“(Nothing But) Flowers” is a song by the rock band Talking Heads. It appears as on the band’s final album Naked, released in 1988. It was also released as a single accompanied by a successful music video. In addition to the band, the song features Kirsty MacColl on backup vocals and The Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr. It made to chart at number 79 in the UK Singles Chart.


Lyrics

The lyrics describe a post-apocalyptic world in which modern technology has been largely eliminated, and there is “nothing but flowers.” The song’s protagonist yearns for the disappeared items of his youth such as lawnmowers and fast food. The song is a satire of humanity’s alienation from and disregard for nature.

David Byrne claims to have written the lyrics while admiring flowers in the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden.


Covers

The song was covered by Guster on their live album Guster on Ice, as well as by Caetano Veloso on his album ‘A Foreign Sound’.


In popular culture

A passage from the song was quoted in Bret Easton Ellis’ novel American Psycho.

The song was also used in the beginning of Clerks II.

Comments

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.