Burning Down the House (4:06)
751,588 plays (189,350 listeners)
“Burning Down the House” is a 1983 song by Talking Heads, from their album Speaking in Tongues. It became their highest-charting hit single in North America, reaching #9 on the US Charts and #8 in Canada in the year of its release. Outside of North America, however, it was not a hit. In the UK, where Talking Heads would release 14 charting singles, it failed to make the charts at all, and in Australia it peaked at a very modest #94.
Chris Frantz thought of the titular chorus after seeing a Parliament-Funkadelic show where the crowd chanted “Burn down the house.” The initial lyrics were considerably different, however. In an interview on NPR’s “All Things Considered” aired on December 2, 1984, David Byrne played excerpts of early worktapes showing how the song had evolved from an instrumental jam by Tina Weymouth (bass) and Chris Frantz (drums). Once the whole band had reworked the groove into something resembling the final recording, Byrne began chanting and singing nonsense syllables over the music until he had arrived at phrasing that fit with the rhythms— a technique influenced by former Talking Heads producer Brian Eno— “and then I just write words to fit that phrasing… I’d have loads and loads of phrases collected that I thought thematically had something to do with one another, and I’d pick from those.”
Chris Frantz thought of the titular chorus after seeing a Parliament-Funkadelic show where the crowd chanted “Burn down the house.” The initial lyrics were considerably different, however. In an interview on NPR’s “All Things Considered” aired on December 2, 1984, David Byrne played excerpts of early worktapes showing how the song had evolved from an instrumental jam by Tina Weymouth (bass) and Chris Frantz (drums). Once the whole band had reworked the groove into something resembling the final recording, Byrne began chanting and singing nonsense syllables over the music until he had arrived at phrasing that fit with the rhythms— a technique influenced by former Talking Heads producer Brian Eno— “and then I just write words to fit that phrasing… I’d have loads and loads of phrases collected that I thought thematically had something to do with one another, and I’d pick from those.”
Video
Added by proudnewyorker82
Toby Rand kicking ass singing "Burning Down the House" by Talking Heads on the Aug 8th episode of Rockstar Supernova
Share Video
See 2 more
Related Tracks
-
Slippery People
Talking Heads -
Girlfriend Is Better
Talking Heads -
Whip It
Devo -
Just What I Needed
The Cars -
Blue Monday
New Order -
Cars
Gary Numan
Albums featuring this track
-
Stop Making Sense
Talking Heads Buy- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 $11.49
- 7digital $12.99
- iTunes $11.99
- Buy Album
- Amazon $28.98
- eBay Search
-
Speaking in Tongues
Talking Heads Buy- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 $6.99
- 7digital Search
- iTunes $8.99
- Buy Album
- Amazon $185.99
- eBay Search
-
Best Of Talking Heads
Talking Heads Buy- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 Search
- 7digital Search
- iTunes Search
- Buy Album
- Amazon Search
- eBay Search
-
Once in a Lifetime: The Best Of
Talking Heads Buy- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 Search
- 7digital Search
- iTunes Search
- Buy Album
- Amazon Search
- eBay Search
Shouts
-
chbr2a wrote:
cool song
-
damagedvinyl wrote:
One of the best bands of all time.
-
u2martyman wrote:
I blast this song into my ears whenever I'm cookin' ma meals!
-
jennica_med_c wrote:
Fighting fire with fire!
-
phoenixdbp wrote:
great live band
-
NastyHat wrote:
It's the same as it ever was, DexterK, little creatures like psycho killers always cause trouble. Isn't Dexter the name of a psycho killer on some show?
-
DexterK wrote:
and I wonder who did it in the first place? Probably some psycho killer...I'll stop now.
-
DexterK wrote:
@waterbug5331: good plan, at least that sorta thing only happens once in a lifetime
-
heaventree22 wrote:
FUCKIN DANCE PARTY
-
dazmusic wrote:
WATCH OUT!! you might get what you"re after :)
-
waterbug5331 wrote:
When the house is burning down, take me to the river to get some water.
-
AeonFlux555 wrote:
i like this song now more than I ever have. still amazing, Classic.
-
myphace wrote:
models for the radio!!
-
tightheadennis wrote:
aaaargh... watch out
-
Calcbox wrote:
fighting fire with fire!
-
oldrockR wrote:
three ....hundred.... sixteeee..... five.... degrees!
-
rachelsass wrote:
ridiculously classic...suhwee-et drums
-
gungh0 wrote:
Musical genius !
-
natvalentine wrote:
....Love it!
-
LQQKIE wrote:
Great song... part of Retro Fridays member group radio
Talking Heads
Burning Down the House
30-second preview
Listeners
-
Nero67
Listening now
-
hilleridianne
Listening now
-
voidyourself
Listening now
-
MateoKantrida
Top Listener
-
disarray0123
Top Listener
-
reddwarfer
Top Listener
Recent Activity
-
DaveboNutpunch added Burning Down the House to their Loved Tracks. 49 minutes ago
-
rockmog added Burning Down the House to rockmog’s library. 1 hour ago
-
rockmog added Burning Down the House to the playlist stuff. 1 hour ago
-
nosfreak8sec, bjoernsievers and mrmopar8 loved Talking Heads – Burning Down the House. 1 hour ago
-
piggypergy added Burning Down the House to piggypergy’s library. 2 hours ago
-
martyswanson, taomaster99, jeanstamale and 2 other people loved Talking Heads – Burning Down the House. 2 hours ago
-
note100 added Burning Down the House to the playlist sth to dance to, drive to,. 8 hours ago
-
niftypuce and sidrat38 added Talking Heads – Burning Down the House to their libraries. 9 hours ago
-
niftypuce tagged Talking Heads – Burning Down the House with wish list and new wave. 9 hours ago
-
KampfVerein, erock888, ambrly09 and 7 other people loved Talking Heads – Burning Down the House. 12 hours ago
Related Journals
-
New wave
by hdsander |
1 Oct 2009 | 12 comments
-
Top 30 Survey...
by wickedsalvation |
13 Aug 2009 | Add comment
-
My Top 50 Artists
by wickedsalvation |
7 Aug 2009 | Add comment
