The pointlessness of it all with some meaning in between of that thing we call life is delightfully significant and artistically presented by David Byrne and Talking Heads troupe along with a certain director Stephen R. Johnson, a year before those phenomenon Peter Gabriel clips. Talking Heads presents us "Road to Nowhere", a fun-watching experience with some reflections on the way.
Byrne/Johnson concept is to feeds us with the ways of life, the literal and figurative roads we follow through our lifetime, best exemplified in one great fast sequence: real-life couple/band members Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz playing the evolution of a loving couple, from the younger days, to marriage, then comes the child (another evolution) and ending with them growing old (dancing in a strange yet funny manner). I just love them, and the editing in their bits is just amazing. And those amusing images flow in several ways, making us laugh or thinking too much - yes, there's a certain sadness to it even though the music and the rhythm make us feel light and at ease. And as usual with Heads and Johnson there's plenty of artful imagery and it's all to audiences to find a meaning to it or stop trying to find some sense: Jerry Harrison painted like a statue; the choral folks singing the song's entrance and finale in the middle of a desert highway; the old man who enters a box and later on becomes a baby; and those claymation/stop motion effects on David Byrne whether with his chair moving with him or those animated effects on his background. Trust me, there's a purpose behind all this.
Speaking of those effects, Stephen R. Johnson made a good experiment in using it here, it appears quite briefly but caused some impact. Next thing we all know Peter Gabriel's clip for the album "So", the hit single "Sledgehammer" is completely made with dazzling effects after effects that was a true test for Gabriel and crew but the result astounded audiences then and now, yet to be surpassed in terms of quality and effort of the work (clips got better over the years but the innocent of its early developments are hard to wash away). And in some ways, it all began here with this Heads' video. Come along, take this ride cause it's alright! 9/10.
