David Byrne & Brian Eno - My Life in the Bush of Ghosts

Yes, the original pressing included a track called 'Qu'uran' that used sampled recordings of Qur'anic recitation, which drew objections from Islamic groups. Byrne and Eno voluntarily removed it from subsequent pressings, replacing it with 'Very, Very Hungry' on most editions.

The album was recorded in the same creative period as Remain in Light (1980), and both projects share a fascination with West African polyrhythms and cyclical, layered grooves. However, My Life in the Bush of Ghosts goes further by using found vocals and field recordings as lead 'instruments' rather than conventional lyrics.

Yes, the title comes directly from Amos Tutuola's 1952 novel of the same name, which draws on Yoruba storytelling traditions. Byrne and Eno were inspired by the book's spirit of surreal narrative collage, which mirrored their own approach of layering found sounds and radio broadcasts into a fragmented musical journey.

Eno applied his trademark studio-as-instrument methods, including tape loops, heavy sampling of world music and radio broadcasts, and layered percussion tracks recorded with Talking Heads drummer Chris Frantz and other collaborators. The result was a pioneering fusion of what would later be called sampling culture with avant-garde pop production.