SONG OF THE DAY

“Burning Down The House” by Bonnie Raitt (Road Tested, Capitol Records, 1995). Written by David Byrne.

WHY TODAY?

This incredible version of this song was featured in a dance party scene in Six Feet Under, and was consequently brought back into my consciousness. I had mentioned it earlier in this blog in an entry about the Talking Heads, but never featured it as a Song Of The Day, so I’m happy to formally introduce it to you today. Enjoy!

INTERESTING FACTS (a la wikipedia)

- “Burning Down the House” is a 1983 song by Talking Heads.

– It became their highest-charting hit single in North America, reaching #9.

– Chris Frantz thought of the titular chorus after seeing a Parliament-Funkadelic show where the crowd chanted “Burn down the house.”

– 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 [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.”

– “Burning Down the House” is #29 on VH1’s list of “The 100 Greatest Songs of the ’80s”.

– A section of the song was covered by “Weird Al” Yankovic on his “Polkas on 45” polka medley.

– It was also covered by Tom Jones with The Cardigans in Jones’s 1999 album Reload.

– John Legend also covered the song on his “Live at SOB’s” album.

– A version by the Vienna Boys’ Choir can be found on their 2002 album Vienna Boys’ Choir Goes Pop.

– Marcus Miller also did a jazz/funk cover of this song.

– Dave Matthews Band has covered the song during its concert tours, debuting the tune at Louisville Slugger Ballpark on August 1, 2008. They released a version of the song on their live album Live Trax Vol. 15.

– The Used also covered the song in 2009 and is included on the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen soundtrack.

– Here’s the track listing for Bonnie Raitt’s live album (it’s a rather fascinating list!):

1. “Thing Called Love” (John Hiatt) – 4:48
2. “Three Time Loser” (Don Covay, Ronald Dean Miller) – 3:39
3. “Love Letter” (Bonnie Hayes) – 4:37
4. “Never Make Your Move Too Soon” (Hooper, Will Jennings) – 3:32
5. “Something to Talk About” (Shirley Eikhard) – 3:43
6. “Matters of the Heart” (Michael McDonald) – 4:58
7. “Shake a Little” (Michael Ruff) – 4:38
8. “Have a Heart” (Bonnie Hayes) – 5:45
9. “Love Me Like a Man” (Chris Smither) – 5:11
10. “The Kokomo Medley” (Mississippi Fred McDowell) – 4:59
11. “Louise” (Paul Siebel) – 3:46
12. “Dimming of the Day” (Richard Thompson) – 4:19
13. “Longing in Their Hearts” (Jackson Browne, O’Keefe) – 5:02
14. “Come to Me” (Raitt) – 5:02
15. “Love Sneakin’ up on You” (Little Jimmy Scott, Tom Snow) – 3:52
16. “Burning Down the House” (David Byrne) – 4:21
17. “I Can’t Make You Love Me” (Mike Reid, James Allen Shamblin) – 6:00
18. “Feeling of Falling” (Raitt) – 6:45
19. “I Believe I’m in Love with You” (Kim Wilson) – 5:24
20. “Rock Steady” (Bryan Adams, Gretchen Peters) – 4:12
21. “My Opening Farewell” (Jackson Browne) – 4:57
22. “Angel from Montgomery” (John Prine) – 5:37

VIDEO OF THE DAY

Bonnie Raitt-Burning Down the House
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