Grown Backwards is an album by David Byrne

David Byrne (musician)

David Byrne is a musician and artist, best known as a founding member and principal songwriter of the American new wave band Talking Heads, which was active between 1975 and 1991. Since then, Byrne has released his own solo recordings and worked with various media including film, photography,...

, released March 16, 2004.

Track listing

All tracks written by David Byrne, except where noted.

1. "Glass, Concrete & Stone" – 4:13
2. "The Man who Loved Beer" (Donald Charles Book and Kurt Wagner
   Kurt Wagner (musician)
   Kurt Wagner is an American musician, and the singer and songwriter of the Nashville-based alternative-country band Lambchop.-Solo discography:Album*Kurt - tour only cd from European solo tourEP...
   
    of Lambchop
   Lambchop (band)
   Lambchop, originally Posterchild, is a band from Nashville, Tennessee. Lambchop is loosely associated with the alternative country genre...
   
   ) – 2:41
3. "" (Georges Bizet
   Georges Bizet
   Georges Bizet formally Alexandre César Léopold Bizet, was a French composer, mainly of operas. In a career cut short by his early death, he achieved few successes before his final work, Carmen, became one of the most popular and frequently performed works in the entire opera repertory.During a...
   
   , Eugène Cormon
   Eugène Cormon
   Pierre-Etienne Piestre, known as Eugène Cormon , was a French dramatist and librettist. He used his mother’s name, Cormon, during his career....
   
   , Michel Carré
   Michel Carré
   Michel Carré was a prolific French librettist.He went to Paris in 1840 intending to become a painter but took up writing instead. He wrote verse and plays before turning to writing libretti. His libretto for Mirette was never performed in France but was later performed in English adaptation in...
   
   , from ) - 4:49
4. "Empire" – 4:12
5. "Tiny Apocalypse" – 4:03
6. "She Only Sleeps" – 2:57
7. "Dialog Box" – 3:30
8. "The Other Side of this Life" – 4:00
9. "Why" – 2:54
10. "Pirates" – 3:52
11. "Civilization" – 3:17
12. "Astronaut" – 2:55
13. "Glad" – 1:58
14. "" (Giuseppe Verdi
    Giuseppe Verdi
    Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
    
    , from ) – 2:51
15. "Lazy" (bonus track) (Byrne/X-Press 2
    X-Press 2
    X-Press 2 is an English electronic and dance music duo. The members are DJ Diesel and DJ Rocky . Ashley Beedle left to pursue solo projects in 2009.-History:...
    
    ) – 9:35

Pop culture

Several of the tracks from this album have appeared in feature films. "Glass, Concrete and Stone" was featured in the opening of Paul Weitz

Paul Weitz (filmmaker)

Paul John Weitz is an American film producer, screenwriter, actor, and film director.-Personal life:Weitz was born in New York City, New York, the son of the actress Susan Kohner and novelist/fashion designer John Weitz, and the grandson of producer Paul Kohner and Mexican actress Lupita...

's 2004 film In Good Company and in Stephen Frears

Stephen Frears

Stephen Arthur Frears is an English film director.-Early life:Frears was born in Leicester, England to Ruth M., a social worker, and Dr Russell E. Frears, a general practitioner and accountant. He did not find out that his mother was Jewish until he was in his late 20s...

' 2002 film Dirty Pretty Things

Dirty Pretty Things (film)

Dirty Pretty Things is a 2002 film directed by Stephen Frears and written by Steven Knight, a drama about two illegal immigrants in London...

. "Tiny Apocalypse" appears in Isabel Coixet

Isabel Coixet

Isabel Coixet is a Spanish film director.She received an M.A. in history from the University of Barcelona...

's 2005 film The Secret Life of Words

The Secret Life of Words

The Secret Life of Words is a 2005 Spanish film, directed by Isabel Coixet and starring Sarah Polley and Tim Robbins. The film was released on December 15, 2006 and grossed a worldwide total of $6,410,058.-Plot:...

.

Holly Miranda

Holly Miranda

Holly Miranda is an American singer-songwriter and musician. Besides being trained in piano, Holly is a self-taught guitar and trumpet player. In 2001, she recorded "High Above The City", a 20-track solo album available only at shows. In the fall of 2003, Holly met and teamed up with Alex Lipsen,...

 covered "Glass, Concrete & Stone" on her EP

Extended play

An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...

 Choose to See;, which was included with the purchase of her 2010 album The Magician's Private Library

The Magician's Private Library

The Magician's Private Library is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter Holly Miranda, released 23 February 2010 in the United States by XL Recordings...

.

Personnel

"Glass, Concrete & Stone"

• David Byrne – vocals
  Singing
  Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
  
  , nylon-string guitar
• David Hilliard
  David Hilliard
  David Hilliard is a member of the Black Panther Party. He was Chief of Staff in the party. He is currently a visiting instructor at the University of New Mexico....
  
   – hi-hat
  Hi-hat
  A hi-hat, or hihat, is a type of cymbal and stand used as a typical part of a drum kit by percussionists in R&B, hip-hop, disco, jazz, rock and roll, house, reggae and other forms of contemporary popular music.- Operation :...
  
  
• Mauro Refosco – marimba
  Marimba
  The marimba is a musical instrument in the percussion family. It consists of a set of wooden keys or bars with resonators. The bars are struck with mallets to produce musical tones. The keys are arranged as those of a piano, with the accidentals raised vertically and overlapping the natural keys ...
  
  , percussion
  Percussion instrument
  A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
  
  
• Jane Scarpantoni
  Jane Scarpantoni
  Jane Scarpantoni is a classically trained cello player who has played on a number of alternative rock albums.She was a member of Hoboken, New Jersey's Tiny Lights in the mid-'80s, then went on to play with other musicians especially those associated with the Hoboken underground rock scene of the...
  
   – cello
  Cello
  The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
  
  

Recorded at Loveshack Studio, New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

"The Man Who Loved Beer"

• Elaine Barber – harp
  Harp
  The harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
  
  
• David Byrne – vocals, electric guitar
  Electric guitar
  An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
  
  
• Paul Frazier – bass guitar
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  
• Mike Maddox – accordion
  Accordion
  The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
  
  
• Freddie Mendoza – trombone
  Trombone
  The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
  
  , euphonium
  Euphonium
  The euphonium is a conical-bore, tenor-voiced brass instrument. It derives its name from the Greek word euphonos, meaning "well-sounding" or "sweet-voiced"...
  
  
• John Mills – clarinet
  Clarinet
  The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
  
  , bass clarinet
  Bass clarinet
  The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B , but it plays notes an octave below the soprano B clarinet...
  
  , flute
  Flute
  The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
  
  
• Mauro Refosco – percussion
• The Tosca Strings:
• Ames Asbell – viola
  Viola
  The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
  
  
• Jamie Desautels – violin
  Violin
  The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
  
  
• Douglas Harvey – cello
  Cello
  The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
  
  
• Leigh Mahoney – violin
• Sara Nelson – cello
• Tracy Seeger – violin

Recorded at Avatar, New York City

""

• Elaine Barber – harp
  Harp
  The harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
  
  
• Stephen Barber – prepared piano
  Prepared piano
  A prepared piano is a piano that has had its sound altered by placing objects between or on the strings or on the hammers or dampers....
  
  
• Tom Burritt – marimba, tympani
• David Byrne – vocals
• Pamelia Kurstin
  Pamelia Kurstin
  Pamelia Kurstin is a theremin player who has performed and recorded with artists such as David Byrne, Richard Cheese, Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, and Ulver and has performed on the television show Saturday Night Live...
  
   – theremin
• Mike Maddox – accordion
• Freddie Mendoza – trombone, euphonium
• John Mills – clarinet, bass clarinet, flute
• The Tosca Strings
• Rufus Wainwright
  Rufus Wainwright
  Rufus McGarrigle Wainwright is an American-Canadian singer-songwriter. He has recorded six albums of original music, EPs, and tracks on compilations and film soundtracks.-Early years:...
  
  - vocals

"Empire"

• Ray Anderson
  Ray Anderson (musician)
  Ray Anderson is an independent jazz trombone and trumpet player. Anderson is a boisterous trombonist who is masterful at multiphonics. Trained by the Chicago Symphony trombonists, he is regarded as pushing the limits of the instrument. He is a contemporary and colleague of trombonist/composer...
  
   – trombone
• David Byrne – vocals, dobro
  Dobro
  Dobro is a registered trademark, now owned by Gibson Guitar Corporation and used for a particular design of resonator guitar.The name has a long and involved history, interwoven with that of the resonator guitar...
  
  
• Alex Foster – tenor saxophone
  Tenor saxophone
  The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
  
  
• Earl Gardner
  Earl Gardner (musician)
  Earl Wesley Gardner, Jr. is an American jazz trumpeter. He is probably best known for his stint in the house band on Saturday Night Live, a chair he has held since 1985.In 1976, he joined The Thad Jones/ Mel Lewis Orchestra....
  
   – trumpet
  Trumpet
  The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
  
  
• Vincent Herring
  Vincent Herring
  Vincent Herring is an American jazz hard bop and post-bop saxophonist and flautist.-Biography:Herring's formal musical education began at age 11, when he started playing saxophone in school bands and studying privately at Dean Frederick's School Of Music in Vallejo, California...
  
   – alto saxophone
  Alto saxophone
  The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in 1841. It is smaller than the tenor but larger than the soprano, and is the type most used in classical compositions...
  
  
• Karen Mantler
  Karen Mantler
  Karen Mantler is an American jazz musician, harmonca player, singer and composer. She is the daughter of Carla Bley and Michael Mantler....
  
   – organ
  Organ (music)
  The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
  
  
• Keith O'Quinn – trombone
• Bob Routch – French horn
• Gary Smulyan
  Gary Smulyan
  Gary Smulyan is a jazz musician who plays baritone saxophone. He studied at SUNY before working with Woody Herman...
  
   – baritone saxophone
  Baritone saxophone
  The baritone saxophone, often called "bari sax" , is one of the largest and lowest pitched members of the saxophone family. It was invented by Adolphe Sax. The baritone is distinguished from smaller sizes of saxophone by the extra loop near its mouthpiece...
  
  
• Lew Soloff
  Lew Soloff
  Lew Soloff is a jazz trumpeter, composer and actor. He studied trumpet at the Eastman School of Music and the Juilliard School. He is likely best known for his work with Blood, Sweat & Tears from 1968 to 1973...
  
   – trumpet
• Bob Stewart – tuba
  Tuba
  The tuba is the largest and lowest-pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the...
  
  
• Steve Swallow
  Steve Swallow
  Steve Swallow is a jazz double bass and bass guitarist and composer born in Fair Lawn, New Jersey.One of the leading bassists in jazz, Swallow is noted for collaborations with Jimmy Giuffre, Gary Burton and Carla Bley...
  
   – bass guitar

Recorded RPM Studio, New York City

"Tiny Apocalypse"

• Lisa Aferiat – violin
• Georgia Boyd – viola
• Barry Burns
  Barry Burns
  Barry Burns is a Scottish musician best known for his work with post-rock band Mogwai.-Early life:Burns went to Cardinal Newman High School in Bellshill before enrolling with the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, taking up a Bachelor of Education degree in teaching music. He did...
  
   – spacey guitar, Rhodes
• David Byrne – vocals, Rhodes
• Donald Gillan – cello
• Robert Irvine
  Robert Irvine
  Robert Irvine is a celebrity chef who has appeared on a variety of Food Network programs, including Dinner: Impossible, Worst Cooks in America, and Restaurant: Impossible.-Career:Irvine began his cooking career upon enlisting in the Royal Navy at the age of fifteen...
  
   – cello
• Greg Lawson – violin
• Una McGlone – bass
• Johnny Quinn – drum kit
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
  
  
• Fiona Stephen – violin

Recorded at CaVa Sound Workshops, Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

"She Only Sleeps"

• David Byrne – vocals, electric guitar
• Joe Cooper – percussion
• Paul Godfrey – sequencing
• Ross Godfrey – keyboards
• Andy Waterworth – bass guitar

Recorded at Cheeba Central, London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

Produced by Morcheeba

Morcheeba

Morcheeba are a British band, mixing influences from trip hop, rock, R&B, and pop.They have produced 7 albums since 1995, two of which reached the UK top ten.-Biography:...

 Productions

"Dialog Box"

• Jon Blondell – trombone
• David Byrne – vocals, electric guitars
• Paul Frazier – bass guitar
• John Mills – baritone sax
• Mauro Refosco – percussion
• Steve Williams
  Steve Williams (jazz drummer)
  Stephen Edward Williams is an American jazz drummer.For twenty-five years he has collaborated with jazz pianist and singer Shirley Horn.-From Washington DC:...
  
   – drum kit

Recorded at Avatar, New York City, horns recorded at Congress House Studio, Austin

Austin, Texas

Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...

, Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

"The Other Side of This Life"

• Elaine Barber – harp
• David Byrne – vocals, semi-nylon guitar
• Paul Frazier – bass guitar
• Mauro Refosco – percussion, samples, kitchen implements
• The Tosca Strings
• Steve Williams – drum kit, cowbell

Recorded at Avatar, New York City

"Why"

• David Byrne – vocals, electric guitar, programming
• Paul Frazier – bass guitar
• Mauro Refosco – percussion
• Jon Spurney – keyboards
• The Tosca Strings
• Kenny Wollesen
  Kenny Wollesen
  Kenny Wollesen is an American drummer and percussionist.Wollesen lives in New York City. He has recorded and toured with many musicians including Tom Waits, Sean Lennon, Ron Sexsmith, Bill Frisell, Norah Jones, Steven Bernstein and John Zorn. He is a founding member of the New Klezmer Trio and a...
  
   – drum kit

Drums recorded at Skyline, New York City

"Pirates"

• Jon Blondell – trombone
• David Byrne – vocals, acoustic guitar
• Paul Frazier – bass
• John Mills – baritone sax
• Mauro Refosco – percussion
• The Tosca Strings
• Kenny Wollesen – drum kit

Drums recorded at Skyline, New York City, horns recorded at Congress House Studio

"Civilization"

• David Byrne – vocals, acoustic guitar
  Acoustic guitar
  An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
  
  
• Paul Frazier – bass
• Alan Ford – vacuum cleaner
  Vacuum cleaner
  A vacuum cleaner, commonly referred to as a "vacuum," is a device that uses an air pump to create a partial vacuum to suck up dust and dirt, usually from floors, and optionally from other surfaces as well. The dirt is collected by either a dustbag or a cyclone for later disposal...
  
  
• John Linnell
  John Linnell
  John Sidney Linnell is an American musician, is known primarily as one half of Brooklyn, New York alternative rock duo They Might Be Giants...
  
   – accordion
• Mauro Refosco – percussion
• Kenny Wollesen – drum kit, slit drum
  Slit drum
  A slit drum is a hollow percussion instrument, usually a log drum of bamboo or wood, that is made with one or more slits in it. Most slit drums have three slits, cut into the shape of an "H". If, as is usual, the resultant tongues are different lengths or thicknesses, the drum will produce two...
  
  

Drums recorded at Skyline, New York City

"Astronaut"

• David Byrne – vocals, electric guitar
  Electric guitar
  An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
  
  
• Paul Frazier – bass guitar
• Pamelia Kurstin – theremin
  Theremin
  The theremin , originally known as the aetherphone/etherophone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox is an early electronic musical instrument controlled without discernible physical contact from the player. It is named after its Russian inventor, Professor Léon Theremin, who patented the device...
  
  
• Mauro Refosco – percussion
• Steve Williams – percussion

"Glad"

• Jon Blondell – trombone
• David Byrne – vocals, nylon-string guitar
• Paul Frazier – bass
• John Mills – clarinet, bass clarinet
• Mauro Refosco – percussion
• The Tosca Strings
• Steve Williams – spaghetti percussion

Horns recorded at Congress House Studio

""

• David Byrne – vocals
• David Creswell – viola
• Katherine Fong – violin
• Soo Hyun Kwon – violin
• Dawn Hannay – viola
• Philip Myers
  Philip Myers
  Philip Myers is a noted American horn player. Myers plays a F/B-flat/f alto Engelbert Schmid Triple Horn. He currently owns five horns, down from a high at one time of 17...
  
   – French horn
• Mark Nuccio – clarinet
• Sandra Park – violin
• John Patitucci
  John Patitucci
  John Patitucci is an American Grammy-winning jazz double bass and jazz fusion electric bass player.-Biography:Patitucci is of Italian descent and was born in Brooklyn, New York, where he began playing the electric bass at age ten, composing and performing at age 12, as well as the acoustic bass at...
  
   – bass guitar
• Alan Stepansky – cellos
• Jeremy Turner – cellos
• Jon Vercesi – Rhodes
• Shelly Woodworth – oboe
  Oboe
  The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
  
  , English horn
• Sharon Yamada – violin

Recorded at Sound on Sound

Sound on Sound

Sound on Sound is an independently-owned monthly music technology magazine published by SOS Publications Group, based in Cambridge, UK. The magazine includes product tests of electronic musical performance and recording devices, and interviews with industry professionals...

, New York City

"Lazy"

• David Byrne – vocals, electric guitar, keyboards, drum programming
• Patrick Dillett – background vocals
• Paul Frazier – bass
• Mauro Refosco – percussion
• The Tosca Strings
• Steve Williams – drum triggers

External links

• DavidByrne.com on Grown Backwards
• Review - Published at The Music Box, Vol. 11, #4