I think of the people that are working for me

I am an infrequent contributor (under my Ontario Emperor alter ego) to the Scrine website, and my most recent hobby there has been to tag several scrines with the tag "Talking Heads song Don't Worry About the Government." (See those scrines here.)

The meat of the song from our perspective comes from the second verse of the lyrics.

I see the states, across this big nation
I see the laws made in Washington, D.C.
I think of the ones I consider my favorites
I think of the people that are working for me

Some civil servants are just like my loved ones
They work so hard and they try to be strong
I'm a lucky guy to live in my building
They own the buildings to help them along

I've heard a recording of a live performance of this song, and the end of the song was greeted by laughter from the audience. Perhaps people didn't take David Byrne seriously.

Now I don't know if anyone laughed when the Talking Heads appeared on Old Grey Whistle Test.



And, to put it in historical perspective, this performance included the Talking Heads' new keyboard player, Jerry Harrison, who had previously been in another band.