Qu'est-ce que c'est ?

Still riding yesterday's New Wave to bring today's ghastly selection, "Psycho Killer" by The Talking Heads. The song appeared on their debut album, Talking Heads: 77, and was the only song from the album to hit the Billboard top 100 chart. It's gone on to become a classic, and has been covered extensively and featured in numerous TV shows and movies.

The lyrics represent the thoughts of a serial killer, and the bridge of the song is in French:

Ce que j'ai fait ce soir-là

Ce qu'elle a dit ce soir-là

Réalisant mon espoir

Je me lance vers la gloire... OK

What I did, that evening

What she said, that evening

Fulfilling my hope

Headlong I go for glory... OK

Ooo la la, Cara mia, you know what French does to me...

David Byrne said that when he started writing the song, he imagined Alice Cooper doing a Randy Newman-type ballad. "Both the Joker and Hannibal Lecter were much more fascinating than the good guys," he said. "Everybody sort of roots for the bad guys in movies."

Heck yes they do! Pass the fava beans, Clarice!