Just because two musical acts share a common divisiveness in the public eye doesn’t necessarily mean they find themselves to be kindred groups, which seemed to be the case for David Byrne’s band, Talking Heads, and Steely Dan. Both are regular additions to dad rock playlists everywhere these days. And indeed, they often spur a strong love-hate reaction by fans and critics. After Talking Heads released their fifth studio album, Speaking in Tongues, Byrne discovered just how fellow oddballs Steely Dan viewed his group.
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During a 2025 interview with Stereogum, Byrne recalled the mixed reactions to Talking Heads’ Speaking in Tongues’ closer, “This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)”. The frontman recalled one musician pointing out that the song was “just all non-sequitors.” Considering lyrics like, “Home is where I want to be / pick me up and turn me ‘round / I feel numb, born with a weak heart / I guess I must be having fun,” we can’t say we blame that unnamed musician’s take.
Byrne had an easy defense for this critique, however. “I said, ‘Uh, yeah, but they all hold together. They all come from the same place.” As for Steely Dan, the fellow musicians’ criticism lay more in their backing arrangement than the lyrics themselves.
The Backhanded Comment Steely Dan Made Talking Heads About Their Iconic Song
David Byrne went on to paraphrase a quote he heard from Steely Dan about “This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)”. (Although he didn’t name a specific bandmate.) “I think one of the Steely Dan guys at one point was quoted as saying, ‘Your songs have one, maybe two chords. Maybe you might think about learning a few more,’” Byrne told Stereogum. To Talking Heads’ credit, the song technically has three chords, which would classify as a few.
Semantics aside, it would make sense that Talking Heads didn’t venture too far out of the box when it came to their chord progression, as most of the musicians were playing an instrument they weren’t typically accustomed to playing. “That’s why we called it ‘Naive Melody’,” Byrne said. “We decided to experiment by playing not our usual instruments. I think I played the synthesizer, and I think Tina [Weymouth] played guitar. We thought, ‘Let’s see what happens if we all kind of move around and play something different.”
“This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)” had a modest chart performance, peaking at No. 62 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 71 on the Cashbox Top 100. In the decades since, the song has become a beloved classic, integral to Talking Heads’ musical legacy. Even with three chords, Steely Dan.
Photo by Richard E. Aaron/Redferns
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