Talking Heads - Once in a Lifetime Lyrics Meaning

Today, this is what I think it means: We (human beings) take the acquisition of material possessions so seriously that it becomes what we work for. Meanwhile, time continues to pass and, one day, we realize that we have just worked solely to obtain these things and neglected to enjoy our lives. If we do this, the material things become our definition of who we are. What happens, then, if these things are lost? We no longer have the identity that we have blindly created by collecting "things" and we don’t know who we really are.

The water flowing is the passage of time, which is the constant. We get one chance to make life meaningful so we must be smart about it, examine our choices and decide what will bring us real joy and contentment. If we continue doing what we think is expected of us in this life, without examining our choices, we may miss the things, people, events that would have really brought our life meaning.

If you ask me this again in six months, I will probably say something a little bit different. Today, this makes perfect sense to me. God bless David Byrnes’ heart :)