The Big Story Behind David Byrne’s Big Suit in ‘Stop Making Sense’

The Big Picture

• Stop Making Sense
  is celebrated as the greatest concert film ever, showcasing Talking Heads’ most iconic songs.
• David Byrne’s symbolic big suit in the film represents self-expression and artful rejection of conventions.
• Byrne’s inspired big suit was crafted to make his head appear smaller and body bigger, enhancing his uncanny appearance.

Concert films are a storied, celebrated way to experience your favorite band’s work in a different light. They’ve had a resurgence in popularity recently with the successful releases of Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour and Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé. But an older one had a decent comeback at the box office last autumn, and is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. Stop Making Sense, the Talking Heads concert film that covered their 1983 tour, was directed by Jonathan Demme and released the following year in 1984. 40 years after its release, it is still considered the greatest concert film of all time by many critics and fans.

What Happens in ‘Stop Making Sense’?

Stop Making Sense sees David Byrne, Tina Weymouth, Jerry Harrison, and Christ Frantz, the core line-up throughout Talking Heads’ historical run, joined by a variety of backing musicians (including legendary keyboardist BernieWorrell) for an electrifying performance that made audiences cheer, dance, and let loose whether watched from the crowd, in a theater, or on the couch at home. Despite being a fairly minimalist production, one wardrobe choice made by Byrne resulted in what may be the most iconic, pervasive image in the history of concert films: the big suit.

Byrne waltzed onto stage with this giant, gray business suit toward the end of the show for only one full number, before slowly removing pieces of it and returning to his normal attire. But the image of the big suit, which was used on the film’s poster and the live album artwork, has persevered ever since.

Why Did David Byrne Wear a Big Suit in ‘Stop Making Sense’?

Throughout Stop Making Sense, most of the costume choices are fairly minimal. Byrne wears a plain, gray wardrobe. Many of the band members are in solid-colored t-shirts, so the one big choice Byrne makes with this iconic costume change really stands out.

Byrne’s idea for the big suit was inspired by Japanese theatre. Byrne explained to Entertainment Weekly in a 2012 Q&A that a remark from his friend about the figuratively larger nature of a theatrical performance got him thinking about a literal expansion of the size of the performer. During the 1980s, Byrne spent time in Japan, seeing many forms of Japanese theatre, including noh andkabuki, styles that traditionally involve large, boxy costumes. Byrne translated this concept into a more contemporary style, sketching a boxy business suit that he would hand off to Gail Blacker, the tour’s costume designer.

Blacker brought the costume to life, taking Byrne’s design and crafting a gray business suit with massive proportions. The suit was held up by a frame on Byrne’s shoulders, so most of the fabric was loosely hanging around him, enabling it to shake in a fluid motion as Byrne danced. Byrne explained in 1984 while promoting the film: “I wanted my head to appear smaller and the easiest way to do that was to make my body bigger.” It is certainly a successful effect, as Byrne’s uncanny, cartoonish appearance in the suit makes for the most memorable moment in the film.

The ‘Stop Making Sense’ Big Suit is a Celebration of Self-Expression

David Byrne frequently explores the oddities of the seemingly mundane aspects of American life throughout his work. His songwriting often affixes him within the world, not as a participant, but as an alien observer trying to make sense of everything around him. The most basic functions, like grocery shopping or commuting to work, are viewed through a curious, sincere lens that highlights how strange and beautiful the things we take for granted in life can be.

Stop Making Sense follows through on the notion of Byrne as an outsider, with a loose, unspoken arc that sees him begin the show with jerky, uncomfortable movements and a nervous demeanor before slowly letting go of his discomfort, and finding comfort in expressing himself through a communal act of music-making. Byrne has been open about living with autism and struggling to socially engage with people around him. Throughout the performance, he drops his masking to reveal a live-wire, expressive performance. It is in these moments that the show really soars, and that Byrne seems most at home.

In this way, Stop Making Sense is, well, exactly what the title implies: an exercise in rejecting conventions, and embracing self-expression. Is there a better means to convey this notion than a business suit, a simple image that evokes authority, uniformity, and rigidity, being contorted into a caricature of itself? Within the billowing suit, Byrne loosely wiggles around on stage while performing “Girlfriend is Better,” the song that lends the film its title. Byrne’s awkward, unconventional dance moves take on a larger-than-life quality in the suit, as it acts as a flowing extension of his movements that exaggerates every step. The suit makes it all the more clear how much the music is freeing Byrne up, smoothing out his movements in an entrancing fashion.

Is the suit a visual metaphor for a conflict between expectations to conform and the inner desire to break free of those limitations? Or are we overthinking it by attempting to attach any meaning to a work of art that is telling us pointedly to not make sense of it? Either way, the big suit is a compelling image, and one that has taken on a life of its own. A24 utilized the suit throughout the marketing of their 40th-anniversary re-release (which is getting a 4K Blu-ray release this summer), and Byrne seems to embrace it as a symbol that is irrevocably attached to his artistic persona. All this time later, Byrne’s dancing, the incredible music, and that big gray suit comprise what is the greatest concert film ever made.

Stop Making Sense is available to stream on Max in the U.S.

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