Firestarter (The Prodigy song)

"Firestarter" is a song by the British band the Prodigy, released on 18 March 1996. It was the first single from their third album The Fat of the Land, and their tenth single overall. It was also the group's first number-one single on the UK Singles Chart, staying on top for three weeks, and their first big international hit, also reaching number one in Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary and Norway.

"Firestarter"
Single by the Prodigy
from the album The Fat of the Land
Released18 March 1996
Format
RecordedEssex, United Kingdom
Genre
Length
  • 3:45 (edit)
  • 4:42 (album version)
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Liam Howlett
The Prodigy singles chronology
"Poison"
(1995)		 "Firestarter"
(1996)		 "Breathe"
(1996)

It showcased Keith Flint, with punk rock-style vocals, as the group's frontman and is an important crossover song, meshing electronic beats, with industrial metal and punk rock.

Composition

The songwriting credits include Kim Deal of alternative rock group the Breeders, as the looped wah-wah guitar riff in "Firestarter" was sampled from the Breeders' track "S.O.S." from the album Last Splash. The drums are sampled from a remix of the song "Devotion" of the group Ten City. The "hey hey hey" sample is from the 1984 song "Close (to the Edit)" by Art of Noise. Then-members Anne Dudley, Trevor Horn, J. J. Jeczalik, Gary Langan and Paul Morley also receive songwriting credits. The "Empirion Mix", which does not include these samples, is credited solely to Liam Howlett and Keith Flint.

Critical reception

In October 2011, NME placed it at number 52 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".[4] Writing for pitchfork.com in 2005, Jess Harvell said, "'Firestarter' sounds like Trent Reznor in one of his all-too-rare moments of self-aware humor, like the Bomb Squad at +5 with a pink-haired British bulldog bellowing about how tuff he is."[5]

Following Flint’s death on 4 March 2019, fans used the hashtag ‘Firestarter4Number1’ on various social media platforms to replicate the song’s success by getting it to the number 1 spot again. This was done out of respect for Keith Flint and to raise awareness of suicide among men.[6]

During this time the single also returned to the Billboard charts, entering number 13 on its Dance/Electronic Digital Songs Sales chart in its 16 March 2019 issue, marking the first time that this song has appeared on a Dance chart of any kind.[7]

Notable cover versions

"Weird Al" Yankovic created a loose parody of "Firestarter", titled "Lousy Haircut", for an episode of The Weird Al Show; he could not do a full parody of the song as the network CBS did not want to pay royalties to the Prodigy.[8]

The song has also been covered by Gene Simmons of KISS, Torre Florim of De Staat, Sepultura and Papa Roach.[9][10][11]

Music video

The music video was directed by Walter Stern and was filmed in an abandoned London Underground tunnel at Aldwych.[12]

Track listing

XL Recordings/Maverick/Mute

12-inch single
Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Firestarter"4:40
2."Firestarter (Instrumental)"4:39
Side two
No.TitleLength
3."Firestarter (Empirion Mix)"6:45
4."Molotov Bitch"4:51

CD single
No.TitleLength
1."Firestarter (Edit)"3:45
2."Firestarter (Empirion Mix)"7:48
3."Firestarter (Instrumental)"4:39
4."Molotov Bitch"4:51

Charts and certifications

References
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  2. Browne, David (July 11, 1997). "The Fat of the Land". Entertainment Weekly. No. 387. Retrieved October 9, 2017.
  3. Pattison, Louis (2008). "The Prodigy Fat Of The Land Review". bbc.co.uk. BBC. Retrieved October 9, 2017.
  4. "150 Best Tracks Of The Past 15 Years". NME. 26 March 2014. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  5. "The Prodigy: Their Law: The Singles Album Review - Pitchfork". pitchfork.com.
  6. Colothan, Scott (March 6, 2019). "Prodigy fans launch 'Firestarter for Number 1' campaign in memory of Keith Flint". Planet Radio. Retrieved April 4, 2019.
  7. "The Prodigy Return to Billboard's Charts After Keith Flint's Death" from Billboard (13 March 2019)
  8. Gaines, Caseen (September 23, 2017). "'The Weird Al Show': The Complete Oral History". Rolling Stone. Retrieved November 15, 2017.
  9. "Design The GENE SIMMONS Alter-Ego: FIRESTARTER!". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. January 14, 2004. Retrieved December 26, 2019.
  10. Torre Florim (DE STAAT) - Firestarter (Official Music Video) on YouTube
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