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Cover of Speaking in Tongues by Talking Heads — Cover: Speaking in Tongues

Song · Talking Heads

“Girlfriend Is Better” by Talking Heads

From the album Speaking in Tongues (1983)

“Girlfriend Is Better” by Talking Heads appears on 20 radio countdowns from 5 stations between 1999 and 2026. It was first released in 1983 on the album Speaking in Tongues. Its best result is #431 on the Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #1,193 alternative song of all time.

20countdowns

5stations

#431best position

0#1 finishes

0top 10 finishes

1999–2026years charted

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Girlfriend Is Better (2005 Remaster)

Video from YouTube (Talking Heads - Topic). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"Girlfriend Is Better" comes off Talking Heads' fifth studio album, Speaking in Tongues, from 1983, and it's the band at its most rubbery and restless. David Byrne sings and plays bass, guitar, keyboards and percussion, Tina Weymouth works bass, guitar and synthesizer, Chris Frantz adds drums and synth, Jerry Harrison covers guitar and keys, and Bernie Worrell drops in with extra synthesizer, the whole thing bubbling like a pot about to boil over. All four band members share the writing credit, the band produced, and Alex Sadkin engineered and mixed.

The song got a second life on stage. A live take recorded at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood became the single, drawn from the soundtrack to the concert film Stop Making Sense, which took its title from one of the song's lines, and an edited version appeared in November 1984 as "Stop Making Sense (Girlfriend Is Better)".

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

#1,193 of all time

Indie & Adult Alternative

All Rock Formats

All-time and decade countdowns

Year	#	Station	Countdown	of
1999	947	CD101	CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)	2000
2000	998	CD101	CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000)	2001
2001	1003	CD101	CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001)	2002
2002	1003	CD101	CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002)	2003
2002	431	Fred (XM 44)	Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002)	2002
2003	988	CD101	CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003)	2004
2004	988	CD101	CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004)	2005
2005	988	CD101	CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005)	1994
2007	1042	CD101	CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007)	2008
2008	982	CD101	CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008)	2009
2009	997	CD101	CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009)	2010
2009	835	WYEP	WYEP 913 Essential Songs	913
2010	1031	CD101	CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010)	2011
2011	972	CD101	CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011)	2011
2013	957	CD101	CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013)	2012
2014	946	CD101	CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014)	2013
2016	818	WYEP	WYEP 913 Countdown 2016	913
2021	808	90.9 The Bridge	90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '80s	909
2024	570	WYEP	WYEP Best Songs of the Past 50 Years	1049
2026	498	KXT	KXT 917 Song Countdown	917

Also listed as: Girlfriend is Better.

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