Talking Heads' "Once In A Lifetime" vs. Cheap Trick's "Surrender"

You Are Your Parents vs. Your Parents Are You

was wondering what the basis of comparison was.

meh. cheap trick's song, i guess.

I'm voting Surrender on the stipulation that it's the Budokan version.

i'm voting surrender on the stipulation that it's one of the greatest rock songs ever

'you are yr parents' is a novel interp of 'once in a lifetime'

As much as I love the Heads, "Once in a Lifetime" has always left me cold (prefer "Crosseyed and Painless" as a wtf single). So "Surrender," which sounds better and better now.

Both great songs, but "Once in a Lifetime" (I'm assuming we're talking about the Stop Making Sense version here) is one of the most transcendent moments in their whole catalog. This is probably the best example of DB's ability to make a series of words profound by repeating it again and again.

It is also probably not too strong to say that a major source of comfort and spirit to me, as a teenager, was the realization that under the rock and stones there was water flowing underground.

once in a life time surrender to surrender

Surrender on the basis that it was never covered by P.M. Dawn.

All that stuff about man biting dog and hell freezing over--that's approximately when I'd vote for a Talking Heads song over any good Cheap Trick song. That "Surrender" is so brilliant makes it that much easier a call. (Budokan version preferable.)

water flowing underground

This is kind of impossible for me.

same as it ever was

I prefer the album/studio versions of both, love both and love both live, still get excited by both, and can't decide anything beyond that. "Lifetime" starts better, "Surrender" ends better. Both have great, mysterious lyrics. Argh, enough...

Both are tremendous--I'd leave either on if it showed up on the car radio. "Surrender" by a nose.

"Surrender" is a lot sexier so I am voting for it.

My least favorite ex I don't really hold in any high esteem but when I told her that the modulation in Surrender's was one of my favorites, she asked me back "which one?" which puzzled me until she reminded me that Surrender modulates after the intro into the first verse which kinda blew my mind a little.

surrender, any version, no contest. and i love the talking heads.

I love both songs, but have to go with "Once in a Lifetime" I think, and I don't love the Talking Heads. But "Surrender" is great and I may regret this.

A completely wild poll, as those two songs have absolutely nothing in common, but I prefer Cheap Trick's best single here.

Never heard Surrender till now and am totally o_O that anyone would put it in the same leauge as Once in a Lifetime.

We're all all right, same as it ever was.

Never heard Surrender till now and am totally o_O that anyone would put it in the same leauge as Once in a Lifetime.

They're not in the same league, we agree on that. (I should mention that I do like "Once in a Lifetime," and seem to remember that it came with a good video.)

I'm kind of o_O that someone never heard "Surrender" until now. Also, "Surrender" all the way, obv. Also, not sure that I get "You Are Your Parents" out of the "Once in a Lifetime" lyrics but admittedly, I'm not sure I get anything out of them.

"I Want You to Want Me" is the only Cheap Trick song anyone in the UK knows.

surrender

Voted "Once in a Lifetime" of which my life more and more resembles everyday.

Once in a Lifetime

I prefer the studio version of "Surrender" btw.

I remember the TV ads for Live at Budokan and it seemed like the coolest thing ever at the time. Pretty sure I prefer that version.

"I Want You to Want Me" is the only Cheap Trick song anyone in the UK knows.

Britain makes me weep again.

Was reminded of this thread: RFI: Lyrical Analysis of "Surrender" by Cheap Trick

if I voted for "Surrender" it would only be because I've heard the Heads' song more and worn away some of its luster. but even in its familiarity it is incredibly wonderful and powerful and alive and moving and grooving, shimmering cascading pulsing resonating streams of striking images (David Byrne: "I would like to show people the movies. In. My. Head."), it touches you, his dance moves are great, it's gotta be "Once In A Lifetime"

I prefer the studio version of "Surrender" btw.

me too. in many cases, the budokan versions improve on their studio counterparts - "i want you to want me", canonically - but "surrender" was pretty much flawless to begin with. one of the best things anyone ever did with an electric guitar.

this poll is exceedingly hard...

even thre years ago, I would've chimed in along with the other Surrender-stans, but I'm v. tempted to vote Once in a Lifetime, bcz now I know it is an awesome slice of ecstatic postpunk...

But Surrender is great, too. Plus, it was in Over the Edge. Gawd...

IMO 'Surrender' is one of those pop/rock songs that can make you happy every time you hear it (assuming you aren't listening to it for insane amounts of time - like playing it over and over on Rock Band). 'Break my Stride', 'All Night Long' and 'I Want You To Want Me' are songs that consistently make me happy as well - more so actually

'Once in a Lifetime' is too quirky to deliver as much happy fun as the straightforward pop/rock songs I mentioned

This isn't a hard choice for me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opXbcXwnguc

waht

the budokan versions improve on their studio counterparts - "i want you to want me", canonically

I might be alone on this but I actually prefer the studio version of that one too!

i just a/b'd them and the talking heads are better

lol that Muppet video = instant win for the Heads

Is there any question who would win a David Byrne vs. Kermit the Frog poll?

Once in A Lifetime for me. I never went through a Cheap Trick phase like I did with Talking Heads.

I am a huge Cheap Trick fan but this was never my fave rave song of theirs, and I really love a lot of things about "Once in a Lifetime." But "Surrender" has grown in stature for me, whereas the other song now seems like the beginning of Byrneshtick.

i suspect this is gonna be one of those polls where everyone on thread says they're voting for 'surrender' and then it gets destroyed in the results

yep

^ figure if this was a poll of over-30 americans, it'd at least be split, perhaps a CT sweep. but youngs and britishes will sway it towards talkingheads.

or maybe there are a bunch of over-30s with better taste than to vote for a relatively boring Cheap Trick song

"better taste" lol

nice one ;D

haha i was on the fence but dan just made me vote for cheap trick

aw

that's the problem with going in, you can't always predict which direction the fallout will go

save it for the gay thread, hoss

only one of these songs was featured in Over the Edge, ergo it wins.

Every night around the dinner table my family and I talk about a high point and a low point of the day. Kermit singing Talking Heads is today's high point!

low point: Santa's Choad

Yeah, yeah, I'll change it soon...

not complaining, just saying

and... done.

figure if this was a poll of over-30 americans, it'd at least be split, perhaps a CT sweep. but youngs and britishes will sway it towards talkingheads.

Was going to argue the "young" part, then realized I am over 30.:P

Sneaks up on you, doesn't it?

One thing I will say for Surrender, it's done an annoyingly good job of sticking in my head for two days after only one listen.

lol @ your display name

i'm havin' one 24/7 365

oh wait it's a real thing? nuts, i thought it was a typo.

not only is it a real thing, it's a really awful thing

"Surrender" is still IMO the best thing Cheap Trick ever did. The first two albums were a bit too rock'n'roll, on "Heaven Tonight" they got the mix of pop and rock just about right, and they nailed it on "Surrender", which has a really great chorus.

"Once In a Lifetime" I feel is a better video than song. Talking Heads have had better moments IMO.

'Once in a Lifetime' but I woulda voted 'I Want You to Want Me' over it

i am my parents by a nose

I never understood all that stuff about "rocks and stones" and "water removal". I mean, "water removal"?

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

smdh

:(

smdh rmde http://i54.tinypic.com/11l4yvn.gif romo

"Once in a Lifetime" trounces "Surrender" by +50%: sadness for the state of the world. (I meant to say earlier that I really like the "You Are Your Parents vs. Your Parents Are You" construction.)

i suspect this is gonna be one of those polls where everyone on thread says they're voting for 'surrender' and then it gets destroyed in the results

― only built 4 cuban linux (ciderpress), Tuesday, October 26, 2010 2:19 AM (1 week ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

yep

― karl...arlk...rlka...lkar..., Tuesday, October 26, 2010 2:48 AM (1 week ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I voted for the winner! (and stated my vote upthread) Probably the last time today I'll be able to say that.

Surrender is still better, even if it didn't win. PS I am surprised by these results.

i'm not, this place is dork city

lol

wow even dorks are right once in a while

Haha wow

Good work ppl

See, the problem here was Brian Eno.

thank you for voting wrong

i think what would have made the difference is if Cheap Trick had licensed Surrender to Sesame Street instead of the Small Soldiers soundtrack. (re: Kermit's fantastic version)

Would have gone with "Surrender" (studio version, which I've always liked way more than the Budokan one -- never liked the live album all that much period) without a moment's hesitation, had I seen this. I like "Once In A Lifetime" a lot, but "Surrender" is one of the greatest rock songs ever, as far as I'm concerned.

I've never listened to them one-after-another for purposes of comparison, but in my mind they're basically the same, except with the Budokan version you've got 20,000 screaming Japanese teenagers thrown into the mix. (I even always wondered if Budokan was a fake, like some allegedly live Outsiders LP I have where the screaming sounds totally canned.) Assuming Budokan is real, I guess it comes down to how you feel about screaming Japanese teenagers as ambient backdrop. For me, they add to the song.

I read an article in I think the SF Weekly circa 1998 that said a great deal of that applause was added after the fact

I don't think they add to the song; I think they bog it down. (Then again, I almost never prefer live albums -- whether the crowd noise is real or not, for me it usually just gets in the way of hearing the song. Of course, there are some live albums where bands take the music to more interesting places than they have in the studio, but in my experience they're few and far between. At any rate, with Cheap Trick, I'm somebody who basically loves their first five studio albums, but I've always thought Budokan buried the hooks and tunes, somehow. They're still there; just not as effective. Even with "I Want You To Want Me," where the hit version was the live one.)

I actually agree with you here about 97% of the time. Budokan would be one exception for me, Kiss Alive another (if I ever hear a Kiss song from one of the first three LPs on the radio, which is not very often, it always sounds weirdly hollow), and past that I start to get stuck.

i actually agree w xhxk, too, with the exception of "i want you to want me", where i'm with the gods of radio. it towers over the studio version, mostly cuz zander just blazes through the song, like he recorded it with his hair on fire. for the most part though, the 20,000 screaming don't add anything to the songs.

I agree with xhuxk too, but if you're looking for a great song that's even better in the canonical live version, um, "Once in a Lifetime?"

"The Name of This Band is Talking Heads" is better than any of their studio albums.

I keep referring to Budokan like the whole album means something to me, but it's only "Surrender" and "I Want You to Want Me" (which version I also prefer to the studio). I can barely remember a thing from the rest of the album.

Nothing to do with "Surrender" or "Once in a Lifetime," but I thought of another instance where the crowd is a big plus for me: "After the Gold Rush" on Live Rust (or, even better, in person), where you get to hear 20,000 people go nuts on the "and I felt like getting high" line. Christgau pointed out somewhere how thrilling this is.

Another example is "Hungry Heart" on the Springsteen 1975-1985 live box set, when the band starts the song and the crowd at the Nassau Coliseum sings the entire first verse. And it was recorded only two months after the single was released in 1980.