"Battle Flag" (or "Battleflag") is a 1997 song by American
funk rock
Funk rock is a fusion genre that mixes elements of funk and rock. James Brown and others declared that Little Richard and his mid-1950s road band, The Upsetters, were the first to put the funk in the rock and roll beat, with a biographer sta ...
band
Pigeonhed
Pigeonhed is an American electronic band from Seattle that combines elements of funk, soul, trip hop, and lo-fi. The band is a collaboration of Shawn Smith and Steve Fisk, that released three albums during the period from 1993 to 1997. They ...
which appeared on their 1997 album ''
The Full Sentence
''The Full Sentence'' is the second and final studio album by Pigeonhed, released on January 28, 1997 through Sub Pop.
Track listing
Personnel
;Pigeonhed
*Steve Fisk – piano, keyboards, synthesizer, Hammond organ, loops, vibraphone ...
''. In 1998, the song was remixed by the British
big beat
Big beat is an electronic music genre that usually uses heavy breakbeats and synthesizer-generated loops and patterns – common to acid house/techno. The term has been used by the British music industry to describe music by artists such as th ...
group
Lo Fidelity Allstars
Lo Fidelity Allstars are an English electronic music group who have recorded since the late 1990s.
Career
Their members originate from various cities in Northern England. They were formed in Leeds before relocating first to London, where they c ...
for the Pigeonhed remix album ''Flash Bulb Emergency Overflow Cavalcade of Remixes''.
The "Battleflag" remix, credited to "Lo Fidelity Allstars (featuring Pigeonhed)" was issued as a single in November 1998 and appeared on Lo Fidelity Allstars' album ''
How to Operate with a Blown Mind''. Although the song was a minor hit in the United Kingdom, reaching No. 36 on the
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 ...
,
it was a major hit on American
alternative rock
Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...
radio and reached No. 6 on the
''Billboard'' Modern Rock Tracks chart.
Media appearances
The song was featured in
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
's prime-time medical drama ''
ER'', most notably in the Season 6 episode, "
Be Still My Heart", in which medical student
Lucy Knight
Lucy Knight is a fictional character In the NBC television series '' ER'', portrayed by actress Kellie Martin. The character was part of the show for the fifth and sixth seasons. When she was first introduced on '' ER'', Dr. Doug Ross called her a ...
(
Kellie Martin
Kellie Martin (born October 16, 1975) is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Rebecca "Becca" Thatcher in '' Life Goes On'' (1989–1993), Lucy Knight on '' ER'' (1998–2000), Samantha Kinsey in the '' Mystery Woman'' TV film seri ...
) and Dr.
John Carter (
Noah Wyle
Noah Strausser Speer Wyle (; born June 4, 1971) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as John Carter in the television series '' ER'' (1994–2009), which earned him nominations for three Golden Globe Awards and five Primetime Emm ...
) are stabbed by
schizophrenic
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social withdra ...
patient
Paul Sobriki
The sixth season of the American fictional drama television series '' ER'' first aired on September 30, 1999, and concluded on May 18, 2000. The sixth season consists of 22 episodes.
Plot
In the first major cast change in ''ER'', the sixth season ...
(
David Krumholtz
David Krumholtz (born May 15, 1978) is an American actor and comedian. He played Mr. Universe in '' Serenity'', Charlie Eppes in the CBS drama series ''Numb3rs'', and starred in the ''Harold & Kumar'' and ''The Santa Clause'' film franchises.
Ear ...
). The song was used again in the Season 8 episode, "Beyond Repair", in which Carter meets Sobriki again. Other uses include season three episode eleven of
Showtime
Showtime or Show Time may refer to:
Film
* ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film
* ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur
Television Networks and channels
* Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...
's drama ''
Queer as Folk'', as well as a season one episode of
The WB
The WB Television Network (for Warner Bros., or the "Frog Network", for its former mascot, Michigan J. Frog) was an American television network launched on broadcast television on January 11, 1995, as a joint venture between the Warner Bros. ...
's ''
Smallville
''Smallville'' is an American superhero television series developed by writer-producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, based on the DC Comics character Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The series was produced by Millar Gough ...
'', a season three episode
of
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
's ''
Person of Interest
"Person of interest" is a term used by law enforcement in the United States, Canada, and other countries when identifying someone possibly involved in a criminal investigation who has not been arrested or formally accused of a crime. It has no leg ...
'', and a season one episode of
HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
's ''
The Sopranos
''The Sopranos'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime drama television series created by David Chase. The story revolves around Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey-based American Mafia, Italian-American mobster, portraying h ...
''. It also featured in the films ''
Running with the Devil
''Running with the Devil'' is a 2019 American crime thriller film written and directed by Jason Cabell and starring Nicolas Cage, Laurence Fishburne, Leslie Bibb and Barry Pepper. It is Cabell's directorial debut.
It was released in the United ...
'', ''
Coyote Ugly'', ''
Forces of Nature'', ''
Mean Machine'' and ''
Very Bad Things
''Very Bad Things'' is a 1998 American black comedy film written and directed by Peter Berg in his feature film directorial debut and starring Cameron Diaz, Jon Favreau, Daniel Stern, Jeremy Piven, Christian Slater, Leland Orser, Kobe Tai and J ...
'', and the trailers for ''
Charlie's Angels
''Charlie's Angels'' is an American crime drama television series that aired on ABC from September 22, 1976, to June 24, 1981, producing five seasons and 115 episodes. The series was created by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts and was produced by Aa ...
'', ''
The 51st State
''The 51st State'' (also known as ''Formula 51'') is a 2001 action comedy film directed by Ronny Yu, written by Stel Pavlou, and starring Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Carlyle, Emily Mortimer, Ricky Tomlinson, Sean Pertwee, Rhys Ifans, Stephen ...
'', ''
Drillbit Taylor
''Drillbit Taylor'' is a 2008 American coming-of-age comedy film directed by Steven Brill, produced by Judd Apatow, Susan Arnold and Donna Arkoff Roth with screenplay by Kristofor Brown and Seth Rogen based on an original story by John Hughes ( ...
'', ''
Starsky & Hutch'', ''
Play It to the Bone
''Play It to the Bone'' is a 1999 American sports comedy drama film, starring Antonio Banderas and Woody Harrelson, written and directed by Ron Shelton.
It follows the adventures of two boxers and best friends who travel to Las Vegas in order t ...
'', and ''
Duke Nukem Forever
''Duke Nukem Forever'' is a 2011 first-person shooter game developed by Gearbox Software and published by 2K Games for Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. It is the fourth main installment in the ''Duke Nukem'' series and the sequel to ''Duke ...
''. The song was also used on the 2000
WWF (now WWE) videotape ''Eve of Destruction''. Most recently, the song was used at the end of Season 1 episode “Hand to Mouth” on the
Apple TV+
Apple TV is a digital media player and microconsole developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is a small network appliance hardware that plays received media data such as video and audio to a television set or external display. Since its secon ...
series ''
Black Bird''.
Track listing
1998 UK single #1
#"Battleflag (Full Version)"
#"Pony Pressure"
#"Battleflag (Bonus Beats)"
1998 UK single #2
#"Battleflag (Radio Edit)"
#"Battleflag (Space Raiders)"
#"Battleflag (Live At The Big Beat Boutique)"
1998 US CD single
#"Battle Flag
adio Version – 3:54
#"Battle Flag (Callout Hook #1)" – 0:10
#"Battle Flag (Callout Hook #2)" – 0:05
1999 US 12"
#"Battle Flag" – 5:29
#"Blisters on My Brain" – 7:09
#"Pony Pressure" – 4:48
#"Vision Incision" – 5:24
Several more versions of the single could be found a
shawnsmithsinger.com
References
{{authority control
1998 songs
1998 singles
Music videos directed by Jake Nava
Pigeonhed songs
Columbia Records singles