Escrita por David Byrne Brian Eno, Chris Frantz, Jerry Harrison e Tina Weymouth, foi gravada entre julho e agosto de 1980 e lançada no disco Remain in light, o quarto da banda, em 8 de outubro de 1980. Sairia também em compacto, com Seen and Not seen como Lado B, em janeiro de 1980. Foi produzida por Brian Eno. O vocal de David Byrne foi inspirado em pastores fazendo sermões, com letras falando de crises existenciais e o subconsciente. É uma das 500 songs that shaped rock and roll, do Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. NPR disse que Once in a lifetime é uma dos 100 most important American musical works of the 20th century. Chegou ao número 14 no Reino Unido, número 16 na Irlanda, número 23 na Australia, número 24 na Holanda e número 28 no Canadá. David Byrne cantou e tocou guitara. Jerry harrison tocou orgão, sintetizador e fez backing vocals. Tina Weymouth tocou baixo. Chris Frantz tocou bateria. Brian Eno tocou sintetizador, percussão e fezbacking vocals. Nona Hendryx fez backing vocals. Adrian Belew tocou guitarra.
A letra:
And you may find yourself
living in a shotgun shack
And you may find yourself in another
part of the world
And you may find yourself behind the wheel of a
large automobile
And you may find yourself in a beautiful house,
with a beautiful wife
And you may ask yourself, "Well, how
did I get here?"
Letting the days go by, let the water
hold me down
Letting the days go by, water flowing
underground
Into the blue again, after the money's gone
Once in
a lifetime, water flowing underground
And you may ask yourself, "How do
I work this?"
And you may ask yourself, "Where is that
large automobile?"
And you may tell yourself, "This is
not my beautiful house"
And you may tell yourself, "This
is not my beautiful wife"
Letting the days go by, let the water
hold me down
Letting the days go by, water flowing
underground
Into the blue again, after the money's gone
Once in
a lifetime, water flowing underground
Same as it ever was, same as it ever
was
Same as it ever was, same as it ever was
Same as it ever
was, same as it ever was
Same as it ever was, same as it ever was
Water dissolving and water
removing
There is water at the bottom of the ocean
Under the
water, carry the water
Remove the water from the bottom of the
ocean
Water dissolving and water removing
Letting the days go by, let the water
hold me down
Letting the days go by, water flowing
underground
Into the blue again, into the silent water
Under
the rocks and stones, there is water underground
Letting the days go by, let the water
hold me down
Leting the days go by, water flowing underground
Into
the blue again, after the money's gone
Once in a lifetime, water
flowing underground
You may ask yourself, "What is
that beautiful house?"
You may ask yourself, "Where does
that highway go to?"
And you may ask yourself, "Am I
right, am I wrong?"
And you may say to yourself, "My
God, what have I done?"
Letting the days go by, let the water
hold me down
Letting the days go by, water flowing
underground
Into the blue again, into the silent water
Under
the rocks and stones, there is water underground
Letting the days go by, let the water
hold me down
Letting the days go by, water flowing
underground
Into the blue again, after the money's gone
Once in
a lifetime, water flowing underground
Same as it ever was, same as it ever
was
Same as it ever was, look where my hand was
Time isn't
holding up, time isn't after us
Same as it ever was, same as it
ever was
Same as it ever was, same as it ever was
Same as it
ever was, same as it ever was (I couldn't get no rest)
Same as it
ever was, hey let's all twist our thumbs
Here comes the twister
Letting the days go by (same as it ever
was, same as it ever was)
Letting the days go by (same as it ever
was, same as it ever was)
Once in a lifetime, let the water hold
me down
Letting the days go by, water flowing underground
A versão do Talking Heads:
A versão de Josh Turner:
A versão de David Byrne:
