VIK HAVE YOU EVER FELT HUMILIATED?
BYRNE Many times. At school, with a woman... [laughing]. Just the other day I was wearing a "workman" look and went to a print-shop. I was getting in by the front door and they told me "no, deliveries at the back!" And I said "I getting a job done here." And they insisted: "Sir, deliveries through the back door only!" [laughing].
VIK HOW DID YOU WAKE UP TODAY? DID YOU DREAM?
BYRNE I rarely dream. Once a year, perhaps, do I remember a dream. When I wake up, I'm already thinking of breakfast.
VIK DID YOU EVER HAVE AN IDEA IN A DREAM?
BYRNE An idea I could use? No.
VIK DO YOU BELIEVE IN GOD?
BYRNE Not in the traditional sense. But, like I said, I believe that there are many levels in the Universe we don't understand.
VIK WHAT'S YOU OPINION ON ABORTION?
BYRNE I think it's a pity, but sometimes can't be avoided. It would be better if people thought: better abortion than children nobody wants. Now there's the day-after pill. It makes one sick to the stomach, but does the trick.
VIK WHAT ABOUT CAPITAL PUNISHMENT?
BYRNE I'm not for it. I think it's inefficient. IN the American states with death penalty, crime rates even rose.
VIK WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU'RE ALONE?
BYRNE Hmmm... I read a magazine. I never watch TV alone.
VIK WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE PASTIME?
BYRNE Singing to myself.
VIK WHERE CAN ONE FIND DAVID BYRNE IN NEW YORK?
BYRNE On my bicycle [laughing].
VIK WOULD YOU SAY SCHOOLING HELPED YOU OR WOULD YOU HAVE ACCOMPLISHED THE SAME WITHOUT IT?
BYRNE I dropped out early. But I retained something. I think it's nice to have contact with people who come from a reality other than your own. This has a much greater effect that classes themselves. It's very interesting.

VIK WHAT'S YOUR OPINION ON DRUGS?
BYRNE [Thinking] I think they're OK. It just depends on the quality and the frequency with which you take them. Like the doctors say, every medicine is a poison, if taken in excess. The difference between medicines and drugs is in dosage.
VIK DID HAVING A DAUGHTER CHANGE YOUR OPINION ON DRUGS?
BYRNE No. But if drugs became an important part of her life, I'd probably feel guilty. I'd ask myself "where did I go wrong?"
VIK WHAT DRUGS HAVE YOU TRIED?
BYRNE I've tried ... [hesitates] not everything. I've had alcohol, marijuana and LSD, a few times. Once I was with my girlfriend and it was awful! I've tried speed, cocaine, and heroine, only once. But I lost interest in drugs.
VIK DID YOU EVER WORK UNDER THE INFLUENCE?
BYRNE On occasion. Once I wrote a song after using cocaine. Not recently, but years ago. It was great.
VIK DID THE SONG SOUND THE SAME AFTER THE EFFECTS WERE GONE?
BYRNE No. When I sobered up I realized it wasn't that good [laughing]. But I'd spew out anything that was on my mind. It was good to let go of everything. I once read about a - now dead - science fiction writer who didn't sell all that much. He made a certain amount per book published. So he decided to have several drugs and turn out one book after another. Some came out good. Others were lousy.
VIK WHAT IS YOUR OPINION ABOUT LEGALIZING MARIJUANA OR OTHER DRUGS?
BYRNE I don't think it is a problem. Part of the danger in drugs arises from the fact that there is no help available, as it is an illegal activity. This also makes it more attractive. If they were legal, they'd be less dangerous.
VIK WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOU SUDDENLY LOST ALL YOUR MONEY?
BYRNE Hmmm... I'd call my friends and ask for help.
VIK WHAT IS YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH MONEY LIKE?
BYRNE I'm Scottish, so I usually save some.
VIK DO YOU THINK IT IS POSSIBLE TO BECOME ADDICTED TO MONEY?
BYRNE Not on money itself, but on the status that comes with it. Women, power, other things.
VIK IS MONEY BETTER THAN SEX?
BYRNE No, but I believe people think: "If I have money, women will love me."

VIK ARE YOU VAIN? DO YOU USE BEAUTY PRODUCTS? DO YOU CHECK YOURSELF OUT IN THE MIRROR A LOT?
BYRNE No.
VIK DO YOU THINK WOMEN FIND YOU ATTRACTIVE?
BYRNE I don't think so. Fortunately, some of them will settle for money [laughing].
VIK WHAT PART OF YOUR BODY DO YOU LIKE THE MOST? AND WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE, IF YOU COULD?
BYRNE God! Physically? What would I change... [pause] I rather like my hands... better than my face. I think I'd completely redo my face. Make it more like a cartoon.
VIK DO YOU WORRY ABOUT THE WAY YOU DRESS?
BYRNE Of course I think about what I wear. But I don't worry about it... I don't know, I through a hat on and that's that.
VIK WHAT IS FASHION?
BYRNE I think fashion is an interesting thing, a form of individual expression.
VIK ARE YOU AFRAID OF AGING?
BYRNE I was, for a long time. I used to think everything would go downhill. Not only physically, but I wouldn't have as much energy, enthusiasm, nothing new... But after a few years I realized none of that happened.
VIK YOU ONE SAID "WEIRD IS GOOD". WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
BYRNE It means that anything with a little confusion is good.
VIK WHAT IS HEAVEN TO YOU? HAVE YOU COME CLOSE TO IT?
BYRNE Heaven... Heaven really comes after death. But it may come for a moment, when you're holding a cup of coffee and feel that pleasure for a second, then it's gone. Sometimes it happens and you weren't paying attention. It's just a taste not the real thing.
VIK WHAT ARE YOU MAIN POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE TRAITS?
BYRNE They are the same. My sense of fashion, for example, is both good and bad.
VIK WHAT IS YOUR ADDICTION?
BYRNE I'm probably a workaholic. But this is the best kind of addiction.
VIK YOU HAVE BECOME QUITE SUCCESSFUL. IS THERE SOMETHING YOU HAVEN'T ACCOMPLISHED YET, BUT WOULD LIKE TO?
BYRNE I'm successful, but not as much as people think. In some places people know my name, or know one or two things I did. This is enough for them to think I'm successful. But sometimes it's not like that at all. It's an illusion.