Talk Shows on Mute

Infobox Single
Name = Talk Shows on Mute


Artist = Incubus
from Album =
A Crow Left of the Murder...
Released =
Format =
Recorded = May 25, 2004
Genre = Rock
Length = 3:52
Label = Epic/Immortal
Writer = Incubus
Producer = Brendan O'Brien
Video director = Floria Sigismondi
Certification = None
Chart position =

• USA Modern Rock: #3 (2004)
  USA Mainstream Rock: #18 (2004)

Reviews =
Last single = "Megalomaniac"
(2004)
This single = "Talk Shows on Mute"
(2004)
Next single = "Agoraphobia"
(2004)

"Talk Shows on Mute" is a song by the American alternative rock band Incubus. It was released as the second single from the band's 2004 album, "A Crow Left of the Murder", and peaked at #3 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart.

The song has a mellow and stripped-down sound, with lyrics containing references to George Orwell's novel "Nineteen Eighty-Four" and Philip K. Dick's novel "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?". Lead singer Brandon Boyd says the inspiration for the song came to him while watching a talk show on an airplane.

"I was on an airplane when a talk show began playing on the TVs. I decided to start narrating for the people, which is a really great game if you're ever bored enough. I realized a time will probably come when television will watch us if we're watching it, if that hasn't already happened, figuratively or literally. It sounded like some sort of pseudo-Big Brother nightmare, so I wrote it down."

The song's music video was directed by Floria Sigismondi, who also directed the band's "Megalomaniac" video. The video alludes to another George Orwell novel, "Animal Farm". It depicts a world where animals have taken over, and the members of Incubus are shown on a talk show demonstrating "stupid human trix".

Also, the chorus of the song contains the line "Come one, come all, into nineteen eighty-four." This abbreviates to the word "Cocaine."