“This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)” is a fairly unique song in Talking Heads’ catalogue, especially their early ’80s catalogue. They ostensibly switched instruments to perform it, though the legend overstates this a little bit: bassist Tina Weymouth switched to guitar, guitarist Jerry Harrison, who is also a keyboard player, played bass on a keyboard, and lead singer/guitarist David Byrne played keyboards but also played guitar. Drummer Chris Frantz still played the drums. So take the “switching instruments” with a grain of salt. But it also contains one of Byrne’s most earnest lyrics and is the rare Talking Heads love song (even if Byrne claims it’s made up of non sequiturs). It stands out on Speaking in Tongues and it has become their second most streamed song ever, despite not making the Top 40 when it was released as a single.
There is another new Talking Heads tribute coming out in January, this one from British label BBE Music. They tapped singer/composer Leon Jean-Marie to tackle “This Must Be the Place.” Jean-Marie hasn’t put out an album in nearly 18 years but is active as a film composer.
Jean-Marie’s version opens with a faux child’s voice saying the title of the song before a slow piano part begins. There is no rhythm track and no synthesizer solo. Jean-Marie sings the lyrics with only passing reference to the original vocal melody. For the pre-chorus he adds backing vocals and for the chorus keyboard strings, but he still stays away from singing the melody properly.
Instead of a repeat of the opening solo, real strings join for the break. On the second verse he gets a little closer. It’s only on the second chorus that he really leans into the original vocal melody, as the arrangement gets fuller and louder behind him. Jean-Marie also moves some of the lyrics around, adding to the idiosyncratic nature of his cover.
If you’re hoping to sing along to “This Must Be the Place,” this is probably not the cover for you. But it’s a fresh, distinct spin on what is Talking Heads’ second most covered song.
