Through 'American Utopia,' David Byrne Argues For A Return To Hope In Our Democratic 'Experiment'

When COVID-19 hit, New Wave musician and former Talking Heads frontman David Byrne was forced to push back the return of his Broadway show, American Utopia.

But that didn’t silence the project altogether. In collaboration with artist Maira Kalman, Byrne converted the show into an illustrated book, and on Boston Public Radio Tuesday, he argued for a societal return to hope in the American experiment itself.

“(An American utopia) an imaginary ideal, but it’s nice to think that maybe we can get closer to it,” he said.

Byrne said he takes inspiration from the writings of Alexis de Toqueville, who wrote “Democracy in America” in the early 1800s.

“Obviously as we’ve seen, the experiment continues, it’s still an experiment,” he said. “There’s occasionally some bumps in the road, so far we’re still hanging in there … and can only hope that that kind of malleability that we have, leads us to a better place.”

Byrne has kept creating and adapting American Utopia during a pandemic that has affected much of American life as we know it. Touched by a national political discourse that seems more divided than ever, Byrne has also delved into the world of journalism, through a multimedia project called We Are Not Divided.

“I’d collect these things for myself, to help convince myself no we’re not necessarily going to hell in a handbasket, there are people doing things that are helpful,” said Byrne. “It really has helped me, when I start to despair, it’s really helped me see no that’s not the only news out there, some of the news is that people are bridging divides, people are doing things that are energy efficient, they’re finding ways to do things that are economically sound and putting us on the right path.”