Cool Water

Album: Naked (1988)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • The last track on the last Talking Heads album, "Cool Water" finds David Byrne singing about a laborer who does backbreaking work day in and day out. It makes the point that the working class deserves the same dignity as the elites; when life is over, we'll all sit at the same table to drink.
  • Johnny Marr of The Smiths played guitar on this track and also on the song "(Nothing But) Flowers." Steve Lillywhite, who produced the album along with the group, brought him in.

    Marr says "Cool Water" is his favorite song on the album. He told Uncut: "That was something David [Byrne] and I built up one afternoon. I was playing and he was encouraging me and egging me on to try different things, miking up a semi-acoustic 12-string without putting it through the amplifier and putting it into weird tunings and drones. That in itself was really invigorating."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Stand By Me: The Perfect Song-Movie Combination

Stand By Me: The Perfect Song-Movie CombinationSong Writing

In 1986, a Stephen King novella was made into a movie, with a classic song serving as title, soundtrack and tone.

Modern A Cappella with Peder Karlsson of The Real Group

Modern A Cappella with Peder Karlsson of The Real GroupSong Writing

The leader of the Modern A Cappella movement talks about the genre.

Jeff Trott

Jeff TrottSongwriter Interviews

Sheryl Crow's longtime songwriting partner/guitarist Jeff Trott reveals the stories behind many of the singer's hits, and what its like to be a producer for Leighton Meester and Max Gomez.

Michael Schenker

Michael SchenkerSongwriter Interviews

The Scorpions and UFO guitarist is also a very prolific songwriter - he explains how he writes with his various groups, and why he was so keen to get out of Germany and into England.

Loudon Wainwright III

Loudon Wainwright IIISongwriter Interviews

"Dead Skunk" became a stinker for Loudon when he felt pressure to make another hit - his latest songs deal with mortality, his son Rufus, and picking up poop.

Little Big Town

Little Big TownSongwriter Interviews

"When seeds that you sow grow by the wicked moon/Be sure your sins will find you out/Your past will hunt you down and turn to tell on you."