![\"David](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/David-Byrne-True-Stories-1986-Far-Out-Magazine-F-1140x855.jpg\")
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
(Credits: Far Out \/ Alamy)<\/p>\n
Fri 27 June 2025 3:00, UK <\/p>\n
There doesn\u2019t seem to be anything that David Byrne <\/a>can\u2019t do. <\/p>\n Not content with fronting Talking Heads, one of the most influential and beloved bands of their generation, the man has done it all. He\u2019s also had a successful solo career, done amazing work as a composer, written How Music Works, one of the most celebrated music books of the modern era, and, comprehensively dwarfing all of those achievements, appeared in John Mulaney & the Sack Lunch Bunch. <\/p>\n The man is an Emmy award away from an EGOT, and for good reason. He\u2019s one of the most captivating artistic voices ever to come from the New York punk scene, and the only thing to ask when looking at the length and breadth of his work is, \u201cHow come he hasn\u2019t done more work in film?\u201d The man is clearly a wonderful visual storyteller and is partly responsible for Stop Making Sense<\/a>, which, with a bullet, is the single best concert movie ever made. <\/p>\n His work as a director, at least of feature films, is limited to one. 1986\u2019s True Stories is his sole effort behind the camera, although, true to David Byrne and his polymath ways, he also wrote, composed and starred in the film. If the title sounds familiar, it\u2019s because the Talking Heads\u2019 seventh album of the same name was actually a soundtrack album for it. Unfortunately, while the film was made when the Heads were at the peak of their popularity, the feature wasn\u2019t exactly a hit. <\/p>\n Which makes sense. The film is a deeply strange set of interconnected vignettes about life in small-town Texas. Think a cinematic version of all the silly bits from Twin Peaks, connected by some agreeable Talking Heads songs, narrated by a Stetson-wearing Byrne, and you\u2019re just about there. Charming in its way and worth a watch, but hardly box office dynamite, the picture was all but dead on arrival commercially and passed straight into cult movie status shortly after release. <\/p>\n Did that experience make David Byrne give up on Hollywood? <\/p>\n It might sound strange on the surface, but no. Despite the critical shrugs and the box office tumbleweed, the multi-hyphenate was actually pretty excited by the prospect of making another movie, despite the fact that True Stories had been a tough production. One that had deepened the existing tensions between members of the Talking Heads. But then, Byrne was never one to care much about outside approval of his artistic vision, no matter what medium he was in. <\/p>\n Thus, he was very keen to continue his work as a director\u2026 so why didn\u2019t he? In an interview with The Talks, Byrne elaborated on why he never pursued his calling as a director. When asked why he hadn\u2019t made any more movies after True Stories, he responded, \u201cSomehow it was my fault. After that movie, I was seduced by it and tried to get other movies going in Los Angeles, and it was a disaster\u201d.<\/p>\n He elaborated, saying, \u201cYou hear the story over and over again of people who spend years trying to get something done and if it takes too long, so I thought, \u2018No, I don\u2019t have the patience. I\u2019ll write some songs and make a record\u2019.\u201d Which makes the most sense out of all of this, really. The film industry is no place for people with no patience, and Byrne is the kind of person who creates whenever he wants to create<\/a>. <\/p>\n So, while it would absolutely have been cool to have a few more movies directed by the Talking Heads mainman, it wasn\u2019t to be. Yet that\u2019s meant that what we\u2019ve got instead is truckloads of art in basically every other medium! Given the two options, I know which one I\u2019d prefer to have. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n Related Topics<\/p>\n The Far Out Music Newsletter<\/p>\n All the latest music news from the independant voice of culture.
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