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Talking Heads' Remain In Light is all about interlocking gravitational fields, changing densities, kinetics, inertia, basically a physics teacher’s wet dream. “The Great Curve” is a nice example of these properties just like any other song on the album, but is definitely a more restrained artifact of science and nature. Not as sparse and minimal as “Listening Wind,” but certainly not as mind-poundingly dense as “Born Under Punches,” “The Great Curve” takes a slightly different approach. The rhythms are there, as are the instrumental fills and asides, but the focus of this song is definitely the vocals. The arrangement is simple, but no less ruthless than its brethren, allowing the complicated interplay of voices to take charge. There are multiple entry and exit points for the vocals, and Phish likely had a difficult time pinning this one down on 10/31/96. 

Watch The Great Curve on YouTube Talking Heads "The Great Curve" -- 1980 Rome, Italy

Perhaps needless to say, they nailed it pretty firmly, playing nicely with and around the sounds of the original track. In both versions, guitar solos consist of short bursts of metallic noise, wrapping otherwise inaccessible melodies into untieable knots. Horns (synth on the original) punctuate every few measures, putting periods on ends of musical sentences. The music itself remains quite consistent throughout the entire song, fitting the vocal madness like a heavily starched shirt. The stop-on-a-dime ending came just before everyone (especially the audience) is completely out of breath. 

Fans of both bands may want to pick up 1982’s The Name of This Band is Talking Heads, a double live album containing a seven-minute version of this track by the folks who wrote it. 

Watch The Great Curve on YouTube "The Great Curve" 10/31/96 Atlanta, GA

(Byrne, Eno, Frantz, Harrison, Weymouth)
© Warner Chappell Music (ASCAP)

Sometimes the world has a load of questions
Seems like the world knows nothing at all
The world is near but it's out of reach
Some people touch it...but they can't hold on.

She is moving to describe the world
Night must fall now-darker, darker.
She has messages for everyone
Night must fall now-darker, darker.
She is moving by remote control
Night must fall now-darker, darker.
Hands that move her are invisible
Night must fall now-darker, darker.

The world has a way of looking at people
Sometimes it seems that the world is wrong
She loves the world, and all the people in it
She shakes 'em up when she start to walk.

She is only partly human being
Divine, to define, she is moving to define, so say so, so say so
She defines the possibilities
Divine, to define, she is moving to define, so say so, so say so
Holding on for an Eternity
Divine, to define, she is moving to define, so say so, so say so
Gone...ending without finishing
Divine, to define, she is moving to define, so say so, so say so

The world moves on a womans hips
The world moves and it swivels and bops
The world moves on a womans hips
The world moves and it bounces and hops
A world of light...she's gonna open our eyes up
A world of light...she's gonna open our eyes up
She's gonna hold/it move/it hold it/move it hold/it move it hold/it move it
A world of light...she's gonna open out eyes up

She is moving to describe the world
Night must fall now-darker, darker.
She has messages for everyone
Night must fall now-darker, darker.
She is moving by remote control
Night must fall now-darker, darker.
Hands that move her are invisible
Night must fall now-darker, darker.

Divine, to define, she is moving to define, so say so
Night must fall now-darker, darker.
She...has got to move the world...to move the world...to move
the world

A world of light...she's gonna open our eyes up
A world of light...she's gonna open our eyes up
She's gonna hold/it move/it hold it/move it hold/it move it hold/it move it
A world of light...she's gonna open out eyes up

Wanna define...so say so, so say so
Divine to define, she is moving to define, so say so, so say so
Night must fall now-darker, darker.
She...has got to move the world...to move the world...to move
the world