“Once In A Lifetime” appeared on the 1981 Talking Heads album Remain in Light. With the theme of a life of quiet desperation, ambient pioneer Brian Eno sang nonsense lyrics to be converted by co-writer David Byrne into lyrics in the "call and response" style associated with American radio preachers. Peaking at #14 in the UK, and #31 in The Netherlands, it was named one of the 100 most important American musical works of the 20th century by National Public Radio.
The key to good parody is to maintain the basic distinctive features of the original work -- in this case, the marionette dancing in the foreground, the synchronized dancing in the background, that thing with the swimming pool -- while changing some characters and the subjective theme itself. So it is for a topical approach to this week's Friday Afternoon Moment of Whimsy.
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