"Baby's Got a Temper" is a song by English

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that started in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mostly used to r ...

group

the Prodigy The Prodigy are an English electronic dance music band formed in Braintree, Essex, in 1990 by producer, keyboard player and songwriter Liam Howlett. The original line-up also featured dancer and singer Keith Flint and dancer and occasional l ...

, released as a non-album single on 1 July 2002 by record labels XL and

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. It was the band's first single in five years after 1997's "

Smack My Bitch Up "Smack My Bitch Up" is a song by English rave group The Prodigy. It was released in November 1997 as the third and final single from their third album, ''The Fat of the Land'' (1997). In 2013, ''Mixmag'' readers voted it the third greatest danc ...

", and was also their first release after dancer

Leeroy Thornhill Leeroy Thornhill (born 8 October 1968) is a British electronic music artist and formerly a rave dancer and occasionally keyboardist for the British electronic group the Prodigy. Thornhill's live performances throughout the 1990s included his un ...

left the band in 2000. The single, as well as the accompanying music video, was controversial, and was met with a negative response from critics. The song's lyrics, written by

Keith Flint Keith Charles Flint (17 September 1969 – 4 March 2019) was an English singer and member as well as one of the vocalists of the electronic dance act The Prodigy. Starting out as a dancer, he became the vocalist of the group and performed on th ...

, were criticised in particular for heavily playing upon the misuse of the "

date rape Date rape is a form of acquaintance rape and dating violence. The two phrases are often used interchangeably, but date rape specifically refers to a rape in which there has been some sort of romantic or potentially sexual relationship between ...

" drug

Rohypnol Flunitrazepam, also known as Rohypnol among other names, is a benzodiazepine used to treat severe insomnia and assist with anesthesia. As with other hypnotics, flunitrazepam has been advised to be prescribed only for short-term use or by those ...

Liam Howlett Liam Paul Paris Howlett (born 21 August 1971) is an English record producer, musician, songwriter, co-founder and leader of the British electronic band The Prodigy, and an occasional DJ. Early years Howlett was born in Braintree, Essex, En ...

later disowned the single.''Nekozine'' online interview
on 17 December 2003 by Andrea Schnepf with Liam Howlett, published 7 January 2004. Retrieved 4 May 2007. Despite this criticism, the song was a top-five hit on the

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

and

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

Recording and composition

The song was written by Keith Flint when he was in

Flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and start fir ...

, a side project of the Prodigy. Flint performed several gigs, with their first being a brief set at the

Download Festival Download Festival is a British-created rock festival created by Terrance Gough, held annually at the Donington Park motorsport circuit in Leicestershire, England (since 2003); in Paris, France (since 2016); at Parramatta Park, Sydney (since 201 ...

on 1 June 2003. Having thought that the band were in the

industrial metal Industrial metal is the fusion of heavy metal and industrial music, typically employing repeating metal guitar riffs, sampling, synthesizer or sequencer lines, and distorted vocals. Prominent industrial metal acts include Ministry, Nine In ...

genre, Flint decided that the song would largely contrast with the band's style, and invited Jim Davies to be featured in the song. Liam Howlett, the song's producer, would later argue he disowned the single. The original demo, "NNNN (No Name No Number)", was released as a hidden track on Flint's promo album '' Device #1''. "Baby's Got a Temper" briefly samples the Prodigy's earlier hit " Firestarter", while its tempo is set in 100 BPM. The band generated controversy by including references to the so-called "

" drug

in the lyrics; however, they explained that the song mentions only personal use and makes no statements on drugging others. Howlett later described the song as "too

introverted The traits of extraversion (also spelled extroversion Retrieved 2018-02-21.) and introversion are a central dimension in some human personality theories. The terms ''introversion'' and ''extraversion'' were introduced into psychology by Carl J ...

", as it focuses on Flint's personal experiences with the drug.

Release and reception

The single was initially intended to support their then-upcoming album, ''

Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned ''Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned'' is the fourth studio album by English electronic music group the Prodigy. It was first released on 11 August 2004 in Japan, on 23 August 2004 in the United Kingdom by XL Recordings, and on 15 September 200 ...

''. However, the album got reworked and the song was removed from its track listing. Because of the song's release as a non-album single, in 2008, the band's official website's

discography Discography is the study and cataloging of published sound recordings, often by specified artists or within identified music genres. The exact information included varies depending on the type and scope of the discography, but a discography entry ...

classified it as an EP.EPs
on 11 March 2008. Retrieved 8 July 2008. Many critics disliked "Baby's Got a Temper" when released. ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

'' wrote that the song "doesn’t sound like a

great leap forward The Great Leap Forward (Second Five Year Plan) of the People's Republic of China (PRC) was an economic and social campaign led by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1958 to 1962. CCP Chairman Mao Zedong launched the campaign to reconstruc ...

from the last Flint-fronted tracks, and that's a big disappointment considering that we've been waiting five years for it." In addition, ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' panned the song, and called the Prodigy "just total fucking idiots" while unfavorably comparing it to

glue Adhesive, also known as glue, cement, mucilage, or paste, is any non-metallic substance applied to one or both surfaces of two separate items that binds them together and resists their separation. The use of adhesives offers certain advant ...

. The song was banned from radio stations in the UK due to "glamorising" Rohypnol.

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

thought that the record would be "too strong to stomach". Despite negative reviews, it was a commercial success, with the single being a top-five hit on the

Canadian Singles Chart The Canadian Singles Chart was a chart compiled by the American-based music sales tracking company, Nielsen SoundScan, which began publication in November 1996. It was published every Wednesday and also published on Thursday by '' Jam!''/Canoe. I ...

and the

Music video

A Traktor-directed

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for the song was released as a

DVD single A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

that included a short "

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" film. It featured three ordinary men, dressed in suits, who walk into a disused

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. They enter a makeup trailer, dress up and apply makeup, walk out to a stage where they turn out to be the band members, Howlett, Flint, and

Maxim Maxim or Maksim may refer to: Entertainment * ''Maxim'' (magazine), an international men's magazine ** ''Maxim'' (Australia), the Australian edition ** ''Maxim'' (India), the Indian edition *Maxim Radio, ''Maxim'' magazine's radio channel on Sir ...

. The three perform before a crowd consisting of cattle, which are milked by women strippers. The milk is then passed to a booth and sold to the public waiting outside who is desperate to get some in an addict manner. The video was apparently based upon one of Howlett's dreams. The video was shot in June 2002 in

Kladno Kladno (; german: Kladen) is a city in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 67,000 inhabitants. It is the largest city in the region and together with its adjacent suburban areas has a population of more than 110,000. ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

(around ). There are many

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communist era A Communist Era is a sustained period of national government by a single party following the philosophy of Marxism–Leninism. Many countries have experienced such a period of Communist rule. Current communist states China The Chinese Communist P ...

properties—the car in the opening scene is the last model Škoda 120 L, the

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is classical Elektročas model and the

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s include flying (hydraulic arm) swans made in Bílovice.

Track listings

UK CD and 12-inch single, Australian CD single # "Baby's Got a Temper" (main mix) # "Baby's Got a Temper" (dub) # "Baby's Got a Temper" (instrumental) UK and US DVD single # "Baby's Got a Temper" (video) # "A Day at Work" European CD single # "Baby's Got a Temper" (main mix) # "Baby's Got a Temper" (dub) US CD single # "Baby's Got a Temper" (original version) # "Baby's Got a Temper" (instrumental) US maxi-CD and 12-inch single # "Baby's Got a Temper" (original version) # "Baby's Got a Temper" (dub mix) # "Baby's Got a Temper" (instrumental) # "Baby's Got a Temper" (a cappella) Australian DVD single # "Baby's Got a Temper" (video) # DVD interface # "A Day at Work"

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

References

{{Authority control The Prodigy songs 2002 singles Songs about drugs XL Recordings singles