I saw David Byrne (formerly the frontman of the Talking Heads) perform last night in Baltimore. He did a great job, as he always does. (This was my fourth time seeing him in concert.)

One of the Talking Heads biggest hits (featured on NPR's list of the most influential songs of the previous century) was "Once in a Lifetime" (1984). Listening to him sing it again last night, I was struck by the geological undercurrents. I thought I would share a few of the topical lyrics that have a peripheral relevance to this blog:

On hydrology:

"Letting the days go by/let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by/water flowing underground
Into the blue again/in the silent water
Under the rocks and stones/there is water underground"

On oceanography:

"Water dissolving...and water removing
There is water at the bottom of the ocean
Carry the water at the bottom of the ocean
Remove the water at the bottom of the ocean!"

On the principle of uniformity ("uniformitarianism"):

"Same as it ever was, same as it ever was,
Same as it ever was, same as it ever was"

Also, from a different Talking Heads tune ("Life During Wartime"), Mr. Byrne offers us this epistle, clearly referring to the value of studying for open-book geology lab practicals:

"Burn all the notebooks
What good are notebooks?
They won't help me survive!"

Mr. Byrne may be coming to a concert hall near you. Check out his tour dates here. Listen to his new album for free online here. He also keeps a blog (which he calls a "journal," and it occasionally features geological musings, as in this example.)

Labels: geology, music, oceans, water resources