Once in a lifetime: Marcus Welby and David Bryne

I can’t resist juxtaposing the end of Dr. Welby’s 1969 speech on general practitioners vs. specialists –

[P]erhaps you’ll remember that one of these after dinner chats was given by a moldy old fig, with overtones of megalomania. And that he almost convinced you to go into general practice. You’ll remember it, and you’ll look at your beautiful wife and your two beautiful cars and your beautiful barbeque pit and for maybe three seconds you’ll be sorry you didn’t take his advice. But then, a beautiful breeze off the ocean will restore you to sanity. And you will have missed a hell of a lot.

— with the Talking Heads song Once in a Lifetime (1980). “You may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile. You may find yourself in a beautiful house with a beautiful wife.”

Marcus Welby was not necessarily the inspiration here, of course. Alienation – and the dissatisfaction that comes with a midlife crisis — pervaded the zeitgeist in the seventies.

Whatever happened to alienation, anyway? Perhaps it fell along with the Berlin Wall. Or succumbed to Prozac.

Here’s a short and enjoyable cover of the song by Kermit the Frog.

And here’s a classic performance by David Bryne.

Related posts:
Marcus Welby vs. the specialists

Resources:

Image source: Cover Lay Down

Talking Heads, Once In A Lifetime (Remastered LP Version )