Song · Talking Heads
“Cities” by Talking Heads
From the album Fear of Music (1979)
“Cities” by Talking Heads appears on 4 radio countdowns from 4 stations between 2001 and 2023. It was first released in 1979 on the album Fear of Music. Its best result is #143 on The Colorado Sound Top 800 Songs About Places. In the combined RockLists rankings it is #6,294 alternative song of all time.
"Cities" sits fourth on Fear of Music, Talking Heads' third album, from 1979, and it came out as a single in 1980, between "I Zimbra" and "Crosseyed and Painless". David Byrne wrote it and sings it, playing guitar alongside Jerry Harrison, who also adds keyboards; Tina Weymouth's bass and Chris Frantz's drums keep it moving, and Harrison and Weymouth chip in backing vocals. Brian Eno, co-producing with the band, feeds in electronics, and Rod O'Brien engineered. It's wiry, restless new wave.
It got a second life on screen. When Stop Making Sense, the 1984 concert film, first reached home video, "Cities" was put back into the show with "Big Business" and "I Zimbra" for a so-called special edition. The 1999 reissue took them out of sequence, and later editions tuck them in after the film, full-frame and unrestored.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 902 | WFPK | WFPK 2001 Greatest Songs of All Time | 2000 |
| 2003 | 1536 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) | 2044 |
| 2010 | 785 | WXPN | WXPN 885 Ultimate Road Trip Songs (2010) | 885 |
| 2023 | 143 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 800 Songs About Places | 800 |
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