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"Once in a lifetime" by Talking Heads
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Just repeat this throughout the whole song.
Tabbed by Mike Steffens 12/16/99
teuton16@hotmail.com
Taken from BASSMASTA.NET - http://www.bassmasta.net
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mike Average |
#1 by mike c at Feb 15, 1973 at 1:06 PM EST |
| This is one of my favorite songs! The video is crazy too. But i think that this song is just a reminder to us to not let life slip away without fully appreciating it. If you don't pay attention, you may find yourself "in a beautiful house with a beautiful wife" and not even realize why you're there or what it means. | |
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===Mr. Brownsto Rhythm Player |
#2 by ===Mr. Brownstone=== at Jun 18, 1974 at 12:45 PM EST |
| somebody told me this was about drilling for water in the future like we drill for oil now cos drinkable water will be so rare... and I believed them!-Well it was the eighties-it could have been that! Yes, it must be about waking up, aged forty and finding youve just done what you expected you life to be like rather than waht it couldve been. | |
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AfroMan Average |
#3 by AfroMan at Feb 15, 1977 at 11:42 PM EST |
| The first time I really listened closely to this song I was on acid, and kept asking my RA about existance, and whether or not people actually exist. He showed me the video for this song (he owned the DVD) to help explain some things. I will say right now, that I have a completly different view than the rest of you, due to that experience. The way I interpret this song, is when you are not questioning, you are "letting the days go by." If you don't continiously question existance, you are not doing your job as a human being. Life is about discovering who you are, and discoveries are made by inquiry. The water part of the song is the key to everything in it. Water is pure, it is the most essential part of life for all creatures. However, water is what is keeping us from discovery, it is the barrier between us and god, us and nirvana, us and serenity. However, if you go though life without questioning what you have, and who you are, you'll still have all these great things (beautiful house, beautiful wife), as you are being held together by the water. It will always be there to support you, but at the same time it is holding you down. | |
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Jonathan Average |
#4 by Jonathan at Apr 20, 1977 at 12:26 PM EST |
| The unexamined life is not worth living. | |
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/. Wanna Be |
#5 by /. com at Jul 2, 1980 at 7:55 AM EST |
| The flow of water is the flow of life. You could either just let the days go by, and go with the flow, or you can struggle against it and let it hold you down. | |
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maurizio Average |
#6 by maurizio becerril gonzalez at Mar 4, 1985 at 8:22 PM EST |
| Does the water represent the passing of time? | |
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The Penguins Tr Professional Badass |
#7 by The Penguins Tried To Kill Me The Other Day at Nov 30, 1985 at 9:55 PM EST |
| i agree with you quaggi. this song to me reminds me not to let life slip away, you may wake up oneday and everything will go gone and you you have no idea where it all went/ | |
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chris Average |
#8 by chris nagel at Jan 28, 1987 at 5:33 AM EST |
| it's essentially a song that everyone will fully understand after they've been young and happily married for several years only to suddenly wake up one morning with an epiphany -- that everything has completely changed for the worse | |
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Jordan Lead Player |
#9 by Jordan Gadsby at Jan 20, 1988 at 5:00 AM EST |
| this song is about realizing gayness | |
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Ty Average |
#10 by Ty Webster at Nov 4, 1990 at 4:48 AM EST |
| Imagining what your life would be like if you were rich, or if you would not have done something , or done soemthing, wich would have changed things, not sure where the water comes in though. | |
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Kevin Average |
#11 by Kevin Barry at Nov 10, 1994 at 4:12 AM EST |
| i think it's about how when you're young you have all these ideals that you live for, and when you get out of college you start making compromises. you take a corporate job because you're tired of being shit poor. and so you meet a woman and your family or coworkers or "the american way" persuade you to marry her. and all the sudden you wake up at 40 thinking, "what the fuck is this? how did i give up so much to land here?" as you realize that you've sold all of your ideals for "success." | |
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Bill Wanna Be |
#12 by Bill Rossi at Aug 16, 1996 at 6:20 AM EST |
| "Once In A Lifetime" Live cut Stop Making Sense. In a case of the live version outclassing the original nearly everything on the Stop Making Sense concert film is a masterpiece. The magnum opus of The Head's entire career can be targeted to the moment Byrne is being blown back by the wall of fuzz bridge section right before flying back into the verses more determined than ever. | |
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sean Wanna Be |
#13 by sean ewings at Sep 23, 1997 at 2:48 PM EST |
| Someone once said to me that this song was making fun of the perfect worlds in the 50s (or was it 60s?) tv shows. | |
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Tyler Wanna Be |
#14 by Tyler Wood at Mar 16, 2003 at 11:57 PM EST |
| Best song about a midlife crisis ever! | |
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Em Average |
#15 by Em at May 29, 2003 at 8:13 AM EST |
| I think this song is about a middle aged guy who has all these things, but doesn't know how he got them. He has lived in a haze during his life, the water symbolized the passing of time, holding him under where he cannot enjoy his surroundings | |
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The Four String Lead Player |
#16 by The Four String Mother Fucker at Jan 24, 2004 at 9:11 PM EST |
| Some people think this song is about a guy who realizes one day that he's gay and he's wondering why it took him so long to figure it out that he already has a wife and a traditional lifestyle going at that age in his life. | |
