Nothing to This Top Ten: (Nothing But) Flowers (#6)

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Oh, what a wonderful day. I take two retreats a year, one in the spring and one in the fall. I find them incredibly relaxing and refreshing, great for recharging my spiritual batteries. As for this countdown, nothing will recharge you like another song with “nothing” in the title. Another “huh, they’re that low in the countdown” warning as we roll along with today’s tune. #6: (Nothing But) Flowers - Talking Heads Hey, didn’t I use this on the “flowers” countdown? Yes, I did! Thanks for noticing! Talking Heads were never much on politics; however, they could make a point when they needed to. In this little comical look at people obsessed with the modern life and upset over things going “back to nature,” they used the video to throw more than one disturbing fact out into the public consciousness. Among them: the notion that, when the video was made in 1988, there were nearly 184,000 privately-owned machine guns in America, it took 55 government employees to answer one letter to the director of Health and Human Services, and that (in 1988, remember) there were nearly 300 people 14 years of age detained in South Africa. Yeah, this song (and the video, especially when David Byrne holds his hand up with the word “hey!” on it) will make you laugh. But it is no joke. (Nothing But) Flowers Written by David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Jerry Harrison, and Tina Weymouth Recorded by Talking Heads From Naked, 1988 Where, where is the town: