Grown Backwards

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	78/100[1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Pitchfork Media	7.6/10[3]

Grown Backwards was met with positive reviews from critics noted at review aggregator Metacritic. This release received a weighted average score of 78 out of 100, based on 17 reviews..[1]

In 2010, Byrne claimed in his book How Music Works it has sold 127,000 physical albums, 8,000 digital albums and 53,000 digital singles (overall 140,000 units sold of albums).[4] The album was released on vinyl for the first time on March 15, 2019.[5]

All tracks written by David Byrne, except where noted.

1. "Glass, Concrete & Stone" – 4:13
2. "The Man Who Loved Beer" (Donald Charles Book and Kurt Wagner of Lambchop) – 2:41
3. "Au fond du Temple Saint" (Georges Bizet, Eugène Cormon, Michel Carré, from Les pêcheurs de perles) – 4:49
4. "Empire" – 4:12
5. "Tiny Apocalypse" – 4:03
6. "She Only Sleeps" – 2:57
7. "Dialog Box" – 3:30
8. "The Other Side of this Life" – 4:00
9. "Why" – 2:54
10. "Pirates" – 3:52
11. "Civilization" – 3:17
12. "Astronaut" – 2:55
13. "Glad" – 1:58
14. "Un Dì, Felice, Eterea" (Giuseppe Verdi, from La Traviata) – 2:51
15. "Lazy" (bonus track) (Byrne/X-Press 2) – 9:35

Bonus tracks on 2019 vinyl edition

16. "Strange Enough" – 2:35
17. "50212" – 3:40
18. "Ausencia" – 3:51
19. "Dreamworld" – 5:01
20. "Show and Tell" – 2:41
21. "The Bumps" – 3:25

Byrne on the My Backwards Life tour with Tosca Strings

"Glass, Concrete & Stone"

• David Byrne – vocals, nylon-string guitar
• David Hilliard – hi-hat
• Mauro Refosco – marimba, percussion
• Jane Scarpantoni – cello

Recorded at Loveshack Studio, New York City

"The Man Who Loved Beer"

• Elaine Barber – harp
• David Byrne – vocals, electric guitar
• Paul Frazier – bass guitar
• Mike Maddox – accordion
• Freddie Mendoza – trombone, euphonium
• John Mills – clarinet, bass clarinet, flute
• Mauro Refosco – percussion
• The Tosca Strings:

• Ames Asbell – viola
• Jamie Desautels – violin
• Douglas Harvey – cello
• Leigh Mahoney – violin
• Sara Nelson – cello
• Tracy Seeger – violin

Recorded at Avatar, New York City

"Au Fond du Temple Saint"

• Elaine Barber – harp
• Stephen Barber – prepared piano
• Tom Burritt – marimba, tympani
• David Byrne – vocals
• Pamelia Kurstin – theremin
• Mike Maddox – accordion
• Freddie Mendoza – trombone, euphonium
• John Mills – clarinet, bass clarinet, flute
• The Tosca Strings
• Rufus Wainwright – vocals

"Empire"

• Ray Anderson – trombone
• David Byrne – vocals, dobro
• Alex Foster – tenor saxophone
• Earl Gardner – trumpet
• Vincent Herring – alto saxophone
• Karen Mantler – organ
• Keith O'Quinn – trombone
• Bob Routch – French horn
• Gary Smulyan – baritone saxophone
• Lew Soloff – trumpet
• Bob Stewart – tuba
• Steve Swallow – bass guitar

Recorded RPM Studio, New York City

"Tiny Apocalypse"

• Lisa Aferiat – violin
• Georgia Boyd – viola
• Barry Burns – spacey guitar, Rhodes
• David Byrne – vocals, Rhodes
• Donald Gillan – cello
• Robert Irvine – cello
• Greg Lawson – violin
• Una McGlone – bass
• Johnny Quinn – drum kit
• Fiona Stephen – violin

Recorded at CaVa Sound Workshops, Glasgow

"She Only Sleeps"

• David Byrne – vocals, electric guitar
• Joe Cooper – percussion
• Paul Godfrey – sequencing
• Ross Godfrey – keyboards
• Andy Waterworth – bass guitar

Recorded at Cheeba Central, London Produced by Morcheeba Productions

"Dialog Box"

• Jon Blondell – trombone
• David Byrne – vocals, electric guitars
• Paul Frazier – bass guitar
• John Mills – baritone sax
• Mauro Refosco – percussion
• Steve Williams – drum kit

Recorded at Avatar, New York City, horns recorded at Congress House Studio, Austin, Texas

"The Other Side of This Life"

• Elaine Barber – harp
• David Byrne – vocals, semi-nylon guitar
• Paul Frazier – bass guitar
• Mauro Refosco – percussion, samples, kitchen implements
• The Tosca Strings
• Steve Williams – drum kit, cowbell

Recorded at Avatar, New York City

"Why"

• David Byrne – vocals, electric guitar, programming
• Paul Frazier – bass guitar
• Mauro Refosco – percussion
• Jon Spurney – keyboards
• The Tosca Strings
• Kenny Wollesen – drum kit

Drums recorded at Skyline, New York City

"Pirates"

• Jon Blondell – trombone
• David Byrne – vocals, acoustic guitar
• Paul Frazier – bass
• John Mills – baritone sax
• Mauro Refosco – percussion
• The Tosca Strings
• Kenny Wollesen – drum kit

Drums recorded at Skyline, New York City, horns recorded at Congress House Studio

"Civilization"

• David Byrne – vocals, acoustic guitar
• Paul Frazier – bass
• Alan Ford – vacuum cleaner
• John Linnell – accordion
• Mauro Refosco – percussion
• Kenny Wollesen – drum kit, slit drum

Drums recorded at Skyline, New York City

"Astronaut"

• David Byrne – vocals, electric guitar
• Paul Frazier – bass guitar
• Pamelia Kurstin – theremin
• Mauro Refosco – percussion
• Steve Williams – percussion

"Glad"

• Jon Blondell – trombone
• David Byrne – vocals, nylon-string guitar
• Paul Frazier – bass
• John Mills – clarinet, bass clarinet
• Mauro Refosco – percussion
• The Tosca Strings
• Steve Williams – spaghetti percussion

Horns recorded at Congress House Studio

"Un di Felice, Eterea"

• David Byrne – vocals
• David Creswell – viola
• Katherine Fong – violin
• Soo Hyun Kwon – violin
• Dawn Hannay – viola
• Philip Myers – French horn
• Mark Nuccio – clarinet
• Sandra Park – violin
• John Patitucci – bass guitar
• Alan Stepansky – cellos
• Jeremy Turner – cellos
• Jon Vercesi – Rhodes
• Shelly Woodworth – oboe, English horn
• Sharon Yamada – violin

Recorded at Sound on Sound, New York City

"Lazy"

• David Byrne – vocals, electric guitar, keyboards, drum programming
• Patrick Dillett – background vocals
• Paul Frazier – bass
• Mauro Refosco – percussion
• The Tosca Strings
• Steve Williams – drum triggers

• Official website
• Press release from Nonesuch on the vinyl re-release
• Grown Backwards at Discogs (list of releases)
• Grown Backwards at MusicBrainz (list of releases)