Talking Heads legend David Byrne has opened up about the anti-war movement, rebellion and those early days in New York for The Big Issue’s Letter To My Younger Self.
Speaking to Adrian Lobb, the cultural icon revealed that as a young person who liked music, it was almost inevitable he would be involved in the protests of the 1960s and 70s.
Following a tumultuous year in the US, Byrne said he would tell his younger self to be prepared to keep fighting for his country’s “core values”.
"The BEST musical experience on the planet," (NME) David Byrne's #AmericanUtopia returns to Broadway on September 17, 2021! Tickets available now at https://t.co/Jxz6HIeNkO. pic.twitter.com/OiSd3zJwT0
— David Byrne's American Utopia on Broadway (@americanutopia) October 14, 2020
“I marched against the Vietnam War when – as there is now – there’d be tear gas and you dealt with it by wearing a bandana across your face. The country had been – as it is now – ripped in half. To some extent it felt generational,” Byrne said.
“And there was still – as there is now – a kind of urban versus rural split. You sensed this patriotic core in rural America, but we felt we were being patriotic too.