"The story I am interested in is about asking what drives a powerful person-what makes them tick? How do they make and then remake themselves? I thought to myself, wouldn't it be great if- as this piece would be principally composed of clubby dance music....Could one bring a 'story' and a kind of theater to the disco?"
The powerful person to fit the bill was Imelda Marcos, the former first lady of the Philippines, who also happened to love disco music. David Byrne saw how her life came with a soundtrack.
"Imelda began to feel that she could help Philippine interests by charming world leaders into seeing things her way. "Handbag diplomacy" she called it- as she liked to imply that to solve a problem, she could bypass President Marcos and just grab a handbag and hop on a plane with her assistants."
Here's a video from Santigold's track "Please Don't". (Can we say Butterfly Sleeves?) DB explains how most the lyrics are "lifted gently from interviews and quotations."
