<P> As the song essentially consisted of a repetitive two - bar groove (with the pattern reversed between the verse and chorus), Eno decided to approach the production by allowing each of the band members to record overdubs of different rhythmic and musical ideas independently of each other, with each member being kept blind to what the others had recorded on tape . In the final mix, Eno faded between these independent ideas at different parts of the song . This is very much in keeping with his production technique of Oblique Strategies . </P> <P> At first, Eno sang nonsense verb sound blocks, which Byrne then converted into lyrics in the "call - and - response" style of American radio evangelists on the theme of moving through life with little awareness or questioning . On the way he spoke them, Byrne has said: "Most of the words in' Once in a Lifetime' come from evangelists I recorded off the radio while taking notes and picking up phrases I thought were interesting directions . Maybe I'm fascinated with the middle class because it seems so different from my life, so distant from what I do . I can't imagine living like that ." Some of these evangelist recordings also made their way onto the 1981 album My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, by Byrne and Eno . </P> <P> This speaking style was also the basis for his approach of starting several consecutive lines with the same phrases "And you may find yourself ...", and with the chorus singing in part "letting the days go by, let the water hold me down," the song presents an existential mood to it . According to AllMusic critic Steve Huey, one of the main themes of the lyrics is "the drudgery of living life according to social expectations, and pursuing commonly accepted trophies (a large automobile, beautiful house, beautiful wife)." Although the singer has these trophies, he begins to question whether they are real and how he got them . This leads him to question further the reality of his very life, providing the existential element . </P> <P> Eno was not particularly fond of the song, and it was almost dropped from the album before he came up with the vocal melody for the chorus, which "saved" it . </P>

Talking heads song this is not my beautiful house
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