Once in a Lifetime / Seen and Not Seen

Album Notes & Community Reviews

Produced by Brian Eno, this polyrhythmic masterpiece was constructed through experimental studio jams inspired by Fela Kuti's Afrobeat structures. David Byrne delivers the lyrics with the cadence of a manic, perspiring televangelist, addressing existential dread, aging, and the absurdity of middle-class complacency. The accompanying music video, featuring Byrne's jerky, involuntary dancing, became a defining staple of early MTV.