"Fire" and "Jericho" are two songs recorded 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 ...

rave A rave (from the verb: '' to rave'') is a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated with the early 1990s dance mus ...

act

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 ...

(both were later released under the name "Fire/Jericho", the band's third single on 14 September 1992). It peaked at number eleven on the UK Singles Chart. The single was sub-titled "Strangely Limited Edition" due to the 12-inch vinyl record being deleted after two weeks. This was to move the focus over to the release of the debut album, ''

Experience Experience refers to conscious events in general, more specifically to perceptions, or to the practical knowledge and familiarity that is produced by these conscious processes. Understood as a conscious event in the widest sense, experience involv ...

'', following a few weeks later. Even when the single was re-released, the subtitle was still standing.

"Fire"

"Fire" uses the sample "I am the god of Hell fire, and I bring you (fire)" from

The Crazy World of Arthur Brown The Crazy World of Arthur Brown are an English rock band formed by singer Arthur Brown in 1967. The original band included Vincent Crane (Hammond organ and piano), Drachen Theaker (drums), and Nick Greenwood (bass). This early incarnation were ...

's 1968 single of the same name. The "fire" vocal sample following "...I bring you" is taken from

Daddy Freddy S. Frederick Small (born 1965), better known as Daddy Freddy, is a Jamaican ragga vocalist. Early life Small was born in Kingston, Jamaica, and grew up in the city's Trenchtown district.Huey, SteveDaddy Freddy Biography", Allmusic, retrieved ...

's "Live Jam". It samples the vocal "When I was a youth I used to burn collie weed in a

Rizla Rizla (), commercially styled Rizla+., is a French brand of rolling papers and other related paraphernalia in which tobacco, or marijuana, or a mixture, is rolled to make handmade joints and cigarettes. The company was sold in 1997 to Imperial ...

" from the track " Hard Times" by

Pablo Gad Pablo Gad is a British Roots reggae singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the UK's most militant and outspoken vocalists in roots reggae music. Biography Pablo Gad was born in Jamaica and came to live in the United Kingdom in 1974. Wit ...

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, Engla ...

commented at the time that in contrast to most rave music being associated with the drug ecstasy, "Fire" was more inspired by marijuana, which was equally prevalent among ravers: "It's a smokin' song instead of an ecstasy-feel rave song. It's got a reggae feel to it, because I want to link it up to the whole smoking vibe, 'cos at the end of the day everyone who goes out raving puffs."

"Jericho"

"Jericho" uses an interpolation of the distinct melody in "Kunta Kinte" by

the Revolutionaries The Revolutionaries (sometimes known as "Revolutionaires") was a Jamaican reggae band. Career Set up in 1975 as the house band of the Channel One Studios owned by Joseph Hoo Kim, The Revolutionaries with Sly Dunbar on drums and Bertram "Ranchi ...

. This track was also remixed by British electronic group

Genaside II Genaside II was a British electronic group active in the 1990s and early 2000s. Their music started as rave, developing into jungle, breakbeat and big beat. Its main member was Kris Ogden, though some other members went on to form the band Archiv ...

. Their mix begins with a sample of

Front 242 Front 242 is a Belgian electronic music group that came into prominence during the 1980s. Pioneering the style they called electronic body music, they are a profound influence on the electronic and industrial music genres. History Formation Fr ...

's "Welcome to Paradise", a song that cites the words of American preacher Pastor Ferell Griswold ''"Hey poor you don't have to be poor anymore"''

"Fire" video

A video was directed by frequent collaborator Russell Curtis, but the band didn't like the result and it remained unreleased at the time. In particular, the Prodigy were dissatisfied with the quality of the computer graphics, even though it had been by far their most expensive video production up to this point (with scenes of the band sitting around a campfire shot in a mountain scenery in Wales). The video did however turn up on a compilation from XL called ''The Video Chapter''. Due to its rarity, this video has been much sought after by fans. The music video can now be viewed on the official Prodigy YouTube channel, or through the Prodigy's official website. The video was left off their 2005 compilation Their Law: The Singles 1990–2005.

Track listing

XL

7-inch vinyl record

:A. "Fire" (Edit) (3:21) :AA. "Jericho" (Original Version) (3:47)

12-inch vinyl record

#"Fire" (Burning Version) (4:42) #"Fire" (Sunrise Version) (5:05) #"Jericho" (Original Version) (3:47) #"Jericho" (Genaside II Remix) (5:45)

CD single

#"Fire" (Edit) (3:21) #"Jericho" (Original Version) (3:47) #"Fire" (Sunrise Version) (5:05) #"Jericho" (Genaside II Remix) (5:45)

Elektra CD single

#"Fire" (Edit) (3:21) #"Jericho" (Original Version) (3:47) #"Fire" (Sunrise Version) (5:05) #"Jericho" (Genaside II Remix) (5:45) #"Pandemonium" (4:25)

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fire Jericho Songs about cannabis The Prodigy songs 1992 singles XL Recordings singles Songs written by Liam Howlett 1992 songs Elektra Records singles Music Week number-one dance singles