“American Utopia” What is the “utopia” suggested by David Byrne and Spike Lee?

"American Utopia" Synopsis

This film is based on the Broadway show that was a big hit in the fall of 2019 after the world tour for David Byrne's album "American Utopia" released in 2018. The legendary show, which was eagerly awaited to be re-staged in 2020 but was canceled due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, features an extremely simple and wild stage structure, with musicians dressed in matching gray suits, barefoot, no wires, and moving around freely. The performance is an overwhelming performance and dance performance in the form of a marching band. Former Talking Heads frontman David Byrne and 11 of his friends use their amazing teamwork to invite modern people who are troubled by an era of confusion and division to "utopia."

Index

• "American Utopia" was released in 2018.
• The song selection avoided cynical lyrics
• From covers that reflect the times to Talking Heads
• Spike Lee and Byrne collaboration
• The evolution of David Byrne

"American Utopia" was released in 2018.

The project "American Utopia" started with the album of the same name released in 2018 by former Talking Heads frontman David Byrne . After Talking Heads broke up in 1992, Byrne pursued a solo career and had already released several albums as a leader. In recent years, he has collaborated with other musicians, but this is his first solo album in 14 years.

When I heard the news of the release, I immediately went to buy the album. It wasn't a flashy sound, but the more I listened to it, the more I enjoyed it, and it became one of my favorites. The paper jacket also had a warm feel to it. In a short essay called "Dreamers" included in the album, Byrne wrote: "For a long time, I've been a fan of people called ' Outsider artists.' One of them, Howard Finster, once designed the album covers for Talking Heads."

Finster (1916-2001), a Georgia native and former pastor who was self-taught in art, created the artwork for the 1985 album Little Creatures while he was still alive. The artwork features humorous and surreal pictures of the Heads members, with Byrne in his underwear holding a large globe and handwritten text saying, "I feel the weight of this world." "I was thinking recently about what kind of imagery was put into this album, and I felt that it was a picture of a 'better world.' Hope, aspiration, imagining an ideal. All of that is expanded and expressed in the paintings. The artists are dreamers, just like us."

"American Utopia" trailer

And in " American Utopia, " he used a painting by Miami artist Purvis Young (1943-2010), who was in the same vein. Young, who was already deceased when the album was released, liked figures with vague race and gender. Here, he used abstract figures in a dull yellow. Byrne realized that Young was focusing on humans above all else.

"At the center of an ideal, more beautiful world are people, not buildings or places." The people that Byrne once called "little creatures" were humans, and the idea of ​​a "better world" for people was explored in the 1980s albums, which were carried over to the American Utopia project. The album was followed by a world tour (18), then a Broadway show (19), and a film adaptation (20) directed by Spike Lee was completed.

In the film, Byrne says, "Bicycles, sunsets, and potato chip bags are great, but what's most interesting is watching people." That's right, this film was created to focus on people and to watch them. There are no instruments on the stage, and no standing microphones. There are 12 barefoot people in a simple, empty space, singing, dancing, and playing music. That's it. But that's what makes it so interesting!

The song selection avoided cynical lyrics