 1988, https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/naked-250803/. Accessed 17 Mar. 2025.