After its initial waves of success in the late 70s and early 80s, the future of Talking Heads seemed more precarious. But you wouldn’t know it from the sound of “Nothing But Flowers,” a single from the 1988 album Naked, the band’s final release. The energetic, bouncy track bears the clear signature of several guest musicians from Africa. But Naked turned out to be the band’s final album. “It was touch-and-go for the band ever since their fourth album, Remain In Light, was released in 1980.” (Songfacts) “After that one, David Byrne embarked on various projects and it wasn’t always clear if or when he would re-convene Talking Heads.” The band broke up in 1991.
Songfacts contines: “The lyrics describe a post-apocalyptic world in which modern technology has been largely eliminated. Lead singer David Byrne, as the song’s protagonist, is torn between his appreciation for nature’s beauty and his dependency on such disappeared items as lawnmowers and fast food. It’s kind of the opposite of Joni Mitchell’s ‘Big Yellow Taxi,’ where they paved paradise and put up a parking lot. Here, nature has re-claimed the land, and now the shopping malls are covered with flowers. Throughout the video, strong visual elements make the band’s origins at Rhode Island School of Design clear. The 1991 Bret Easton Ellis novel American Psycho opens with an epigraph quoting some lyrics from this song: And as things fell apart / Nobody paid much attention.”
Starting in C major, there’s a shift to D major partway through the chorus at 1:31, then a return to C major for another verse at 1:47. At 3:15, the second half of another split chorus is elevated up to D major, remaining there for the balance of the tune. Along the way, several short sections are propelled by the frisson of departures from the primary keys (for instance, 0:59 – 1:06).
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