Found A Job

Album: More Songs About Buildings and Food (1978)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • "Found a Job" tells the tale of Bob and Judy, a suburban couple who have endured one too many evenings of numbing TV. Rather than drift apart in beige despair, they do something revolutionary: they make their own shows. In the process, they rescue their relationship and discover that shared creativity beats passive consumption every time. The moral arrives without fuss in the final verse:

    If your work isn't what you love, then something isn't right
  • Frontman David Byrne conceived the song after watching the cult 1976–77 soap parody Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, the Norman Lear creation about a neurotic Ohio housewife navigating televised absurdity. "David was inspired by that to write a song from the point of view of someone who's witnessing the creation of a sitcom," drummer Chris Frantz told Uncut magazine. "It had Andy Warhol aspects to the lyrics: you too can be a superstar!"
  • "Found a Job" appears as the closing track on the first side of Talking Heads' second album, More Songs About Buildings and Food. It was one of only two songs on the album - along with "The Big Country" - that had not been part of the band's established live repertoire before recording; it was written specifically for this album.
  • More Songs About Buildings and Food was produced by Brian Eno alongside the four band members and recorded at Compass Point Studios in Nassau, Bahamas, in early 1978. "Found a Job" received a separate mix by Eno and engineer Ed Stasium at Mediasound Studios in New York, which is the version that appears on the album.
  • Eno, who shares an art-school sensibility with Byrne, helped steer the group toward a leaner, more rhythmically focused sound.

    "Eno is the only person who understands David's guitar playing," bassist Tina Weymouth told Creem in 1979. "David's sense of rhythm is insane but fantastic. A song will start off a mess but become like a baby koala. It's difficult to turn a really stupid idea into something brilliant. David turns a sketch into a painting. He's great at convincing us that a crazy idea will end up brilliantly."
  • As for that album title, it began as a joke. During discussions about naming their debut, Weymouth had quipped, "What are we gonna call an album that's just about buildings and food?" Frantz shot back: "You call it More Songs About Buildings and Food."

    Guitarist Jerry Harrison suggested Fear of Music. Everyone laughed. Naturally, that rejected title became the name of their next album in 1979: Fear of Music.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Chad Channing (Nirvana, Before Cars)

Chad Channing (Nirvana, Before Cars)Songwriter Interviews

Chad tells tales from his time as drummer for Nirvana, and talks about his group Before Cars.

Spot The Real Red Hot Chili Peppers Song Titles

Spot The Real Red Hot Chili Peppers Song TitlesMusic Quiz

The Red Hot Chili Peppers have some rather unusual song titles - see if you can spot the real ones.

Commercials

CommercialsFact or Fiction

Was "Ring Of Fire" really used to sell hemorrhoid cream?

Which Songs are About Drugs?

Which Songs are About Drugs?Fact or Fiction

"25 or 6 to 4" to "Semi-Charmed Life" - see if you can spot the songs that are really about drugs.

Janis Ian: Married in London, but not in New York

Janis Ian: Married in London, but not in New YorkSong Writing

Can you be married in one country but not another? Only if you're part of a gay couple. One of the first famous singers to come out as a lesbian, Janis wrote a song about it.

Sam Hollander

Sam HollanderSongwriter Interviews

The hitmaking songwriter/producer Sam Hollander with stories about songs for Weezer, Panic! At The Disco, Train, Pentatonix, and Fitz And The Tantrums.