"Burning Down the House" is a song by Americanrock bandTalking Heads, released in July 1983 as the first single from their fifth studio albumSpeaking in Tongues.
The initial lyrics were considerably different, however. In an interview onNPR'sAll 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 Weymouth and Frantz. 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 arrived at phrasing that fit with the rhythms—a technique influenced by former Talking Heads producerBrian Eno: "and then I [would] 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."[6]
According to Byrne in the NPR interview, phrases that he tried but ultimately did not use in the song included "I have another body", "Pick it up by the handle", "You travel with a double", and "I'm still under construction". As for the title phrase in the chorus, one early attempt (as heard on a worktape) had him singing a different line, "What are we gonna do?", and at another point in the process, "instead of chanting 'Burning Down the House,' I was chanting 'Foam Rubber, USA.'"[6]
The video, produced and directed by Byrne, alternates primarily between footage of the band performing the song in an empty ballroom, Byrne playing while facing a projection screen that displays a concert crowd or a wall of flames at different times, and images projected on the outside wall of a house. A young boy resembling Byrne takes his place from time to time; eventually, younger counterparts start moving the arms of all four band members to play the music. After the screen goes blank, both young and adult Byrne leave the stage, and the video ends with an extended close-up of Byrne's face projected on a highway at night.
"Burning Down the House" was Talking Heads' highest-charting hit single in North America, becoming their only top ten single on the USBillboardHot 100, peaking atNo. 9, as well as reaching the top ten in theCanadian Singles Chart.[7] Despite this success, the song was not a hit outside of North America. In Australia it peaked at a modestNo. 94, while in the UK, where Talking Heads would release 14 charting singles, it failed to chart.
A year later, an extended live version of the song is a highlight of the band's landmark concert filmStop Making Sense (1984). In September 2023, commemorating the film's 40th anniversary, a remastered version was released across America inIMAX theaters, and later in conventional theaters worldwide.
Welsh singerTom Jones recorded a version of "Burning Down the House" with Swedish rock bandthe Cardigans for his collaborations album,Reload (1999).[18] In common with the other tracks on the album, the recording was made with the collaborators' choice of producer and studio, in this caseTore Johansson and Tambourine Studios inMalmö, Sweden.
The track was released as the lead single fromReload on September 13, 1999, and became a hit across Europe and Australia, reaching No. 1 in Iceland, No. 2 in Sweden, and the top ten in Australia, Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Norway and the United Kingdom. The single was backed with Jones' live recordings of theEMF song "Unbelievable" andthe Beatles' "Come Together", as well as remixes of "Burning Down the House" byDelakota,Pepe Deluxé and DJ Scissorkicks.
As one of the major hits of Jones' later career, it appears on numerous compilations of Jones' work. It also features on the Cardigans' 2008Best Of album.[19]
The version received praise from David Byrne,[58] who later that year covered Paramore's own Talking Heads-inspired 2017 track "Hard Times". On April 19, 2024, both covers were released asB-side and A-side respectively of atwelve-inch single forRecord Store Day 2024, which Paramore served as ambassadors for.[59][60]
Dave Matthews Band has covered the song numerous times, and released their cover on multiple live albums. The band covered the song again for the encore at the 2024Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony.[68]
^Burning Down the House (UK 12-inch single vinyl disc). Talking Heads. Sire Records. 1983. W 9565 (T), 920136-0.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^Burning Down the House (Australian CD2 liner notes). Tom Jones, the Cardigans. Gut Records,Mushroom Records. 1999. MUSH01917.5.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^Burning Down the House (Japanese CD single liner notes). Tom Jones, the Cardigans. Gut Records,V2 Records. 1999. V2CI 53.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^Burning Down the House (UK CD2 liner notes). Tom Jones, the Cardigans. Gut Records. 1999. CXGUT26.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^Burning Down the House (UK cassette single sleeve). Tom Jones, the Cardigans. Gut Records. 1999. CAGUT026.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^Burning Down the House (European CD single liner notes). Tom Jones, the Cardigans. Gut Records, V2 Records. 1999. VVR5010203.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^Burning Down the House (European maxi-CD single liner notes). Tom Jones, the Cardigans. Gut Records, V2 Records. 1999. VVR5010193.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^Burning Down the House (Australian CD2 liner notes). Tom Jones, the Cardigans. Gut Records, Mushroom Records. 1999. MUSH01917.2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^Reload (UK CD album booklet). Tom Jones. Gut Records. 1999. GUTCD009.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
